Wouldn’t it be regrettable if the outstanding marketing efforts of WSOP NV in June had no lasting impact on iPoker growth?
Late last week, I’m sure the main concern for Nevada’s gaming operators was the significant drop in average cash-game liquidity. It plunged to a two-month low of 160, which is only 7.5% above the value it had two weeks prior to the Rio’s annual WSOP opening for poker enthusiasts.
Fortunately for them, the market was set to recover over the weekend – a rising trend that would continue into the early part of this week.
So, it’s good news, correct? Not necessarily. Upon looking at global volume trends, it appears that Nevada’s recovery might be mirroring the overall market, rather than being a consequence of WSOP’s efforts to increase brand recognition.
Cash-game traffic speaks volumes
Traffic in Nevada decreased by nearly 10% during the early to mid-part of last week. WSOP.com suffered most of the loss, while the drop in liquidity on Ultimate Poker was only slight.
However, thanks to recent improvements, both networks managed to counterbalance most of the harm caused in the previous week.
For example, the 7-day cash-game averages from last Tuesday are compared with this Tuesday’s averages below.
- On WSOP.com, there were 111 on August 5th and 111 on July 29th.
- Ultimate Poker score: 65 on August 5th, 63 on July 29th.
The data is provided courtesy of PokerFuse Pro and PokerScout.
If you were to judge solely by week-on-week figures, you might conclude that it was a fairly quiet week in the history of iGaming in Nevada. However, this was far from the truth, with traffic levels proving to be as unstable, if not more, compared to the chaotic weeks preceding the live WSOP.
Returning to the figures…
Traffic levels in Nevada surged 10.6% since last Friday alone, enabling the market to regain over one-third of the volume it lost in the previous two weeks.
That’s the good news.
The disappointing news is that, in the past week, the global market has seen over 4% gains, a significant increase compared to Nevada’s meager 1.1% gains over the same duration.
Well, I guess that’s not entirely negative, as it indicates that the market is finally recovering from one of its most severe seasonal downturns. However, it doesn’t seem promising for the future expansion of Nevada’s emerging iPoker industry.
However, the good news doesn’t stop there.
The growth in Nevada over the weekend surpassed that of the global market. It is still undetermined whether this was just a brief anomaly or not.
It’s true that trying to predict industry traffic trends can occasionally seem more pointless than trying to decipher the NASDAQ. However, looking at tournament participation numbers may give us a clearer picture of the health of Nevada’s iPoker market.
Tournament volume takes a hit
Despite the increase in cash-game liquidity, the volume of tournaments has not yet shown a reversal in its declining trend.
Here’s a preview of some numbers for the state’s largest tournaments, with last week’s prize pool in parenthesis:
- The WSOP.com $15k guarantee had 93 participants, resulting in a prize pool of $18,600, exceeding the guarantee by $3,600 to reach $22,400.
- The Weekend Warmup event on WSOP.com with a $5k guarantee had 40 participants, 33 rebuys and 25 add-ons, resulting in a $100 overlay ($6,050 total).
- Ultimate Poker $10k guarantee had 97 participants and an overlay of $1,173 ($1,537 overlay).
It will be interesting to see if the volume of tournaments will also rebound in the upcoming weeks. This could provide a stronger indication that the iPoker market in Nevada is recovering.
New promotions
It’s not surprising that July was a sluggish month for WSOP.com promotions, presumably because the network needed some rest and relaxation. While this month isn’t looking particularly thrilling either, there are at least a few newly introduced promotional events worth mentioning:
- Rising Ranks: This simple leaderboard promotion offers cash prizes and loyalty tier upgrades to players who earn the most loyalty points. The promotion is ongoing and will continue until August 30.
- Turbo SNG Leader Boards have made a comeback, now bigger and better with turbo-sized prizes. The players who perform exceptionally in nine-handed turbo SNGs will be rewarded with a share of $5,000 in weekly prize money. The event is ongoing until the 30th.
