Analysts Optimistic About Online Poker in US
Written by RogerCP | Sunday, July 5th, 2009
The name Goldman Sachs is synonymous with quality investment advice in the United States and their notes to investors are usually seen as excellent predications of things to come. So when Goldman Sachs advises its investors about the future of online poker, it really is a sign to sit up and take note.
The investment bankers noted that the online poker and gambling industry in the United Sates is worth around $12 billion and predicted that it is only a matter of time before the Obama administration regulates and legalizes the industry. The group believes that, given the implications for the US taxation system, if nothing else, the market will almost definitely eventually regulate US poker sites. Therefore, say Goldman Sachs, it is well worth investing in the online poker and gambling markets.
“Based on a simple ‘grossing up’ of PartyGaming’s rake relative to its 9 percent market share, the US poker market alone was worth $1.5 billion in 2008,” says the report. “Were the market to be legalized, we believe that the size of the revenue opportunity could increase materially. Based on an assumption of 30 percent penetration of offline poker players and $300 gross gaming revenue (GGR) per player, we estimate that a legal poker market could be worth $3 billion a year.”
The report continues to say that if the GGR increased to 45% and the per-player GGR to $400, the poker market could be worth a staggering $6 billion alone.
Goldman Sachs, however, cautions investors that change will not happen overnight, and that the United States will first see a shift towards independent states legalizing their online poker industries before it takes on a national scale.
“The momentum at state level, where widening state budget deficits are ratcheting up financial pressures, is clearly building,” concludes the report. “Indeed, if California and Florida move forward with legislation to legalize online poker, this could prove the catalyst for other states to follow suit”.
Check Out Other Related Articles
· Written by RogerCP · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
