Poker, poker and more poker. This years ICE conference in London will be buzzing with poker talk... Industry Veteran Steve Cook from Tribeca Tables give us his insight into the online poker industry and why the new igaming zone (ICEi) at the International Casino Exhibition (ICE) in London's Earls Court 2 between 25-27 January will be a hive of activity for poker companies.
In the two years since online poker first tempted punters, the industry has grown from $100,000 in gross rake per day in January 2002 to between a staggering global $2m and $2.5m While online gaming itself continues to grow at a dramatic pace, the online poker industry has more than tripled in the past year. The top operators are earning around $200m per year, while an estimated $16bn was wagered at online poker sites in the last year. In that time many gaming companies, web and lifestyle brands have entered the poker space, particularly in the UK.
The phenomenal growth rate of the industry has led to many poker software suppliers participating in the new ICEi zone. Companies such as Tribeca Tables, Prima Poker Network, 24hr Bet, Chartwell, Playtech, Boss Media, IGlobal Media, and Real Time Gaming will all offer poker solutions. As well as international visitors, the ICE show has always traditionally attracted a lot of European visitors. It is also interesting to see that another P2P growth area are the betting exchanges with both Betfair and Betdaq participating at ICEi for the first time. Betting exchanges and poker share a close synergy with very similar models.
Significantly for both betting exchanges and poker operators, the industry has gone through rapid change. With the demise in November 2004 of Sporting Options, the third largest betting exchange, building liquidity in P2P markets is a huge challenge for new betting exchange operators. They face two giants which dominate the market.
The purchase of Paradise Poker (one of the four largest poker companies) for $297m by Sporting Bet in October 2004 has set a mind-blowing precedence. Since last July, Paradise has continued to experience substantial growth in rake and tournament fee income. In recent months, Paradise's aggregate monthly rake and tournament fee revenue has risen to over $7m and it is reported to have over 721,000 registered customers and over 97,000 active players.
In Britain temptation is everywhere; from consumer, gambling and men's magazines, stadium billboards, shirt sponsorships and celebrity endorsements to full-blown 30-foot advertisements on London's tube stations by the infamous 888.com, sponsors of Middlesbrough Football Team. Recent reports in the daily national newspapers have indicated that the UK is now the fourth largest gambling country in the world, and could very well top the league when the new gambling laws are introduced.
European Poker
The ease of internet betting has led to the huge rise in gambling. It is easy to think that poker has reached saturation, but actually this is far from correct. There may be a large number of branded poker rooms, but it's still a very small percentage of the UK's gambling population that is actively playing online poker. This number will undoubtedly continue to grow in the UK, although predictably not at the same pace as in the past year. In fact, in the last few months, we have seen a slight dip in revenues compared with a year ago.
Online poker is just starting to take hold in continental Europe. Currently, British players make up about 80 per cent of the European market and it's interesting to note that between 30-40 per cent are female players, compared with only five per cent of women players in the offline world. Therefore, apart from other markets such as the Far East, the rest of Europe is only now beginning to open up.
Currently, only a handful of poker operators provide local languages - sites like Empire Poker and Everest Poker. While many Europeans speak English, local languages and local currencies are going to be key to penetrating these markets. Some argue that perhaps local currency may not be as critical round the tables, but operating a multi-lingual poker room will be. Of course, poker is universal, with it's own language and terminology, so using local language is relevant more to the operational side of the site than to the game play. Localization for each country is important, not least for customer service.
By far the biggest expansion will mainly come from the large online poker operators that will be promoting huge offline tournaments across Europe.
Ladbrokes is re-launching the Poker Million 2005 tournament - which will be one of Europe's richest televised poker events offering $855,000 in the prize pool and a further $400,000 of bonuses to online qualifiers - while Poker Stars is staging a pan European Poker Tour (EPT). The televised EPT includes events in Barcelona, London, Paris, Vienna and Dublin. The Grand Final will be held in the famous Monte Carlo Casino with prize money expected to be more than €2m for the final event and more than €1m going to the winner.
Certainly the popularity of online poker has grown at an impressive rate. The rise of so many poker celebrities and the expansion of TV coverage have also contributed to this rapid increase. With the increase in offline tournaments, for the hardy, seasoned poker professionals and a few new guns giving up their daytime jobs, it has never been a better time to be a poker player. Indeed, playing online has many distinct advantages. For instance, not seeing your opponents, nor perhaps even knowing who they are has great appeal for some players. As Paul Newman once said: "If you are in a game of poker and you look round the table and haven't figured out who the sucker is... then it's you!
| 
UK Poker Rooms
