Managing Editor
After seeming to find its floor in November, PokerStars bounced back in December, improving its market share for the first time since last summer. It was the only full-scale U.S. online poker room to see revenue increase in December, despite winter traditionally being the peak season for online gambling.
Collectively, U.S. online poker sites recorded $7.83 million in revenue according to PokerScout’s estimates based on the available regulatory data. That amount is virtually unchanged from November, despite December being a longer month. Daily average revenue for the total market has thus declined for two straight months, whereas one year ago, it rose continuously from October 2024 through January 2025.
Part of the reason for that may be an ebbing of the effect of shared liquidity in Pennsylvania. Being able to compete against opponents in other states was a novelty for Pennsylvanians, starting in April last year. Along with the expansion of BetRivers Poker to new states, that produced an immediate 10% revenue spike in May. Although BetRivers is still growing, the effects of shared liquidity appear to have worn off in November, as a six-month streak of double-digit annual growth rates abruptly came to an end.
PokerStars is on the opposite end of that. As the only operator not to take advantage of Pennsylvania’s entry to the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement, it suffered an immediate six-point drop in market share last spring, compounding a longer-term decline.
Although it is a long way from threatening to reclaim its once-dominant position from BetMGM Poker, PokerStars did cut into the lead substantially thanks to this recovery. Where BetMGM’s poker revenue exceeded PokerStars’ by 69% in November, its advantage in December was just 41%.
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PokerStars’ Rebound by the Numbers
Here are some key figures for PokerStars in December:
- Online poker revenue: $2,103,667 (industry total: $7,826,826)
- Market share: 26.9% (up from 22.8%)
- Monthly growth in daily average revenue: +14.2% (industry average: -3.2%)
- Annual growth: -29.2% (industry average: -7.7%)
- Share of operator revenue coming from Pennsylvania: 38.2% (industry average: 29.1%)
It’s remarkable to note that Pennsylvania remains a disproportionately important market for PokerStars, despite the fact that its revenue there plunged nearly 20% in the wake of its failure to join the multistate liquidity pool.
The reason for that is that each of its main competitors holds a unique advantage in other states. WSOP holds a monopoly in Nevada, as does BetRivers in West Virginia and Delaware. Meanwhile, BetMGM receives a disproportionate amount of New Jersey poker traffic thanks to the physical presence of the Borgata in Atlantic City and its co-branded poker room on the BetMGM network.
Winter Promotions May Be Providing Temporary Gains
Despite these promising signs for the one-time market leader, it would be premature to predict that PokerStars’ market share will continue to recover, or even hold at its current levels.
Generous holiday-themed promotions form an important part of PokerStars’ marketing strategy. The traffic gains from such incentives rarely prove to last much longer than the duration of the promotion, however.
This December, PokerStars ran a series of Holiday All-In Shootout freerolls awarded $1,000 apiece, alongside four hours’ worth of daily Happy Hour rakeback boosts for cash game players.
Those incentives have now expired, the effect of which we will likely see when January revenue figures come in. There is, however, a Winter Series of tournaments starting tomorrow and running through February 2, which may keep some players around.
Looking at historical data provides some sense of PokerStars’ seasonality: last year, its revenue grew roughly 28% from October to January, flatlined in February, and then plunged continuously from March until June.
