BLACK FRIDAY GOOD FOR MERGE POKER NETWORK

Written On  5/4/11 By Recentpoker.com staff writer  Lenny Wasman :

Traffic has soared almost 70 percent
 
The latest assessment  in the wake of Black Friday shows that the Merge Poker Network is now the US market leader, growing its traffic almost 70 percent in the three weeks since Black Friday, which removed rivals Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and the Cereus Network from its path.
 
"Merge now ranks 10th in the world for cash game traffic after being ranked 18th at the beginning of April," Pokerscouts reports, adding that the worldwide online poker market shrank by 18 percent in the second half of April after Black Friday, compared to the first half of the
month.
 
"Most of those losses came from the Big Two: PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker," the monitor notes, presenting stats measuring the impact of the US Department of Justice action:
 
– Cereus Network has lost more than 75 percent of its traffic and has become a minor player in online poker
 
– Merge Gaming Network continues to climb, gaining 69 percent since Black Friday
 
– Bodog and Cake Poker Network have seemingly lost momentum, leaving Merge as the clear winner in the US market
 
– European sites overall have not posted especially strong gains since Black Friday
 
– PartyPoker traffic has risen 10 percent, but this may be primarily due to aggressive promotions, including the very popular Gladiator which started May 1.