POKERSTARS 70 BILLIONTH HAND PROMOS BOOST POKER TRAFFIC

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 : Impressive 12.5 percent boost to traffic last week, reports independent monitor

Online poker traffic took off last week, gaining a remarkable 12.5 percent as all top 10 sites and networks saw increases in player counts, reports the independent internet poker monitor Pokerscout.

"The PokerStars 70 billionth hand promotion generated a majority of the increase," the monitor notes, adding that the number of players online ramped up sharply as the final hand approached.

"A peak of 72,868 cash game players was recorded around the time of the milestone, but the true number was likely closer to 100,000," Pokerscout reports, revealing that PokerStars gained 22 percent over the week, further enhancing the previous week's 6 percent gain.

Traffic was good elsewhere, too. Merge continued to climb by another 2 percent, but one of the biggest gainers was GTechG2's International Poker Network (IPN), which achieved a 19 percent increase in traffic, probably due to a growing jackpot of over half-a-million euros.

Party Poker was the nearest rival to the all-dominant Pokerstars, with Playtech's iPoker chasing, as has been the case for the past seven weeks.

The French Pokerstars site overtook its Italian dedicated counterpart, but Bodog, PeoplesNetwork.it, Svenska Spel, Everest Poker and EverestPoker.fr, each gained traffic but fell two places in the overall rankings, ending up 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th, respectively, and dropping Cake Poker to the 21st spot.

The year-on-year numbers, which have been reflecting around a 34 percent decline in internet poker traffic following the Black Friday debacle in the USA, looked a little better thanks to the big surge last week. The decline is now 24 percent.

Pokerscout's gainers list for the year shows 888Poker up 83 percent; Merge up 71 percent; and Bodog up 57 percent.

Notable decliners are listed as:

Full Tilt Poker 100 percent

Cereus Network 99 percent

Ongame.fr 36 percent

EverestPoker.fr 35 percent

International Poker Network (IPN) 34 percent

Ongame Network 23 percent

Cake Poker Network 22 percent

Day 1a MPN Poker Tour Tallinn Main Event - Day 1a brought 106 entries into the €550 Main Event, with nearly as many players turning out for the last €35 super satellite into tomorrow’s Day 1b

NHL Odds: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Washington Capitals on Tuesday - Auston Matthews and the Toronto Maple Leafs touch down in DC this Tuesday (7 PM ET on TSN) as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. They've tallied a ridiculous 26 goals through only five games played; that's more than five goals scored per game on average. They'll be up against an equally potent Washington Capitals team.

Pro League Reveals Sportradar Contract Details - The partnership between the PLC and Sportradar aims to provide a high-quality level of service to all Arabian Gulf League stakeholders in addition to making verified official data about players performances available to coaching and scouting staff and supplying match information to media outlets.

NFL Odds: Steelers Visit Undefeated Chiefs #TNF - The Kansas City Chiefs (5-0 SU and ATS) have been flawless as an NFL pick thus far. Their chances of remaining undefeated in Week 6 look good; after opening at –4.5, Kansas City is a 5-point home chalk for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2 SU, 2-3 ATS), beginning at 4:25 PM ET on CBS.

Mega Moolah strikes again - The jackpot was hit on a mobile device on Sunday 1 October 2017 by a UK player on Betway, this time awarding a £1,448,116.31 pay day.

2 New Slots For Microgaming Casinos - David Reynolds, Games Publisher at Microgaming, comments: “On top of our branded title game Halloween, we’re delivering two more slots this October, each bringing exciting features and a different theme.

MLS Odds: Red Bulls vs. Whitecaps - The New York Red Bulls (12W, 12L, 7T) haven’t won a match since August 15, but they’re –165 favorites this Saturday against the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps (15W, 10L, 6T), beginning at 5 PM ET. Vancouver is a +475 underdog with the draw priced at +285.

Simon Jones is crowned the Greatest Poker Player in the Universe - A €10,000 leaderboard tracked player progress throughout the series to determine who the Greatest Poker Player in the Universe was. Professional poker player/sports psychology lecturer, Simon Jones, took the crown with a €5,000 cash bonus and trophy to prove it.