COVID-19 may be wreaking havoc across many industries, but online poker in Pennsylvania has been doing well because of the pandemic. According to the state’s Gaming Control Board (PGCB), PokerStars PA generated over $5.2 million in April. This is significantly better than the $3.1 million generated by the online poker room in March, 2020.
The reason for such a high turnout at the virtual poker tables is that card rooms in Pennsylvania are still closed because of attempts to stem the spread of novel coronavirus. With poker fans unable to visit their favorite land-based poker haunts, they are visiting legal poker rooms, such as PokerStars PA.
However, experts predict that we will only be able to get the full picture of how well PA online poker did during the pandemic when numbers are published in July. This is because the lockdown period in the state is supposed to end on June 4th. If the date is extended, results will also be pushed to a later date.
The Pennsylvania online poker scene has been very active in the past months. In April, PokerStars PA ran the PASCOOP tournament, with prize pools topping $3.1 million over nearly 100 events. The Pennsyl-MANIA tournament, the biggest event ever recorded in the Keystone State, kicked off on May 17th.
In April this year, the PGCB released dismal data pertaining to revenue from Pennsylvania’s 12 casinos, video gaming terminals and fantasy contests. The authority showed that revenues collapsed over 50% ($154 million compared to $316 million in the same period in 2019).
These results were certainly not unexpected, since Governor Tom Wolf ordered a shutdown on March 16th, 2020. Because online operators weren’t ordered to shut down, online casino and poker numbers soared in March – with numbers reaching 25% more than the previous month.
A spokesman for the Gaming Control Board, Doug Harbach, told The Inquirer: “Pennsylvania is one of the few states that has online gaming option. That has continued to keep tax revenue flowing.”
