Online Poker sees Dip in Traffic

IGT recently dropped out of the European poker marketplace, after spending a small fortune to purchase the Entraction poker network. They reckoned that regulatory changes in Europe had made this market untenable for them. Bwin.Party, who offer Bwin Poker, have had a few moans about the fact that their poker traffic is dropping, and basically across the board this is the trend being seen.

Even last week online poker traffic fell by 1.4%, but we wouldn't read too much into this at this stage. It is the second week running that measurable drops in traffic have been seen. Traffic is measured across the Top Ten websites, were declines in numbers are definitely more evident than increases in numbers. As we said a month back, IGT wants out of Europe, so, their announcement brought a predictable drop to their network numbers. Last week the drop was 15%, the week before this was a massive 30%. Former Entraction operators such as Victor Chandler (BetVictor) will be moving to the Microgaming poker network.

The iPoker network still holds fast in second place; this is the Playtech product. They have a 5% lead over next biggest brand which is Party Poker. Both of these products have announced initiatives which could improve their game. But we recon they will race neck and neck into the future.

Ongame has advanced somewhat, while Revolution Gaming pulled ahead of PokerStars.fr (this is only their French website). Svenska Spel business has dropped, and in total, worldwide, online poker sites are still feeling the consequences of a hard-hitting regulatory environment. Whether global stagnation in poker is the cause or not remains to be seen, but the pattern seems to be there. Fast-fold poker has also been blamed for decreasing player numbers per play volume. In fact, according to stats, traffic has decreased by 13% during 2012.

A dip in traffic is not always a bad thing. When operators realise that numbers are down, there is usually a boost in promotions and online offers. Cause and effect. To see what's on offer, check out of comparisons for the best online poker rooms.