The continued decline southwards of the Italian online poker market must be cause for concern among operators following the latest stats from Agimeg, which show that this ring-fenced market with consequently reduced player liquidity potential is still battling.
The December numbers from Agimeg show that despite a hoped for boost over the festive season Italy’s cash game market plunged 24 percent year-on-year, generating revenues of Euro 8.5 million.
It’s a far cry from the same period two years ago as well; back in December 2013 the comparable figure was Euro 14.8 million.
Tournament poker offered little encouragement, recording revenues of $65 million – down year-on-year by 5 percent.
During December the Italian Pokerstars site continued to dominate, creating 72 percent of the dedicated market’s online tournament revenues and 52.5 percent of revenues from ring games.
The Italian online casino vertical looked a better bet in December 2014, recording a 24 percent rise in GGR in its second year of growth running. Industry observers attributed the growth to the pressure applied to software suppliers to cease servicing operators illegally accessing the Italian market.