One of the open questions following the closure of Ultimate Poker Nevada was how much of Ultimate’s traffic would migrate over to WSOP.com, and how much would simply exit the market altogether.
The early answer to that question: WSOP appears to be capturing the lion’s share of the liquidity Ultimate left behind.
As the chart from Pokerfuse Pro / PokerScout.com below shows, overall Nevada online poker traffic is hovering around the levels we saw prior to Ultimate’s exit.
While WSOP was a favorite to scoop up a decent chunk of Ultimate’s liquidity in any case, a few key decisions and some fortunate timing didn’t hurt:
While the short-term story for Nevada is positive, pulling the camera back reveals an uglier tale. Again from Pokerfuse Pro / Pokerscout:
The highlighted areas represent November 2013 and November 2014.
In the former, we’re looking at a 7-day moving average in the 200-250 range. In the latter, the same average hews closely to the 150 mark.
It’s not an entirely fair comparison; in November 2013 the market was enjoying a boost from WSOP’s recent launch and a related flurry of promotions surrounding the November Nine.
But it’s fair enough to conclude that, like New Jersey, Nevada is having trouble organically replenishing its player pool.
As we move into 2015, legal online poker in Nevada offers nearly equal fodder for both boosters and naysayers.
On the negative side:
On the positive side: