Weekly Online Poker Traffic Update

Posted by Lasse Hamar 25/01/12

Online poker traffic fell 2% last week in a broad decline. Among the top 10 sites and networks, decliners outpaced advancers seven to three.

Merge Gaming Network took a hit after its $1 million bad beat jackpot was awarded a week ago. Traffic on the network declined 10% week-over-week.

Even so, Merge is still outperforming its chief rival in the US market. Since Bodog mandated anonymous tables in December, the site has lost 5% of its traffic despite the fact that we are now in a busier season. Over the same time frame, Merge Gaming Network has gained 14% and Cake Poker Network is up 5%. Using those competitors as a performance yardstick, Bodog appears to have lost 10%-15% of its player volume by instituting anonymous tables.

Meanwhile, rebranding seems to be in the air these days for online poker networks. Since Bodog renamed its US-facing business to Bovada late last year, the craze seems to be spreading throughout the industry. In just the last few weeks, we've seen four network name changes:

Entraction Network has become IGT Poker

Yatahay Network is now Winning Poker Network

Action Poker Network has turned into Chico Poker Network

B3W Network is reborn as Poker Pack Network


Top 20 Movers

PokerStars.it pulled ahead of Ongame Network to take over fifth place.

PokerStars.fr moved up a notch to ninth, leaving Microgaming Network behind in 10th.

PeoplesNetwork.it dropped from 13th to 15th, allowing IGT Poker (formerly Entraction Network) and Bodog to move up a notch.

EverestPoker.fr jumped from 20th to 16th.

Everest Poker and IPN lost a spot, finishing in 17th and 18th, respectively.

Svenska Spel slid from 18th to 20th.
Year Over Year

The total worldwide online poker market remains under pressure from Black Friday and a global stagnation in poker's popularity. According to PokerScout's ACES indicator, online poker traffic (ex-Italy) has decreased by 33% in the last year.

Year-over-year changes for some individual sites and networks are given below. Results are for the main (.com) sites and networks unless stated otherwise.

Top three:

PokerStars  20%

PartyPoker  10%

iPoker Network  2%

Notable gainers:

Merge Gaming Network  82%

888poker  69%

Bodog  45%

Notable decliners:

Full Tilt Poker  100%

Cereus Network  99%

Entraction Network  52%

International Poker Network (IPN)  47%

Small but interesting:

Chico Poker Network (formerly Action Poker Network) up 304%

Winning Poker Network (formerly Yatahay Network) up 77%

From PokerScout

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