“This year, all eyes are going to be on the US online poker sector,” according to Victoria Sopko, who addressed the burgeoning opportunities in the post-PASPA market during the second episode of EvenBet Gaming’s online poker industry round-up. 

However, despite the impressive growth state-side, industry stakeholders should also be keeping a close eye on new markets opening up across the world.

During the round-up, Sopko gave a detailed rundown of some of the top figures, regulatory announcements and marketing trends from the last few months – touching upon the growth of Italy’s online sector, regulation in Tanzania and the poker platform provider’s success at the SAGSE Awards.

She told viewers: “The Italian online gaming market hit record numbers in December 2020, reaching €359 million in GGR (which is €100 million more than the previous months), with online sports betting generating more than half of the total revenue. There has been a 59.5% increase month-on-month. 

“The share of online poker is quite modest at €12.2 million, yet the market leader – PokerStars – generated more revenue than any other operator, accounting for 46% of sales.”

Looking towards the UK, lockdown meant that ”Christmas wasn’t merry for everyone”, but there was some joy for online operators as online gross gambling yield rose by 30.5% to £613.6 million. 

While the majority of growth was attributed to the online sports betting sector, the EvenBet Gaming Marketing Expert highlighted that online poker also grew during the month to £9.4 million – 2.8% more than November.

Moving to the African market, Sopko shone a light on the Tanzanian gaming space, which has recently made a leap forward with its online gambling legislation.

She continued: “Tanzania has moved forward with its online gambling legislation. The process initially started in 2019 and in February, the government finally agreed to impose a 10% tax on virtual gambling GGR. Right now, licensed land-based gaming activities create 3.5% of Tanzania’s GDP. 

“Following 2019’s final numbers and the progression of the government’s regulations, these figures are expected to grow even further. We’re looking forward to a new jurisdiction south of the equator.”

Watch the full round-up here.