In July 2021, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) joined the Pennsylvania poker market. Seven months into the state, the poker room is doing exemplarily. Recent statistics show that WSOP PA cash games traffic has increased, with these figures showing that the operator ranks second regarding market share in Pennsylvania.
One of the reasons that increased cash games traffic is the quality of the tournament series featuring huge guarantees hosted by the poker room. The second reason is the establishment of new lobby changes to cash games.
The PokerStars outage is the ultimate reason that seems to have tipped the iceberg. PokerStars is the primary rival and the leader in market share in New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Following a serious maintenance problem, the poker room went offline on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022.
Being a busy poker weekend, most players shifted to the next big poker room, including WSOP PA. Meanwhile, PokerStars returned to Pennsylvania and Michigan on Monday, Feb. 7.
Reasons for the WSOP PA Growth
Today, WSOP PA takes 100 concurrent cash game players. Previously, this number stood at 70.
The 30 percent increase also represents over three times the increase from 2021. At this trend, WSOP PA is expecting to gain a 25 percent market share and overtake BetMGM Poker/Borgata PA to take second place after PokerStars PA.
In January, WSOP PA hosted a Circuit series with a guarantee of $535k. The poker series was a huge success. In fact, the guaranteed prize was surpassed, with the poker operator giving around $840k in prizes.
When the poker room launched last year, it turned off its blind lobby. This meant that players could not choose their opponents or their preferred tables.
In November, the poker operator changed the setting again, allowing players to choose their tables and opponents. This has dramatically worked to the room’s advantage as cash game traffic has increased.
A Strong Start in 2022 and Continued Cash Game Traffic Growth
WSOP PA was the fourth poker operator to enter the Pennsylvania market. The operator used the launch to introduce its Poker 8 software in the country.
Despite having a new client, WSOP PA still had stiff competition from PokerStars PA that entered the market two years earlier.
BetMGM PA and Borgata PA might not feel the pressure of a new poker room because the two share in-state liquidity. Meanwhile, WSOP PA performed well with its tournaments, but its cash games lagged.
PokerStars cash game traffic stood at 80 percent, while the other poker rooms shared the remaining 20 percent. But, things seem to be working for WSOP PA in 2022.
According to statistics published by GameIntel, WSOP PA is recording an average of 97 concurrent cash game players. When the poker room launched, it recorded 30 concurrent cash game players.
Although the new average concurrent players at WSOP PA are still preliminary, the poker room seems to be doing better. With the return of PokerStars PA, these figures might fluctuate.
But, if the poker room can maintain its quality tournaments and changes in the lobby, WSOP PA can scoop at least 20 percent of the market share. If lucky, its market share could grow up to 25 percent.
