PokerStars New Investor: Peter Jackson

It may have been a rather miserable 2020 for Peter Jackson the famous film director, but for his poker industry namesake at the helm of PokerStars and Paddy Power owners Flutter, it’s time to invest…

The Peter Jackson of the gaming and gambling world helped to create the world’s biggest online betting company with an $11.4billion merger.

What has been a hugely difficult time for many has, however, been markedly less horrendous for those involved in online poker and online casino offerings – revenue up almost 50% to £1.5 billion despite overall profits for the group suffering.

“In contrast to our sports betting operations, our poker and casino businesses experienced a major uplift in player numbers during this period as people sought new ways to entertain themselves while staying at home,” stated Jackson in an interim trading report midweek.

The numbers game showed that “PokerStars’ average daily gaming customers increased 70% year-on-year in Q2,” with Jackson claiming that Flutter had “benefitted from geographic and product diversification,” even as the group’s pre-tax profit fell from £81 million to £24 million.

Online poker as a whole has benefitted greatly during the global pandemic and subsequent lockdowns that have ravaged live poker, even Jackson describing the past few months as “a bit surreal”.

We have covered the experts’ views on why exactly poker is benefitting while other verticals aren’t, and how the face of online poker may be changed forever even if the general world situation returns to some kind of normality.

For Jackson, that means investment and possibly bold changes, some of which is likely to affect PokerStars directly.

“Looking ahead, we have identified promising opportunities to increase investment across the group and, while the outlook with respect to COVID-19 remains highly uncertain, the diversification of our group means we approach the future with confidence.”

While one Peter Jackson has to wait until next year for his highly-anticipated documentary on ‘The Beatles’ to hit the screens, the beardless Flutter version is already cashing in on success.