June Surge Breaks $1 Million Dollar Nevada Online Poker Revenue Mark
The World Series of Poker is held in Las Vegas, so everyone knew that Nevada’s online poker industry would receive a push from the Nevada online poker tournament’s global entrants. It seems that the surge delivered more than a 20% month over month improvement in revenue for the Silver State. Overall, the Nevada online poker industry, based in Las Vegas and funneled through Sin City casinos, topped the $1 million in monthly revenue for the first time ever. $1,037,000 was the state’s take, a number which was up 20.3% over May revenue figures of $862,000. Those numbers were recently released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
WSOP’s and Rio’s Dedicated Virtual Poker Efforts Paid Off
WSOP officials recognized before the start of the world’s most popular poker tournament that they needed to somehow work with the state to drive online poker traffic and profits. That is because the World Series of Poker brand not only runs the globally famous annual tournament, but also operates one of the two main state-run online poker rooms where Las Vegas, Reno and other Nevada residents shuffle up and deal. By designating special online poker areas at the Rio during the WSOP tourney, it is believed that as much as 15,000 Las Vegas “newbies” opened accounts and played some online poker at the WSOP, Ultimate Poker and Real Gaming websites licensed by the state.
During the WSOP, which culminates with a November 9 final table that month, the World Series of Poker website saw as much as a 2 to 1 traffic advantage over UP. Things have returned to normal now, with WSOP holding a slight 5% or 10% edge over its top competitor. The Real Gaming virtual poker room has yet to develop any type of mentionable presence. The Nevada online poker industry is barely a year old, so it is nice to see the boost in revenue. Hopefully the player pool sharing agreement with Delaware that kicks off this month will help keep those numbers high and state legislators and gaming officials happy.
WSOP Weekend Tournament Recap for July 25 – 27
The World Series of Poker ran 7 major tournaments over this past weekend. Those included the $5,000 Guarantee and Re-Entry R&A $3,000 Guarantee held on Saturday, as well as the $15,000 Sunday Guarantee and Freeze-Out events. All told, 517 poker players fought for 78 prizes totaling more than $51,175. VPIHokie1970 made a final Nevada online poker table for the 36th time, taking first place and $6,272 in the Sunday $15,000 event. The victory means over $57,000.0 won this year by VPIHokie1970, including two $10,000 2014 WSOP Main Event entries. The Friday $3,000 guarantee was won by indabaHAma for $1,888.12, with Sgt.Pepper winning $2,238.50 for a first-place effort in the Weekend Warm-Up $55 R&A $5,000 Guarantee event on Saturday, July 26.
Ultimate Poker Weekend Tournament Recap for July 25 – 27
Over at Ultimate Poker 4 major weekend tournaments were offered. 179 runners shared 23 prize spots, totaling nearly $19,000. At the second most popular Nevada online poker room, KoreanHacker scored the highest individual cash by winning the Sunday $10,000 Guarantee. First prize was worth $2,900, and the victory was notable as the first appearance that player has made at a final table in Nevada this year. JaminOnFaces increased his annual winnings to more than $21,000 at UP by cashing in 2 out of the 3 weekend $2,000 events. Those second and third-place finishes garnered $1,344. The talented Las Vegas online poker player has also cashed for more than $9,000 at the WSOP site. Commatoast continues to win at UP, besting the field for $1,128.40 thanks to a first-place finish in the $2,000 Nightly R/A held on Saturday, July 26.