Home / Poker News February 2014 / The Poker Grapevine – Europe’s Ailing Online Poker Markets
The Poker Grapevine – Europe’s Ailing Online Poker Markets
Posted by: Jo Martin - Wed, 2014-02-26 14:56
Due to the fragmentation which came with the emergence of regulated online poker markets in Europe, the
online poker industry has apparently suffered a blow it has failed to recover from ever since. What’s even worse, instead of recovery, things seem to be going from bad to worse in Italy as well as in France, two of the European markets with the biggest liquidity.
In fact, industry data has been showing massive declines in both cash games and tournaments in both countries. In Italy, during the first month of 2014 for instance, online cash games have generated some €12.2 million, a number which has marked a 20% decline compared to the numbers posted by January of 2013. Compared to January of 2012, the decline was even more impressive, tipping the scales at around 50%.
Tournament action has seen similarly alarming declines.
Besides the actual fragmentation of the European online poker markets, regulation has stifled competition too: PokerStars currently dominate the Italian market with a share of over 50%. There are a whole bunch of smaller local operators trying to make things happen, but even taken together, they do not amount to much.
Things haven’t been going any better in France either, where the parliament has recently nixed the potential participation of the country in international compacts, a move which could’ve thrown a life-line to the besieged industry.
As a result of the vote, the president of ARJEL, the local online gaming regulator, has resigned. President Fracois Hollande has recently appointed Charles Coppolani the new president of ARJEL, tasking him with striking a balance between player protection and the creation of an optimal environment for operators. Obviously, while the move may in fact give hope to some, it offers no concrete solutions towards the halting of the spiraling decline of the French online gaming market.
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