Italy poker woes continue; Stars and Playtech capitalise

Italian poker revenues fell 6% in 2012, despite a full-year’s contribution from the ring games which were introduced to the market in July 2011.

Total gross gaming revenue generated by the dot.it segregated player pool from cash games and tournaments was €360.6m in 2012, 6.2% down on the €384.4m generated in 2011, according to new figures from Italian regulator AAMS.

The blame for the decline lay with the continued stagnation of Italian cash poker. Since AAMS published its last set of monthly figures, for August 2012, ring game revenues crashed 31% year-on-year in September, 33% in October, 34% in November and 35% in December.

This second-half performance combined with the continued slump in tournament revenues throughout the year - 38% down to €151.2m – saw the dot.it poker market contract in 2012, despite cash game revenues finishing 64% higher at €209.4m due to a full 12-month contribution from ring games, compared to just six months in 2011.

The alarming reverse in Europe’s most mature dot.country poker market in the last four months of 2012 reinforces doubts over the sustainability of national ring-fenced player pools raised in August, when AAMS’ publication of the first FY comparatives since the ring games launch revealed the dot.it online poker market was 32% smaller than in August 2011. AAMS is reportedly in talks with Spain’s DGOJ over potential liquidity pooling in 2013, aimed at helping recover the market.

Against this backdrop of decline, PokerStars.it strengthened its already imperious position at the head of the market – claiming 36.5% of cash game and 43.3% of tournament revenues in December. Its cash games share was 32% in August when AAMS last published data, indicating how Stars has taken market share from its competitors during the last four months.

Calculations by Casino Choice based on AAMS’ figures also show that Playtech’s iPoker has now overtaken People’s Poker owner Microgame as the leading network for cash games in Italy, its licensees generating 16.3% of cash game revenues in December compared to 14.8% for Microgame’s. iPoker’s share would have been higher had Cogetech’s Izipoker.it room not departed for the Lottomatica-owned International Poker Network during the last quarter of 2012.

It is also unclear to what extent Playtech owes its new position as the leading network for cash games to the recent ban on “totem” gaming terminals installed in shops and public places, which were an important part of Microgame’s business.

Italy online poker market – December 2012 (% of GGR)*

Cash games – leading rooms/operators

PokerStars.it – 36.5%
Lottomatica – 8.2%
Gioco Digitale.it – 7.1%
SNAI – 5.7%
La Multipla (People’s Network) – 4.6%

Cash games – leading networks**

Playtech/iPoker – (SNAI, Sisal, Titanbet.it, Eurobet.it and others) – 16.3%
Microgame/People’s Poker Network – 14.8%
International (Lottomatica.it, Totosi.it, Cogetech/Iziplay.it) - 13.5%
Ongame (including Gioco Digitale.it, bwin.it) – 11.8%
Gioco Online Italia – 3.7%

Tournaments – leading rooms/networks**

PokerStars.it – 43.3%
Microgame/People’s Network – 16.4%
Ongame (including Gioco Digitale.it and bwin.it) 14%
Playtech/iPoker – (SNAI, Sisal, Titanbet.it, Eurobet.it and others) – 12.8%
International (Lottomatica.it, Totosi.it, Cogetech/Iziplay.it) – 11.6%

** Calculations by Casino Choice based on AAMS data

Article written by Stephen Carter