How Permanent Is The Popularity Of Poker?

Poker is in! It has been everywhere over the last four or five years. Poker is on the internet, in casinos, on television, in the bars, in every imaginable media. There are new movies featuring poker games. Even James Bond graduated from Baccarat to Texas Hold’em in the latest remake of Casino Royale. It is in the dreams of players’ who fantasize about hitting a lucky streak and winning big money. Now the dream may be fading for some gamblers, according to a recent Mintel report.

The Mintel International Group has been providing some of the world’s leading businesses with targeted and successful marketing strategies for over 30 years. It is an internationally recognized market analyst. Each year the Group produces approximately 600 reports for European, US and UK specific markets.

The incredible Poker growth of 72%, in the 2004 - 2007 period has now imploded with the forecast for 2009 predicting a further 7% fall in gross gaming yield to £247 million, down from £265m in 2008.

Matt King, senior leisure analyst for Mintel, commented, “Poker revenues have clearly peaked. The recession is the most obvious culprit, with around a third of poker players now playing less often or for lower stakes because of the economic downturn.” The average spend per annum was down by 20% during the past two years.

This indicates a change in consumer spending habits primarily due to the recession. Paul Leyland, a gaming analyst at Collins Stewart, commented on this trend, “The problem you face with poker, as opposed to other forms of gambling, is that you need volume to make the model work. You can’t just focus on high rollers, as you might with a sports book or a casino. You have to bring volume in to supply your higher rollers with people to play.”

It was pointed out that there were other problems in the industry that were impacting the economy of poker. Free time being one of them, noting that people are busier than ever during the tough times. Other reports suggest that this is just a slow down in the unstoppable boom of poker popularity.

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