Data · Blog
Online Poker Statistics: Big Tournaments, Shrinking US Revenue
Revenue, players and legal status, checked against regulator data.
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Online poker can still draw huge crowds. One 2026 online tournament series attracted more than 35,000 entries to a single event. The money tells a different story. In the US states that publish poker figures, poker earns less than a cent of every dollar spent on online gambling, and that share is falling. Research firms can’t even agree on how big the market is. The clearest picture comes from regulators, and it varies widely from one country to the next.
All figures come from regulators and official reports, with the latest data from September 2026, unless noted otherwise.
At a glance
- Research firms’ estimates of the 2026 online poker market range from $4.7 billion to $11.29 billion.
- Pennsylvania’s online poker revenue fell year on year in eight of the first nine months of 2026.
- New Jersey’s online poker sites earned $2.34 million in September 2026, down 5.2% from a year earlier.
- Poker made up about 0.9% of online casino revenue in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, against 20% of France’s online gambling market.
- France’s online poker revenue reached €525 million in 2025, up 6.5%, with 1.9 million unique players.
- Tournaments earned more than four times as much as cash games in France in 2025.
- The 2026 WSOP Online Main Event drew 6,008 entries and a $28.5 million prize pool.
- Nine US states have legalized online poker, but players can only play in six. India banned it outright in 2025.
The Market Size Depends on Which Report You Buy
Research firms can’t agree on how much online poker is worth this year. Grand View Research puts the global market at $4.7 billion in 2026. MarkNtel Advisors puts it at $11.29 billion, more than twice as much. Fortune Business Insights ($4.78 billion) and Custom Market Insights ($6.9 billion) fall in between.
Forecasts are even less stable. In August 2025, MarkNtel projected the market would reach $37.19 billion by 2030. Its current report has lowered that to $27.39 billion by 2032, two years later than its old target and about $10 billion less.
Part of the gap comes from scope. Custom Market Insights counts free-to-play and social poker, where people play with virtual chips instead of real money. MarkNtel doesn’t say what its estimate includes. None of the figures can be checked, because all of these firms sell their reports and keep their methods behind a paywall.
| Research firm | Latest market size | Forecast | Annual growth rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand View Research | $3.86 billion (2024) | $6.9 billion (2030) | 10.2% |
| ResearchAndMarkets | $5.3 billion (2024) | $11.4 billion (2030) | 13.7% |
| Fortune Business Insights | $4.33 billion (2025) | $10.53 billion (2034) | 10.37% |
| Custom Market Insights | $6.2 billion (2025) | $20.1 billion (2035) | 12.5% |
| MarkNtel Advisors | $8.12 billion (2025) | $27.39 billion (2032) | 15.29% |
The one thing they agree on is the game. Grand View says Texas Hold’em accounted for more than 62% of online poker revenue in 2024, and MarkNtel puts its share at about 70% in 2026.
US Poker Revenue Is Falling, Even With Shared Player Pools
Online poker is earning less in the US than it did a year ago. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware publish poker revenue every month, and all three are down year on year in their latest figures.
Pennsylvania shows the clearest trend. Its poker revenue fell in eight of the first nine months of 2026, compared with the same months of 2025.
| Month | 2026 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | $2,504,189 | $2,598,295 | −3.62% |
| February | $2,208,606 | $2,445,679 | −9.69% |
| March | $2,222,722 | $2,556,800 | −13.07% |
| April | $2,565,507 | $2,338,087 | +9.73% |
| May | $2,483,973 | $2,750,831 | −9.70% |
| June | $2,376,541 | $2,712,599 | −12.39% |
| July | $2,337,804 | $2,517,687 | −7.14% |
| August | $2,373,851 | $2,502,873 | −5.15% |
| September | $2,270,481 | $2,311,202 | −1.76% |
Poker is falling even as the rest of Pennsylvania’s online casino market grows. In September 2026, online casino games earned 6.82% more than a year earlier, while poker slipped 1.76%.
The decline continued after Pennsylvania joined the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA). On April 28, 2025, the state’s estimated 150,000 online poker players could start playing against players in New Jersey, Nevada, Delaware, West Virginia and Michigan. Larger player pools were expected to help, but January to March 2026 still came in below January to March 2025, when Pennsylvania hadn’t yet joined.
New Jersey is down too. Poker brought in $2,341,456 in September 2026, 5.2% less than the $2,470,982 of September 2025. For the year to September, revenue was $22,467,126, down 3.0%.
Delaware, the smallest market, fell further. Its three casinos earned $183,659 from online poker from July to September 2026, down about 11% from $206,841 in the same months of 2025. The same operator, BetRivers, ran poker in both periods.
