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 (Winning Poker Network), Intertops and Juicy Stakes (Revolution Network), Pokerhost and Full Flush Poker (Equity Poker Network), and BetOnline Poker (Chico Network).
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.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR JULY'S REPORT: Tournaments were not tracked from Sunday, June 1st though Friday, June 6th, so the data below is missing revenues generated from these dates. Additionally, we began tracking the Chico Network on Thursday, June 19th, so we can only offer a partial look at their tournament revenues for this report.
JULY 2014 PROFIT | LOSS REPORT
Monday through Friday MTT schedule (June; 16 days recorded): $231,773 profit
Saturday MTT schedule (June; 4 days): $53,802 profit
Sunday MTT schedule (June; 4 days recorded): $169,353 profit
JUNE 2014 TOTAL: $454,928 profit (-$167,424 from May)
Despite our lack of tracking in the early portion of June as noted above (hey, we all have to take a small vacation sometime!), it's pretty easy to extrapolate that the Bodog Network held relatively even in the profit margins over the previous month. Making this kind of money on a tournament schedule puts them in rarified air in terms of US-friendly options, as Bovada, the US-facing portion of Bodog, can simply offer far more MTT's than any other US-available poker room. Their Sunday tournament profits alone would put them at or near the top of this report! A solid six-figure profit from tournaments alone speaks to the machine-like prowess of Bovada | Bodog, who also boast expedient payouts and are tops in cash game traffic among US-facing rooms (and consistently in the top 7 or 8 worldwide).
Monday through Friday MTT schedule (June; 16 days recorded): $77,494 profit
Saturday MTT schedule (June; 4 days): $19,048 profit
Sunday MTT schedule (June; 4 days recorded): $76,040 profit
JUNE 2014 TOTAL: $172,582 profit (-$72,572 from May)
The Merge Network, via their leading online poker room Carbon Poker, continues their solid tournament profits from April and May by nearing the $200,000 mark for the third straight month. June was a distinctive month for Carbon, who completed the purchase of their sister poker skin Aced Poker and steered their course true as the undisputed flagship room on Merge. Despite some player consternation regarding their VIP program shift, Carbon's tournament schedule has only continued to produce plenty of profits, and plenty of opportunities for US players eager for a hearty MTT schedule. Merge held a highly successful Online Poker Series in May, and word is that another tournament series will be announced shortly. All of this equals good news for American MTT grinders, and continued upward revenue tracking through usually slow summer months speaks volumes about the stability of both Carbon and the Merge Network.
Monday through Friday MTT schedule (June; 16 days recorded): $793 profit
Saturday MTT schedule (June; 4 days): $3,219 profit
Sunday MTT schedule (June; 4 days recorded): $23,928 profit
High Five Tournament Series (June 11-15th): $3,313 loss
JUNE 2014 TOTAL: $24,627 profit (+$6,200 from May)
Despite us missing the first six days of the month in tournament tracking, the Winning Poker Network, through its leading poker skin ACR Poker, managed a stablizing June that saw MTT profits rise for the first time since February when not including April's special Online Super Series. The late spring months were not especially kind to WPN's tournament schedule, where overlays were plentiful and player traffic decreased over a number of weeks. Adjustments to some stated guarantees helped things quite a bit, as overlays through the beginning of summer started to level off, leading to more profits for the network. And though the High Five tournament series didn't add cash to the coffers, player traffic since the event has improved. July is already shaping up to be more than double as profitable as June. Toss in ACR's announcement of a $1,000,000 guaranteed tournament in December, and you can bet that things will be on an upswing in the months to follow.
Monday through Friday MTT schedule (June; 16 days recorded): $2,267 profit
Saturday MTT schedule (June; 4 days): $588 profit
Sunday MTT schedule (June; 4 days recorded): $2,607 loss
JUNE 2014 TOTAL: $248 profit (-$856 from May)
Intertops and Juicy Stakes, the only ProfRB.com recommended online poker rooms on the Revolution Network, continue to offer players a light multi-table tournament schedule and as such, profits remained minimal in June. Their signature Sunday event had been ripe for overlays and a loss of revenue for weeks - but have since leveled off as a $10,000 guaranteed event. Other than that, their largest offerings during the week are several $1,000 guaranteed MTT's, with buy-ins between $16.50 and $27.50. This still gives tournament players a solid shot at earning scores with small player fields, maintaining both Intertops (invite only for US players) and Juicy Stakes (available to most Americans) as desirable destinations.
Monday through Friday MTT schedule (June; 16 days recorded): $4,207 loss
Saturday MTT schedule (June; 4 days): $4,414 loss
Sunday MTT schedule (June; 4 days recorded): $11,545 loss
JUNE 2014 TOTAL: $20,166 loss (-$6,262 from May)
Pokerhost and Full Flush Poker, the leading online poker rooms on the Equity Poker Network, have entered the summer with a brazen attitude that has brought more tournament players into the fold each and every week. Despite fielding tournaments with sizable overlays in relation to stated guarantees, Equity has increased guaranteed prize pools in several MTT's, including daily events and Sunday majors. Going with the "if we build it, they will come" attitude may not yield immediate profits for the fledgling network. But it sure makes them a solid destination for tournament players looking for added value opportunity in the form of overlays, competitive MTT's, and unique promotions such as immediate deposit bonuses and special bounties. Watch this network, folks. These are poker rooms on the rise in terms of US-friendly options!
Monday through Friday MTT schedule (June; 8 days recorded): $1,011 loss
Saturday MTT schedule (June; 2 days): $2,612 loss
Sunday MTT schedule (June; 2 days recorded): $154 loss
JUNE 2014 TOTAL: $3,777 loss (N/A from May; debut on this report)
BetOnline, the leading room on the Chico Network, makes its debut on our MTT Profit | Loss Report as we began tracking them on June 19th. As such, we only have a partial accounting of their tournament revenues for this month - but we will have a much more full look in our August report. However, our first glimpse at BetOnline's tournament schedule is one of intrigue, as they offer a bit of an unusual mix of low to mid guaranteed MTT's up to their once-a-month Saturday $25,000 guaranteed event. Overlays do occur in a generally uneven fashion, prompting the losses in revenue as you see above. However, added value and plenty of $1,000 to $5,000 GTD tournaments equals a boon for grinders and casual players alike.