Of all the states that people might have expected to pass online gaming regulations, Delaware was probably the last one. Because the way that the 2011 decision by the U. S. Department of Justice was rendered – that it was legal for individual states to have online gaming and poker offerings – Delaware wasn’t expected to be a hotbed of online gaming activity due to its small stature (less than 900,000 citizens). That lack of customers is being shown in the revenues coming in from Delaware’s online gaming industry and it isn’t pretty.
December was a particularly down month for Delaware’s industry. The three operators in the state – Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway – saw their poker revenues fall by 18% in comparison with 2016. The largest operation of the three, Delaware Park, saw their poker revenues plunge by 38% to only $10,423 for the month of December. This contrasted with their video lottery offerings, which saw an increase of 59% in year-to-year comparison.
The other two operators in the state didn’t do well with their monthly “win” either. Dover Downs only pulled in $5504 for December, while Harrington Raceway pulled up in third with a measly $2332 in “win.” So, what is the problem with online poker in Delaware? Simple…there aren’t enough players to fill the tables.
Despite having a liquidity agreement with Nevada, there aren’t enough new bodies coming online to maintain a solid market for Delaware. For the entirety of the 2017 calendar year, only 2918 Delaware citizens signed up for online poker through the state’s operators. While Delaware is already small, that is only .003 percent of Delaware’s population.
Over the past four years of operation, online poker has plunged in the First State. In it’s first year of operation, revenues were $595,580 and there was a bright outlook for the industry. Instead, the figures plunged in 2015 to $392,401. There was a bit of a leveling off in 2016 as the revenues fell slightly to $375,936, but 2017’s final numbers of $231,086 were a low point.
It isn’t like other states are reaping in the online poker arena either. Online poker in New Jersey has become an afterthought as it lags behind its casino gaming brethren. For the month of December, New Jersey brought in $1,937,061 from its online poker rooms, but it brought in a much healthier $18,820,584 from its casino gaming arm. Because it doesn’t have three operating rooms, Nevada’s online poker industry isn’t reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, but it is estimated that the revenues in the Nevada online poker industry are less than $10 million per year.
Whether compacting would help the fortunes of the poker rooms is anyone’s guess. In theory, if there were more players, there would be more games and more reason for people to come out and play. However, the compact between Nevada and Delaware for online poker only hasn’t exactly sparked any boom and, even if New Jersey were to join, it is unknown if it would provide a bump.
With Pennsylvania joining in, there is some hope for the “Original Three” because Pennsylvania’s population is roughly equal to that of those three states. By doubling the number of players, there is the thought there would be added revenue. At this time, however, there isn’t any indication from Pennsylvania officials as to when their online gaming and poker industry will come to life nor is there any indication that they are willing to compact with any or all of the three states that have already passed legislation.
It is this situation that makes other states looking to pass regulations so dire for the industry. New York, Illinois, West Virginia, Michigan and Massachusetts have already been flirting with online gaming and poker in 2018. The population bases of those states totals roughly 51 million people, more than double what exists now between the “Original Three” and Pennsylvania (25.8 million).
While they were probably aware that, as a smaller state, they were going to have a difficult time in the online gaming industry, Delaware and perhaps even Nevada knew they were going to have to wait for the rest of the states to catch up with them to survive It seems now might be the time for more states to pass online gaming regulations lest Delaware and Nevada be left behind.