Poker Is a Small Slice of Online Gambling
| Market | Poker’s share of online gambling revenue | Period |
|---|---|---|
| France | 20% | 2025 |
| Ontario | 2% | September 2026 |
| Pennsylvania | about 0.9% | September 2026 |
| New Jersey | about 0.9% | September 2026 |
| Delaware | about 0.6% | Fiscal year 2026 |
In the US, poker earns less than a cent of every dollar spent on online gambling. In September 2026, Pennsylvania’s online poker took in $2.27 million of the $249.3 million earned by online casino games, about 0.9%. New Jersey’s share was about the same, $2.34 million of $274.8 million. In Delaware, poker brought in $764,608 over the 2026 fiscal year, about 0.6% of the state’s online gaming revenue.
Few operators offer poker at all. Only 4 of Pennsylvania’s 11 online casino operators reported poker revenue in September. In New Jersey, four casino licence holders did. FanDuel was the biggest poker brand in New Jersey that month, at $707,564, followed by WSOP at $660,133 and BetMGM at $484,428.
Ontario follows the same pattern. Poker earned C$6.4 million in September 2026, 2% of the province’s online gambling revenue and 1% of the money wagered. In Ontario’s first two years of regulated online gambling, poker regularly took about 3%.
Where online casino games aren’t allowed, poker matters far more. France licenses only three kinds of online gambling to competing operators: sports betting, horse-race betting and poker. There, poker accounted for 20% of the online market in 2025.
Outside the US, Poker Is Growing in France but Flat in Ontario
France gives the clearest picture of online poker outside the US. Its licensed poker sites earned €525 million in 2025, up 6.5% from 2024. The number of players grew even faster. France had 1.9 million unique online poker players in 2025, up 15.1%, holding 2.5 million active accounts, up 16.5%.
Growth picked up in 2026. Poker revenue reached €290 million in the first half of the year, 13.4% more than a year earlier, according to the semi-annual report of France’s gambling regulator, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ).
Data from Spain and Italy is patchier, but it points the same way. In Spain, online poker revenue rose 5.8% year on year in the third quarter of 2025, according to figures from the country’s regulator, the DGOJ. In Italy, partial data from the regulator, ADM, shows spending on online poker tournaments and cash games both grew in September 2026, compared with a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Ontario is the exception. From January to September 2026, the province’s online poker sites earned about C$51.4 million, roughly 2% less than in the same months of 2025. Players also wagered about 4% less. Over the same period, Ontario’s overall online gambling market kept growing. Its monthly revenue increased from C$329.8 million in September 2025 to C$416.3 million in September 2026.
Tournaments Drive Online Poker
Tournaments bring in most of online poker’s money. In France, they earned €426 million in 2025, more than four times the €100 million from cash games. Sit & Go tournaments made up most of that, at €358 million, up 8.8%. Larger multi-table tournaments earned €68 million, up 18.5%. Cash games fell 6.5%, so all of France’s poker growth came from tournaments.
Italy shows how wide the gap can be. In September 2026, players wagered €226.1 million on cash games and only €130.6 million on tournaments, according to partial data from Italy’s regulator, ADM. Tournaments still earned more than twice as much, €11.2 million against €5.2 million.
The biggest online series draws players from around the world. The 2026 WSOP Online series on GGPoker ran from August 16 to September 29, with 33 bracelet events. Its largest fields came from its cheaper events.
| Event | Buy-in | Entries |
|---|---|---|
| WSOP Asia Championship | ¥800 | 35,095 |
| Mini Main Event | $500 | 12,113 |
| Main Event | $5,000 | 6,008 |
The Main Event beat its $25 million guarantee, building a prize pool of $28,538,000. Andrii Novak of Ukraine won it for $3,931,259. The Mini Main Event’s winner took home $747,545.
PokerStars’ SCOOP series has paid out more than $1.5 billion in prizes since it began in 2009. The 2026 edition ran 136 events with more than $45 million in guarantees.
Online Poker Is Legal in Nine US States, but Banned in India and Australia
Nine US states have legalized online poker, but people can only play in six of them.
| State | Status |
|---|---|
| Delaware | Live |
| Michigan | Live |
| Nevada | Live |
| New Jersey | Live |
| Pennsylvania | Live |
| West Virginia | Live |
| Connecticut | Legalized in 2021, no licensed operator |
| Rhode Island | Legalized in 2023, not offered |
| Maine | Legalized in 2026, not launched |
All six live states belong to MSIGA, the agreement that lets them share player pools.
Legalizing online poker doesn’t mean anyone offers it. Delaware had no online poker from January 2024 until BetRivers relaunched it in mid-2025, and West Virginia got its first poker site in the same launch. Connecticut’s 2021 law allows online poker, but no operator has been licensed to run it. Rhode Island approved it in 2023, but Bally’s, the state’s only online casino operator, offers just slots and live-dealer tables. Maine became the ninth state on January 11, 2026, under a law that lets only the state’s federally recognized tribes hold licences. No Maine poker site has launched yet.
