The online poker market in Spain had been rather sluggish for a number of years but things have picked up in recent times.
Spanish gaming regulator Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling recently published its third quarterly report on the online gaming market of Spain, which showed that the country’s online poker industry had posted another quarter of y-o-y revenue growth.
The report which covers the online gaming industry in Spain from July to September 2017 shows that total gross gaming revenue (GGR) in online poker reached €14.7 million, which is an increase of 6.8 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2016.
This marks the fourth quarter of continuous growth for online poker GGR in the country.
Much of this growth is attributed to the continued strengthening of online poker tournaments in Spain. Almost 60 percent of the online poker revenue comes from the €8.79 million in quarterly revenue generated from online tournaments. This is the sixth straight quarter tournament revenue in the country has continued to climb. Currently, 70 percent of the online poker market in Spain is dominated by PokerStars.
Cash games which accounts for 40 percent of online poker revenue, saw a rare quarterly increase from €5.6 million to €5.9 million. While revenue bodes well for cash games, this 40 percent share of the market is a decrease from last year’s 46 percent. In 2015, cash games comprised at least half of the revenues from the online poker market.
The online poker market has not only improved in Spain but also in France. French iGaming regulator Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) confirmed an 11 percent increase in online poker revenue amounting to €58 million this quarter, which is a record high in six years.
This bodes well for online poker operators who are looking to launch operations in Spain, Italy, and France, which are three of the largest online poker markets in Europe. Things will continue to improve as Spain, France, Portugal and Italy became the first four European countries to sign an online poker shared liquidity agreement and are looking to launch liquidity pools in 2018. The shared liquidity agreement along with the introduction of major online poker operators such as 888poker, partypoker and Winamax in Spain and Italy will further help boost online gaming revenues in the months to come.
