What kind of impact does Covid-19 have with online poker?

[JoeKampman]

A definite increase in volume every where (though I am not sure why/how this is also affecting private free rolls with limited membership- that's puzzling)

Due to the increase in traffic some sites have suspended free rolls in an effort to keep the site stable for the other games. Free rolls handle a lot of traffic and by suspending them for the time being the servers will be able to handle the traffic better.

 

[gersom]

In my opinion, there is a growth in the highest tournaments, in those with low payouts they continue the same way!

 

[acidburnfx]

Everything is being affected, nobody escapes.
Let's see the numbers:

 

[Newbie 81]

I would assume the outbreak would mean more voluime for online poker platforms. Has there been a recent spike in participation in CC freerolls?

More volume is definitely a good thing

 

[AllenKll]

I've been playing online everyday for a few months now, and I have noticed a big uptick in donks at the tables in the last few weeks.

I am getting sucked out on left and right by people who have no earthly reason to be calling my bets.

Tracking my numbers show that my number of cashes per tournament has dropped significantly. I haven't changed my play style and I do play at low stakes. I have also seen a number of new 'faces' at the tables.

It's an interesting little uptick that I'm sure will die off when the novel corona virus is under control.

 

[Shells]

Everything is being affected, nobody escapes.
Let's see the numbers:

View attachment 266451

A month or more ago, pokerstars was reporting stock losses which is exactly what this chart demonstrates. Regardless of the losses in the market, I do believe there has been a bit of an increase in online poker participation.

 

[valeski 28]

Hi there.There is no doubt that more people are playing online poker..For example,today on PokerStars there are about 170,000 players and tomorrow it could be reached 200,000 players or even more.

 

[korneel]

Hi there.There is no doubt that more people are playing online poker..For example,today on PokerStars there are about 170,000 players and tomorrow it could be reached 200,000 players or even more.

I noticed that too.
But I don't know how many players are regularly playing on a Saturday/Sunday.

 

[neafana]

I just checked on PokerStars to see how many people were online - currently 135,000 - I'm not sure if that's normal or not, honestly.

It's normal. The world is in isolation)) What to do? Om Sunday we will have more than 200k

 

[okeedokalee]

When things go bad economically people tend to gamble more.
People will need something to do when isolated, poker should be great for that.

 

[DS3]

Due to the increase in traffic some sites have suspended free rolls in an effort to keep the site stable for the other games. Free rolls handle a lot of traffic and by suspending them for the time being the servers will be able to handle the traffic better.

Yes I am aware sites such as ACR have suspended free rolls on demand. However that is not what I was commenting on.

There has been a noticeable spike in the number of participants in the CC Free Rolls. This is odd as the membership is closed (to a degree). I presumed some players who do not play regularly might be returning to play, and as Shells noted some could be new members. However, its still puzzling how extra traffic is finding its way to private free rolls to this degree...

 

[DixonHuenow]

Exciting time for online poker. I think it will be good for at least two months. especially when the $1,200 checks come.

 

[ritz_avalanche]

Yea it seems the traffic has spiked for all tournaments..but how come all the stocks of all online poker corps stumbling

 

[fundiver199]

Yea it seems the traffic has spiked for all tournaments..but how come all the stocks of all online poker corps stumbling

I can think of 3 plausible reasons:

1) In a situation like this risk premiums increase across financial markets, and any kind of stocks are risky.

2) An economic recession mean, people have less money to spend on non-essential things like online gambling.

3) Sports betting is pretty much shut down at the moment.

 

[fundiver199]

However, its still puzzling how extra traffic is finding its way to private free rolls to this degree...

I dont think, very many freeroll club members participate in each event. So if people start playing for instance twice a week instead of once a week, that is a 100% increase already.

 

[kosorez1980]

pandemic makes people stay at home, which makes onlan poker more popular. Of course, the number of players increases, which leads to a large replenishment of tournaments, if 1000 players participated before, now they are twice as many. I, in turn, am glad that Online poker is alive and I would not want any virus to contribute to this. Good luck and not get sick.

 

[DS3]

I dont think, very many freeroll club members participate in each event. So if people start playing for instance twice a week instead of once a week, that is a 100% increase already.

