Poker Down Trend Noted

Poker has been everywhere it seems for the last four or five years. Poker is on the internet, in casinos, on television, in the bars, every media imaginable. It is even in some players’ dreams of hitting a lucky streak and winning big money. That dream seems to be fading for some gamblers as a recent report from Mintel states.

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

The incredible 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 last year.

Senior leisure analyst for Mintel, Matt King, 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.” It the average spend per annum that was down by 20% during the past two years. This type of activity 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 thought there were other problems in the industry that was impacting the economy of poker. Free time being one of them noting that people are busier than ever during the tough times.

Some reports are suggesting that this is just a slow down of the unstoppable poker trend.