Online Poker Traffic Down 2.7 Percent Week of 4/24/12

4/24/2012 : ONLINE POKER TRAFFIC DOWN 2.7 PERCENT LAST WEEK
 
But Playtech's iPoker network continues to gain ground
 
Last week saw player traffic to online poker websites decline by 2.7 percent, reports the independent online poker monitor Pokerscout in its latest weekly review of the sector.
 
Eight of the ten top sites reported declines in traffic in a period that Pokerscout characterises as one of "seasonal weakness."
 
With the passing of the first anniversary of Black Friday, the acute losses have washed through the system, enabling statistical comparisons to return to a more rational level, with Pokerstars again showing positive growth of 8 percent…still ahead of closest rivals iPoker and Party Poker.
 
Much of the growth is due to the unfortunate situation in which Full Tilt Poker finds itself, although there are signs of life again in that quarter.
 
However, Pokerscout notes that so far this month iPoker Network has demonstrated stellar performance, with traffic rising 2 percent since the last week of March. Over the same time period, PokerStars has fallen 10 percent and PartyPoker is down 16 percent.
 
Year over year online poker traffic (ex-Italy) has decreased by 19 percent, Pokerscout reports, noting that Pokerstars remains the top dog, with second place changing hands from time to time between iPoker and Party Poker.
 
The monitor's "notable gainers" list for this week includes:
 
Winamax.fr  up 47 percent
 
888poker up 44 percent
 
Merge Gaming Network up 27 percent
 
Still reeling from Black Friday with negligible growth are Full Tilt and Cereus, with GTechG2's International Poker Network still struggling and down 49 percent.
 
Chico Poker Network (formerly Action Poker Network) continues to deliver astonishing growth at 235 percent, albeit from a small base, whilst the equally small Everleaf Network climbed 43 percent.