Poker will never be the same again

Publication date: 27 May 2020

The pandemic and its accompanying crisis have significantly affected online poker’s financial results.

Ivonne Montalegre, an expert and poker tournament founder, has shared her vision of the situation. Ivonne believes that the current crisis has created perfect conditions for further development of the segment.

“Right now is a very unusual and interesting time for the poker niche. Player activity on online poker playing platforms has increased significantly. This increase was triggered by temporary closure of land-based facilities and difficulties which the betting segment has faced,” Ivonne pointed out.

Online poker will enjoy new popularity boosted by the coronavirus outbreak. The way people play the game won’t be anything like what it used to be. Land-based casinos will have to work on the quality of service provided, gambling operators will have to implement new approaches and scale up their online activity.

The lockdown is a good opportunity to attract new players: the audience is being replenished by both poker players who have decided to shift online and punters who cannot now bet on sports. It is worth noting that with sporting events canceled and postponed, punters have turned to stock markets in search of thrills.

“Latin American countries, where betting on sports was among the most popular types of entertainment, have become a new goldmine for the poker industry. China, in its turn, is taking the lead in mobile poker. And now players around the world generally tend to choose such tournaments which offer mobile participation,” Ivonne Montalegre concluded.