LAS VEGAS—As the coronavirus pandemic continues, online poker continues to grow and is looking ahead to after the pandemic lockdown is over.
Online poker sites are beginning to target new audiences to continue to keep growing after the lockdown.
There is no doubt that online poker has been taking advantage of its users signing on and playing from home, but in order to keep that going, they must adapt and find ways to keep users entertained.
EvenBet is looking to continue gaining interest from those who are playing online poker even after retail casinos open.
One target audience that has been playing online poker is sports bettors. Sports bettors are dealing with the effects of the coronavirus as well since all major sports are still on lockdown and basically anyone that has free time on their hands that enjoys playing.
“Online poker takes time, sometimes you need two or three hours for a tournament, and with the lockdown and quarantine, many casual players have got it— We have no doubts that the online poker vertical will grow. Actually, the growth has started before the pandemic, and now it is speeding up,” said Dmitry Starostenkov, EvenBet Gaming CEO.
They have been focusing on their ability to be able to keep the customers that they have gained as well as to keep on growing during this tough time.
“Some of the players that were playing offline and are coming to online now will not return to casinos due to various reasons: getting used to virtual entertainment, fear and anxiety of being into crowded public places, simple convenience. Our customers and partners report 50-300% growth of players’ activity in online poker in the first six weeks after the lockdown,” said Starostenkov.
Feeding onto this statement, what poker players and gamblers must remember is that once retail casinos are back up and running, there will be safety measures and social distancing guidelines to follow.
Targeting New Audiences
Online gambling sites will need to adapt if they are looking to continue growing in the areas the markets that they have captured. They will need to keep on updating their platforms and keep on finding ways to be able to keep their users entertained.
One key that was brought up by Starostenkov was the use of mobile gaming and how they are going to advance their mobile gaming options to keep the younger audiences interested.
“Native mobile apps, cross-platform web app, we have everything to play on the go without losing any excitement. That’s what we are really good at,” said Starostenkov.
Being that more people are going to be playing from home, online poker sites need to continue to develop their mobile platform and cross-platform.
These are key in sustaining their audience as it will give them more options to choose from where they want to play and the cross-platform would allow for multiple devices to link together and play as well.