While COVID-19 forces states to enact stay-at-home orders, online poker is gaining support
There have been recessions in past years, but never has history seen times like what the whole world is going through right now. The outbreak of the coronavirus has all casinos across the country closed and wondering what the impact will be when they can be back on business. Pennsylvania has a different story to tell regarding its gambling revenue, as it is one of the four states with legal online poker. The numbers are not yet as high as numbers for land-based poker rooms would be, but they have been increasing significantly, which can help the state alleviate the revenue that is not perceiving form the other gambling venues.
Rush Street Interactive is one of the online operations that has been reported increased activity in the online poker scene. "On BetRivers.com, we are seeing perhaps four or five times as many new customers signing up compared to what we would expect," said Rush Street Interactive’s Chief Operating Officer Mattias Stetz to TheCenterSquare.com. The online action reported last February was $254.7 million, which generated gross revenues for $9.6 million coming from the seven active casinos that currently offer services in the state. The Keystone state saw $3.3 million in tax revenues, and was able to pick up $675,000 for local municipalities.
Conversely, online table games, including poker, reported a total of $448.8 million wagered, leaving gross revenues for $8 million in tax revenue for the state. Out of that amount, $3.1 million went to the state and $160,000 to local governments.
