EvenBet Gaming’s online poker industry news wrap-up rounded off a highly impressive year for the poker industry in the US and more specifically, the northeastern state of New Jersey.
Unsurprisingly, during the lockdown periods, more customers turned to the world of online poker to pass the time, according to statistics cited by Victoria Sopko, Marketing Expert at EvenBet Gaming.
“The first final numbers for 2020 show how successful online poker was throughout the year,” she remarked. “The state of New Jersey published rather impressive data revealing 74% online poker growth year-on-year, with the revenues of major operators going up even more.
“According to Global Poker, the US has watched a growth of first-time online poker players by 255% since lockdown began. All in all, the poker industry has had a 43% increase since April 2020.”
A new president could bring new hope to the online poker scene in the region, with industry leaders surmising that Joe Biden could look to reverse the Wire Act – a federal law prohibiting the operation of certain types of betting businesses in the US.
Touching upon one of the hottest topics of the industry, Sopko added: “Some experts believe that Joe Biden has all the chances to bring back online poker in the US.
“According to a report from pokernews.com, the US president may look to cancel the 2018 decision made by the Department of Justice on the Wire Act.”
Regions with existing, in-built sports betting customer bases could also benefit from the potential move towards legalising online poker firms, with Indiana touted as one such candidate.
“According to the report, Indiana could be the next state to start poker legislation. Indiana already has a big sports betting economy and that’s not historical, it’s happening nowadays. In December 2020, Indiana took $313 million in wagers on sporting events, which outstrips its earlier record by $62 million.”