Yes, you make a good point.

However, I am simply pointing out that since I joined the Free Roll Club in November the numbers of participants were consistent (see my original post) then gained some ground after the turn of the year, then increased somewhat dramatically this past week. I agree, many qualified members must not play regularly. But, over the last 5 months there has been a remarkably consistent size of field. Further to that, I recall a few comments in-tourney when there was one noticeable increase in field size by members noting as much.

This past week though, the number of daily players grew markedly so it will be interesting to see if they wane or hold strong and are the new norm.

 

[Shells]

Yes, you make a good point.

However, I am simply pointing out that since I joined the Free Roll Club in November the numbers of participants were consistent (see my original post) then gained some ground after the turn of the year, then increased somewhat dramatically this past week. I agree, many qualified members must not play regularly. But, over the last 5 months there has been a remarkably consistent size of field. Further to that, I recall a few comments in-tourney when there was one noticeable increase in field size by members noting as much.

This past week though, the number of daily players grew markedly so it will be interesting to see if they wane or hold strong and are the new norm.

I'd have to start participating in the freerolls a bit more, to see what the numbers are. My guess is there are a number of people who have been in lockdown and have had FRC access for awhile. So, they have something to look forward to every day now.

To give another spin on it, our overall membership has been increasing quite a bit (almost at 300k) over the past month or so (probably a faster rate than without the pandemic) and although the newer members are not likely in the FRC at the moment, there were SEVERAL new additions to the FRC as of late likely due to being cooped up during the winter and partly due to the pandemic. If you consider that there could be roughly 100 new FRC members over the last month, then that might increase our Freeroll numbers, too.

What (on average) do you say is a 'noticeable increase'? (curious)

 

[ritz_avalanche]

I can think of 3 plausible reasons:

1) In a situation like this risk premiums increase across financial markets, and any kind of stocks are risky.

2) An economic recession mean, people have less money to spend on non-essential things like online gambling.

3) Sports betting is pretty much shut down at the moment.

Nice point ..seems more bearish movement for these stocks is in the horizon now ..

 

[DS3]

I'd have to start participating in the freerolls a bit more, to see what the numbers are. My guess is there are a number of people who have been in lockdown and have had FRC access for awhile. So, they have something to look forward to every day now.

To give another spin on it, our overall membership has been increasing quite a bit (almost at 300k) over the past month or so (probably a faster rate than without the pandemic) and although the newer members are not likely in the FRC at the moment, there were SEVERAL new additions to the FRC as of late likely due to being cooped up during the winter and partly due to the pandemic. If you consider that there could be roughly 100 new FRC members over the last month, then that might increase our Freeroll numbers, too.

What (on average) do you say is a 'noticeable increase'? (curious)

Thanks for the reply Shells.

Since the start of the year the daily average appeared to be around 200 to 210 participants (note these are the average taken from the days I cashed but that was fairly regularly) by the middle /end of last week the figures had hit 250 participants.

That said I am seeing bigger increases in such Free Rolls as the Casino Org ones by as much as +30%.

 

[CAC1QU3]

I think the most of the online games will participate from it. People spend more time at home and thinking about what they gonna do. Some remember that they play poker in the past and they start again. Others will join as new players which get infected (SIC!) from this card game.

Just my few cents!

 

[partz]

i think lots of new players will appear after night so this is pretty awesome lol! thanks for the question, deffo a good topic to take part!

 

[JJP]

It has made the daily mtts much much bigger ! 2nd online poker boom is on

 

[1player2]

I Believe it has had a positive affect at Betonline. There are thousands of players in the poker room and it's pretty great. Thousands of dollars of freerolls all week. I managed to win $10 in one of them. I'm curious to see how many players stick around once everybody gets back into their old routines. This could be great for the popularity of online poker long term. Thank you for the post.



Good Luck To All

 

[gravac]

Online poker sites for sure will make much more income then even before, since europe is in a "shut down" format and more and more players will try to spend their time trying something new. From the grocery shops that are making 3X or 4X profit due to this crisis I assume that big sharks of online gambling will do, but win for some is also lose for other remember that.