[D ATA ]
KEY STATISTICS
This month, H2 considers the impact that the regulation and taxation regimes in Italy and France have had on both the development of the markets to date and the associated tax take generated
behind the peak of 5,825 on 3 March 2010. H2 expects the index to break through the 4,000 barrier during the holiday season, a level that would still be nearly 20% lower than during the same period in 2010. FRANCE AND ITALY TAXATION: THE STORY SO FAR Attempting to assess the effectiveness of the tax regimes in France and Italy and the resulting impact on their remote gambling markets produces some misleading information. In headline terms, the French system has generated around €210m over the ?ve quarters commencing at the beginning of Q3 2010 which is ahead of the c€180m generated in by remote betting and gaming in Italy over the same period. France generated a total remote betting and gaming gross win of €800m over the period as opposed to Italy’s €807m. In France, onshore regulated remote betting and gaming accounted for 6.9% of the total gambling by French citizens over the same period where as in Italy the corresponding ?gure was only 3.2%. However, this position is clearly distorted by the scale and development of Italy’s land-based gambling sector which includes more product verticals than France, a more competitive supply structure and a total annual gambling gross win per adult of €390 compared to just €190 in France.
? H2
P O K E R D ATA
regulated interactive poker is expected to account for just over 35% of the global market once all other markets are taken into account. H2 now expects full year 2011 internet poker market gross revenues to come in at €2.95bn (fractionally down on its prior forecast of €3.03bn which it warned might be further downgraded), which would be just over 17% down on the record €3.56bn of 2010 and the lowest annual market value since 2008 when the market was €2.85bn. Internet poker activity showed signs of strengthening towards the end of the period. At end of October last year, H2’s Internet Poker Volume Index (H2VI) stood at 3,940, 14.6% ahead of the level at the end of September. This still equates to almost 15% behind the level at the end of 2010 and 41%
INTERNET POKER SHOWS FIRST SIGNS OF GROWTH SINCE BLACK FRIDAY October saw online poker play increase by 1.3% in terms of average players, a small rise in itself but the ?rst since Black Friday. This compares to increases of 1.4% in both 2010 and 2009. H2’s initial assessment of the value of the internet poker gross revenues for October 2011 was approximately €238m, building on its ?nal postearning season number for Q3 of €677m compared to its forecast of €691m. Despite the development of the Italian and French markets, this is the lowest quarterly market value since Q4 2007. During Q3, the Italian and French markets generated a combined gross win of €173.5m, which represents more than 25% of the global market. Overall onshore
01
AVERAGE REAL MONEY PLAYER NUMBERS
2011
INTERNET POKER IN DEPTH
? OCTOBER
2011 GGY
Real money Internet poker (including bonuses) (ring games and tournaments – Including all dot.com and dot.country sites)
2009
? OCTOBER
Ring games and tournaments
O CTOB ER 11
92.300
O CTOB ER 10
2010
124.000
O CTOB ER 09
313
MI L L I O N
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
308
MI L L I O N
2011
113.400
28
238
M ILL ION
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