While Delaware did not seem like the front runner to offer online poker and casino gaming in the United States, the state is one of just three who decided to give the online gaming industry a try. Now celebrating their second year in operation, the state of Delaware has seen ups and downs as they offer quality online casino and poker gaming options for residents located in the state.
It was on November 8th 2013 that Delaware first began offering online gaming with sites launched by the gaming facilities in the state. The Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs and Delaware Park all opened their online gaming sites on this day and have not looked back. Scientific Games, 888 Holdings and WMS Interactive worked to provide software options for the gaming sites.
As the online gaming offering began, the state saw several glitches that had to be worked out with real money game play. This included players having issue with logging on as well as deposit trouble. Over time, these issues improved especially as the geolocation features improved. Geolocation is a method that is used to determine the location of the user. Players had to be in the state to be able to play online but some geolocation technology was not seeing the player in the state despite the fact that they actually were.
It was estimated that Delaware could earn as much as $5 million during the first year of operation but this total is not even close to being reached. Both New Jersey and Nevada had big projections as well that have not been met.
The issue with revenues begins with the amount of people living in Delaware. There are only around 900,000 residents in the state and a monthly average of $156,339 has been earned in the first 23 months of operation. However, last month’s figures have yet to be released.
With this monthly average, the state has earned just over $3.5 million by offering online gaming. This means the $5 million average was nowhere close to being hit within the first year and won’t be in the second year as well, even combining the two years. In September of this year, the state saw an all-time low in revenue earnings, taking in only $24,523.
The revenues may be low but players continue to sign up for game play. Each month, over 300 players sign up for the three gaming sites each month. This is a high number considering. Maybe players are not logging on continually but at least they are showing some interest. In an effort to boost revenues, the state partnered with Nevada to offer interstate poker gaming which began back in March. The partnership has not seen significant results for the state but the option is open for additional states to join in as legislation is created, so the potential is still there to up the traffic numbers of the state.
It is important to consider that though Delaware is not the front runner when it comes to US online casino and poker game play, they are still in the game. After two years of operation, the state has not given up and continues to see a steady stream of revenue, even if it is not the massive numbers government officials thought they would see based on estimates.
Overall, Delaware has done well for a state of their size. It will be interesting to see how the state fares going into 2016 and to watch as new states may begin to offer online casino and poker gaming as well in the United States.
