Online Poker Traffic Down 15% So Far In 2013
December 10, 2013 4:46 pmThe bad news is that as of last week online poker traffic is down by 15% compared to the same time last year. However, on the positive side, with Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey now offering internet poker, and with the possibility of other US states following suit in 2014, traffic numbers this time next year may actually show an improvement when comparing year-on-year totals.
Nevertheless, USA’s fledgling legalized online poker industry will likely take some time to achieve significant traction and up until now New Jersey, which represents around 50% of the domestic market, has not added even 1% to the entire worldwide market. Meanwhile,
taking an early lead in the race to become New Jersey’s dominant online poker room is PartyPoker and its partner, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, which is currently averaging 200 cash game players over a seven-day period.
Turning our attention worldwide, cash game traffic reported a slight 1% increase in numbers last week, following a fortnight of decreasing traffic. Not surprisingly, the industry’s top five poker rooms retained their recent rankings, and as of today PokerStars has a seven-day average of 22,500 players, followed by iPoker (2,500), 888poker (2,300), Full Tilt Poker (2,300), and PartyPoker (2,100).
However, the iPoker network did gain 100 more cash players over the seven-day period, thus increasing its lead over nearest rivals 888poker and Full Tilt Poker. There is likely to be further good news in store for the iPoker network soon, as Ladbrokes has announced it would be leaving its current location at MPN to join iPoker around Christmas. In addition, Unibet has already signaled its intention to leave MPN early next year, likely resulting in MPN dropping out of the top ten before long.
Finally, the International Poker Network (IPN) has announced it would be shutting shop in the coming months as it has seen its player traffic plummet by a massive 90% since peaking back in 2010.