Poker tournaments in the current financial situation
Following our comment in the article “Legal poker online in the USA” and the perilous financial state of some Casinos and Poker Tournaments; comes more indications of a downturn in casino poker and potentially online poker.
Casino business takes a dive.
Nevada casinos have now confirmed that the downward trend in their business is now in its 15th consecutive month and looks likely to last all through 2009. Or, put more starkly the casinos are reporting trade down by anything up to 25% on last year. However, it’s not just ‘bricks and mortar’ casinos that are felling the economic pinch – with online poker tournaments also looking over their shoulders at the wider economic situation.
The threat to online poker tournaments.
Previously thought to be immune from the repercussions of the global financial meltdown, even online poker tournaments are wondering if they’ll be able to maintain the levels of revenue income they enjoyed last year. Apparently FTOPS XII added a massive $200,000 overlay, which basically means speculating in an attempt to avoid future disruption, on their own guaranteed main-event worth $2.5 million. This means in effect that they’ve introduced a mini-FTOPS, with buy-ins at one tenth of the main event. The only possible reason for this must be that they’re concerned as to whether or not they’ll fill all the seats at the full buy-in main event. This move would seem to be at odds with claims that overall online poker revenues are up by 30% on last year?
Increased play in small events compensates for fewer big game players?
Whilst only a few poker players are interetsed in playing high stakes - thousands will play for lower ones.
John Caldwell of TPB seems to think that the apparent rise in online poker revenue can be attributed to an historic fact. Quite simply there are fewer players prepared to risk entering a $5,000 to $10,000 poker game compared to the numbers wanting to play in $1000 to $2500 games. Caldwell is quite candid about the reasons for this, citing the fact that smaller games have always been more popular anyway with ‘workers’. Quite simply the smaller games attract huge numbers of working men and women. The online poker websites aren’t knocking their customers here; they know that attracting thousands of players to a $1,000+ game will be worth far more to them than attracting a few hundred high rollers to a $10,000 one.