Outside the US, Ontario runs a regulated online gambling market and reports poker as its own category, covering both cash games and tournaments.
India went the other way. In August 2025, its Parliament passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, which bans all online games played for money, whether they’re based on skill or chance. India’s poker sites went dark almost at once, including PokerBaazi, PokerStars India, Adda52 and Spartan Poker. The ban took effect on May 1, 2026. Offering online money games can now bring up to three years in prison, a fine of up to ₹10 million, or both.
In Australia, it’s illegal for companies to offer real-money online poker to Australians. The ban comes from the country’s Interactive Gambling Act. In 2022, the government agency that enforces it took two men to court for running online poker games for Australian players.
Numbers That Don’t Survive Checking
Online poker is one of the easier gambling markets to check. Regulators in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ontario and France publish poker revenue on their own sites, often every month. That makes it stand out when a figure circulating online doesn’t match them.
The figures below were each traced back to where they first appeared, then compared with regulator data or the company’s own filings. None of them held up. Two come from stat-aggregator pages that list numbers without sources. One mixes up how many months a total covers. One takes a single strong month and presents it as growth. And one comes from a research firm that contradicts itself on the same page.
| The claim | What’s wrong with it |
|---|---|
| “New Jersey online poker made $12 million in the first quarter of 2026” | The article names no source. New Jersey’s gaming regulator shows the state’s online poker sites earned about $7.3 million in the first quarter. The $12 million mark wasn’t passed until May. |
| “PokerStars has 45 million active players” | It’s listed with no source. PokerStars’ owner, Flutter Entertainment, doesn’t publish a PokerStars player count. Its 2025 annual report gives 15.9 million average monthly players across all its brands combined, including FanDuel, Sky Bet and Paddy Power. |
| “82% of online poker players prefer Texas Hold’em” | No survey, sample size or date is given. Research firms estimate Texas Hold’em’s share of poker revenue, not what players prefer. |
| “Ontario’s online poker revenue jumped 25.5%” | It’s true for September 2026 alone, and players wagered about 10% less that month than a year earlier. Across the first nine months of 2026, Ontario’s poker revenue fell. |
| “Europe dominates the online poker market” (or North America) | Grand View Research says both are on the same page. Its summary says Europe “dominated” with 41.2% in 2024. Its FAQ says North America “dominated” with over 21%. |
Three questions catch most bad poker figures. First, is it poker alone, or all online gambling? Poker is often 1% or less of an online casino market, so the two shouldn’t be mixed up. Second, does the period match? A month, a quarter and a year-to-date figure can all be reported as “revenue.” Third, can it be found on a regulator’s site or in a company’s filings? If the answer to that is no, the number is a claim, not a statistic.
What Nobody Publishes
The biggest gaps are in who runs online poker and who plays it.
Michigan’s regulator combines poker with all other online casino games into one total, so poker revenue can’t be tracked in one of the six US states where it’s live. The biggest operators don’t fill the gap either. Flutter Entertainment reports PokerStars as part of its wider online casino business, with no separate revenue or player figures, and no revenue or player figures for GGPoker could be found.
Player numbers are just as hard to find. The US states on this page report how much money online poker makes, but not how many people play it. Ontario counts player accounts instead of people. Its regulator notes that these “do not represent unique players,” since one person can have accounts on several sites.
France, however, is the exception because it publishes the number of individual poker players every year.
North American regulators also report cash games and tournaments as one combined figure. That makes it impossible to tell whether the decline in US and Ontario poker revenue is coming from cash games, tournaments or both.
Poker is one small corner of online gambling. Our U.S. online gambling statistics cover the wider casino market, our Kalshi statistics follow the court fight over whether sports contracts are gambling, and our gambling addiction statistics look at the harm side. If you spot an error, let us know so we can review it and date any correction.
How to Check It Yourself
Most figures on this page come from regulators that publish every month, so they can be checked within minutes. Newer reports will show different numbers, since revenue changes month to month.
- Pennsylvania’s poker revenue. Open the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s monthly revenue release and find the “Revenue by Game Type” table. The figure is on the “iGaming Poker Revenue” line, next to the same month a year earlier. The “iPoker Revenue” column further down shows each casino’s share.
- New Jersey’s poker revenue. Open the Division of Gaming Enforcement’s monthly press release. The statewide figure is on the “Peer-to-Peer” line of the internet gaming table. For each poker brand, open the monthly Internet Gaming Win Report and look for “Peer-to-Peer Games” under each casino.
- Delaware’s poker revenue. Open the Delaware Lottery’s iGaming revenue page for the fiscal year, which runs July to June. The figures are on the “Poker Revenue” row, in the “Total” column.
- Ontario’s poker figures. Download iGaming Ontario’s Monthly Market Performance Data Tables. The “(Data) Product Monthly Stats” tab lists every month since April 2022. Poker appears as “P2P POKER,” with wagers and revenue.
