Tuesday’s announcement by Governors Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Jack Markell of Delaware that the two states will be entering into an iGamng partnership was big news in the poker world. Pretty much every site has reported on the new interstate compact (here is our own report on the story), so instead of rehashing the details of the agreement I’ll instead offering up five thoughts on what it means going forward.
Will more traffic lead to more traffic?
Considering the size of both markets the only real answers we are likely to get when Nevada and Delaware combine their player pools will be whether or not the age-old theory of if well-trafficked sites bring in new players is true.
Our best shot at proving this to be the case will probably take place in Delaware.
For instance, If adding over 100 players to their player pool via Nevada causes Delaware’s traffic to spike from an average of 25 cash game players to say 50, then we know there are a number of people sitting on the sidelines; players who were simply waiting for larger player pools before they took the online poker plunge.
Having said that, considering the paltry traffic numbers in Delaware at the moment, even a 200% increase (50 additional players in Delaware) will barely register in the grand scheme of things, but it will prove that one of the biggest drivers of traffic is traffic.
Time Zones
One of the most underappreciated aspects of interstate online poker agreement is having players in multiple time zones.
As mentioned above, online poker players seem to be attracted to online poker sites with large player pools, so if all of your players are coming from the same time zone you’re very likely going to have dead hours in the middle of the night.
When your player pool is barely keeping your sites solvent you’re relying almost entirely on your peak hour traffic for revenue, and during these off-peak you’re not likely to attract new players. Think of it like a 24 hour restaurant that does no business from 10PM to 5 AM.
But, if you have players in multiple time zones you can lengthen your peak hours as well as cut down on the number of hours during the day that your site has sparse traffic.
Delaware and Nevada are three hours apart, so 3AM in Nevada is 6AM in Delaware, but more importantly, just as Delaware’s nightly traffic starts to go to bed, say at midnight, Nevada is hitting their peak hours, which should keep some Delaware players from logging off.
What we might see is instead of Delaware’s traffic from 25 players to 8 between Midnight and 1 AM, and then dipping to zero as those eight players cannot keep the games going, the influx of Nevada players will at the very least keep the eight Delaware players that want to play at the tables.
The whole conversation has changed
One of the major arguments being debated in the current fight between Sheldon Adelson and basically everyone else has been the role of the federal government versus state’s rights. But that argument has basically been thrown out the window with the onset of interstate online gaming.
How the agreement between Delaware and Nevada will reshape the debate will be one of the most important aspects of the bill in 2014.
Smaller states now have their carrot to chase
Now that there is an interstate exchange forming (what Delaware and Nevada have dubbed the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association), and according to both Governors the MSIGA will be welcoming new applicants with open arms, some of the smaller states that saw little reason to get involved in iGaming, for fear their sparse populations couldn’t support a solvent industry) now have a legitimate reason to start taking a look at the industry.
With the potential to join the MSIGA and compete with larger states, we may see more legislative efforts this year than we had first anticipated.
What about New Jersey?
And then there is New Jersey.
Most industry experts have stated that it will be unlikely to see New Jersey hop on board with Nevada and Delaware, as New Jersey has proven to have a solvent industry, capable of supporting multiple operators.
However, the way the interstate compact is constructed it’s not out of the realm of possibility that New Jersey could join MSIGA. It seems the major hurdle preventing this is New Jersey’s desire to be a hub for online gambling in the US.
So at present I agree with most everyone else that New Jersey will not be joining Delaware and Nevada. That being said, if larger states start passing legislation and stealing some of NJ’s thunder (New York, California, Illinois) New Jersey may start to reconsider.
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.