US Online Poker MTT Profit | Loss Report (November 2013)
US online poker room multi-table tournament profits and losses, indicating a room's strength or relative weakness in maintaining player traffic and MTT offerings.
In this report, ProfRB.com compiles monthly data on all US-facing online poker rooms in terms of whether or not their multi-table tournament schedule produces a profit, or a loss of money. This report includes US-facing online poker rooms Bovada (Bodog Network), Carbon Poker (Merge Network), ACR Poker, Black Chip Poker, True Poker, PokerHost (Winning Poker Network), Intertops and Juicy Stakes (Revolution Network), Full Flush Poker (Equity Poker Network), and BetOnline Poker (Chico Network). Note: BetOnline debuted in our July 2014 report, while the Equity Poker Network debuted in our May/June 2014 report.
Every US-facing network offers its players a daily MTT schedule - we track tournaments from guarantees of $1,000 to $5,000 and higher - and we take player totals from these tournaments to determine if the room or network makes or loses money on each event. While common thought in the online gaming world is that tournaments are mostly 'loss leaders' and a miniscule portion of a gaming company's overall bottom line, you can tell by the data presented below just how strong (or not as strong) these rooms and networks are at attracting players to their sites.
A couple of notes before we dig into the numbers. The figures we report do not include freeroll or tournament ticket entries into these MTT's, so the numbers you see below are what we call "precise estimates". To see each individual US-facing online poker room's tournament schedule, full results, the amount of overlays they produce, prize pools, and more, check out our MTT Overlay and Player Traffic reports here.
NOVEMBER 2013 PROFIT | LOSS REPORT
Monday through Friday schedule (23 days)
Oct 1-4th: +$32,862
Oct 7-11th: +$39,610
Oct 14-18th: +$40,698
Oct 21-25th: +$39,063
Oct 28-31st: +$28,138
Gain | Loss (vs Sept): +$12,768 (two more work week days in October)
Saturday and Sunday schedule (8 days)
Saturdays (Oct 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th): +$37,547
Sundays (Oct 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th): +$126,493
Gain | Loss (vs Sept): -$21,540
Special Tournaments
Golden Spade Poker Open Championship Series (Oct 19th through Oct 31st): +$62,444
GRAND TOTAL (October): +$406,855 in profit (up $47,214 from Sept)
Bovada continues to show why they are a strong option for US players with a meaty MTT schedule ripe with soft players and big fields. Overlays across the board are light and infrequent, meaning Bovada is reaping the benefits of an approach that is working in spades. Consistency is their key - other than some minor tweaking, their MTT schedule both during the week and on the weekend has stayed the same over the past few months. Players grow to depend on consistent offerings, and Bovada leads the way in this regard in terms of US-facing operators. Enjoying a healthy bump in profits from their Golden Spade Poker Open Championship Series, Bovada cleared north of $406,000 in profit during the month of October on their $5k GTD or higher MTT schedule. It may not seem like much in terms of how much money is made overall by the company - but it is clearly a sign of strength and continued durability. If it ain't broke, why fix it?
If you're interested in taking advantage of Bovada's soft fields and large MTT offerings, consider signing up with Professional Rakeback!
Monday through Friday schedule (23 days)
Oct 1-4th: +$20,055
Oct 7-11th: +$21,506
Oct 14-18th: +$32,221
Oct 21-25th: +$17,276
Oct 28-31st: +$16,802
Gain | Loss (vs Sept): +$6,006 (two more work week days in October)
Saturday and Sunday schedule (8 days)
Saturdays (Oct 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th): -$17,494
Sundays (Oct 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th): +$80,011
Gain | Loss (vs Sept): -$7,871
GRAND TOTAL (October): +$170,377 in profit (down $220,354 from Sept)
Merge enjoyed a sizeable profit difference in the month of September thanks to the Poker Maximus VI series - the grand total above for October is roughly in line with profits made in September when you set aside the PMVI results. So while the profit difference month to month thus far has been minimal, Merge continues to shake out a changing MTT schedule and thus the roller coaster of irregular overlays. November already has seen another series commence (the ongoing Carbon OPS series), but its effect on their normal MTT schedule may produce a different monetary result. The bottom line, though, is that Merge is in the process of retooling their MTT offerings and during this transition, they seem willing to burden some temporary profit fluctuations compared to other rival networks and poker rooms.
If you're interested in playing on Merge Network skins Carbon Poker, Aced Poker, and/or Pokerhost (independent cashier system), be sure to contact us!
Monday through Friday schedule (23 days)
Oct 1-4th: -4,782
Oct 7-11th: -$1,206
Oct 14-18th: +$2,459
Oct 21-25th: +$617
Oct 28-31st: -$1,342
Gain | Loss (vs Sept): -$24,371 (two more work week days in October)
Saturday and Sunday schedule (8 days)
Saturdays (Oct 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th): +$4,476
Sundays (Oct 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th): +$14,790
Gain | Loss (vs Sept): +$565
GRAND TOTAL (October): +$15,103 in profit (down $16,068 from Sept)
The Winning Poker Network wasn't able to build off of a decently profitable September in terms of their $5k GTD or higher MTT schedule in October. One of the key reasons has been issues with their servers, which has seen cancellation of tournaments and lower turnout in spots as a result. Though WPN is most definitely an online poker network on the rise in the US-facing market with plenty to offer for both MTT and cash game players, the opportunity for further profits rests largely in their ability to nip the little issues in the bud once and for all. As stated last month, sometimes you have to spend money to make money - and WPN has shown plenty of resiliency while getting their poker operations on the right track over the past few months.
If you're interested in playing on ProfRB.com recommended Winning Poker Network skins ACR Poker, Black Chip Poker, and/or True Poker, be sure to contact your friends at Professional Rakeback!
A whirlwind of activity has surrounded the Revolution Network over the past month - highlights include segregation, Intertops and Juicy forming a new partnership under new ownership group Zagox Management, and Lock leaving the network abruptly in late October. The Revolution MTT schedule took a beating as a result, as normally scheduled tournaments didn't run and guarantee amounts were changed on a weekly basis. Moving forward, with Intertops announcing a new MTT schedule and Lock now completely independent of the network, we will be tracking fresh results and will have those included in future profit | loss reports.