- France’s poker figures. Open the ANJ’s annual market report (Bilan du marché) and go to the online poker section. Revenue is labelled “PBJ,” active accounts “CJA.” For an English summary, iGaming Business covers each ANJ report.
- The WSOP Online results. Open the event’s result page on WSOP.com. Entries and the prize pool are listed at the top.
- Flutter’s player count. Open Flutter’s 2025 annual report and search for “Average Monthly Players.” The 15.9 million figure covers all of Flutter’s brands.
- Grand View’s two “dominant” regions. Open Grand View Research’s online poker report page and search for “dominated.” It appears once for Europe and once for North America.
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these.
- Grand View Research, Online Poker Market Size, Share & Growth Report, 2025–2030grandviewresearch.com
- Fortune Business Insights, Online Poker Market Size, Share and Industry Analysisfortunebusinessinsights.com
- ResearchAndMarkets (via Business Wire), Online Poker Global Strategic Business Report 2025businesswire.com
- Custom Market Insights, Online Poker Market Reportcustommarketinsights.com
- MarkNtel Advisors, Online Poker Market Size Press Releasemarknteladvisors.com
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for January (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for February (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for March (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for April (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for May (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for June (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for July (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for August (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, PA Gaming Control Board Reports Revenue for September (2026)gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Governor Shapiro Signs Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreementgamingcontrolboard.pa.gov
- New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, September 2026 Gaming Revenue Press Releasenj.gov
- New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Internet Gaming Win Report, September 2026nj.gov
- New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Internet Gaming Win Report, May 2026nj.gov
- New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, Internet Gaming Win Report, March 2026nj.gov
- Delaware Lottery, Monthly Proceeds and Distribution, Fiscal Year 2027delottery.com
- Delaware Lottery, Monthly Proceeds and Distribution, Fiscal Year 2026delottery.com
- iGaming Ontario, Monthly Market Performance Data Tables, September 2026igamingontario.ca
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Bilan du marché des jeux d’argent et de hasard 2025anj.fr
- iGaming Business, France Gambling Market Shows Steady Growth in 2025, ANJ Reportsigamingbusiness.com
- CMS, Expert Guide to Online Gambling Regulation in Europe: Francecms.law
- G3 Newswire, French National Gaming Authority Publishes Online Gaming and Sports Betting Reportg3newswire.com
- SCCG, ANJ H1 2026 Data Reveals Online Gains Offset by FDJ and PMU Declinessccgmanagement.com
- iGaming Business, Online Casino Drives Spain Gambling Surgeigamingbusiness.com
- Calcio e Finanza, Poker online Italia: rete unica e mercato chiusocalcioefinanza.it
- PokerNews, GGPoker Unveils 2026 WSOP Online Schedule; 33 Bracelets and a $25M Gtd Main Eventpokernews.com
- WSOP.com, #11: ¥800 WSOP Asia Championship: Event Resultwsop.com
- PokerNews, GGPoker 2026 WSOP Online Mini Main Event Awards Its Championpokernews.com
- PokerNews, Novak Crowned the 2026 WSOP Main Event Championpokernews.com
- PokerNews, PokerStars SCOOP Series Passes $1.5 Billion Milestone in Total Prizespokernews.com
- Pokerfuse, One Year, Four-State Network: BetRivers Pokerpokerfuse.com
- CardPlayer, BetRivers Could Be First Online Poker Site in West Virginiacardplayer.com
- Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, Poker in CTportal.ct.gov
- CardPlayer, Rhode Island Officially Launches Online Gaming, No Online Poker For Nowcardplayer.com
- Beat The Fish, Rhode Island Online Gamblingbeatthefish.com
- Maine Legislature, Summary of LD 1164, Public Law 2025, chapter 538lldc.mainelegislature.org
- PokerNews, Maine Becomes Ninth US State to Legalize Online Pokerpokernews.com
- Bar & Bench, Legal Gamechanger: What the Online Gaming Act 2025 Means for India’s Gaming Industrybarandbench.com
- Mondaq, Statutory Update: New Legal Framework for Online Gaming From 1st May 2026mondaq.com
- Pokerfuse, India’s Black Friday: Online Poker Sites Go Darkpokerfuse.com
- Asia Gaming Brief, Australian Poker Identities to Face Federal Court for Provision of Illegal Online Poker Servicesasgam.com
- DeucesCracked, NJ Online Poker Revenue Reaches $12Mdeucescracked.com
- Gitnux, Online Poker Statisticsgitnux.org
- Flutter Entertainment, 2025 Annual Report and Accountsflutter.com
- Gambling.com, Ontario iGaming Revenue Rises 26% to C$416.3 Million in Septembergambling.com
- Michigan Gaming Control Board, February 2026 iGaming Revenuemichigan.gov