Online Poker Traffic Down 8 Weeks in a row

Tuesday April 8,2014 :  ONLINE POKER TRAFFIC DOWN FOR EIGHTH WEEK RUNNING
 
Decline this week is fortunately marginal, but over time the downward trend is worrying.
 
The independent online poker monitor Pokerscout reports that traffic fell, albeit a marginal 0.1 percent, last week for the eighth consecutive week, underlining the lower traffic trend that has seen eleven of the last twelve weeks in decline.
 
On a global basis, the monitor reports that online poker traffic is down 12 percent on the same period last year.
 
Pokerstars remains unchallenged at the head of last week's traffic leaderboard, with PartyPoker and iPoker its closest rivals but still way behind.
 
Pokerscout notes that Unibet's move to its own independent platform appears to have paid off, with steadily rising traffic over the last few weeks following its departure from the MPN.
 
Troubles surrounding the virtual currency Bitcoin and its volatile exchange rate seem to have imposed a significant drag on sites accepting the currency, especially SealsWithClubs, which suffered a 15 percent decline in traffic over the week.
 
Pokerscout also notes that the small network titled PlutoNet seems to have hit a wall of some sort, with traffic abruptly dropping by 95 percent for reasons that are not presently apparent. The monitor speculates that the dramatic dip may have been occasioned by a major skin departing.