Online Poker Traffic Slips 3 percent in February
02/21/2012 : ONLINE POKER TRAFFIC SLIPS ANOTHER 3 PERCENT
Latest Pokerscout numbers show second consecutive week of losses
An independent online poker monitor notes in its latest weekly report that online poker traffic slipped a further 3 percent last week, the second consecutive loss for operators.
Player counts for nine of the top 10 sites and networks all declined, with Everleaf Gaming Network traffic dropping off 16 percent in the wake of its US exit.
Pokerscout speculates that US officials may next train their sights on the Merge Gaming Network, Bodog / Bovada or Cake Poker Network, observing that these represent the three largest liquidity pools still open to US players.
Last week's main movers and shakers were:
• Merge Gaming Network in eighth place, overtaking PokerStars.fr.
• Bodog up two slots into 14th, overtaking iPoker.it and EverestPoker.fr.
Reviewing the year-on-year position, Pokerscout reports that the industry is still under pressure following Black Friday and a dilution in poker's global popularity, which has seen online poker traffic (excluding-Italy) decrease by 28 percent in the last year.
The industry's top three online poker operators remain PokerStars, Party Poker and iPoker, with Merge experiencing soaring traffic up 85 percent, 888Poker up 77 percent, Bodog up 62 percent, and Winamax better off by 44 percent.
Poor performances are noted at International Poker Network down 49 percent, PKR down 25 percent and Ongame down 21 percent.
Among the smaller networks Chico Poker shone with traffic up 312 percent.
