Online poker traffic fell this week, led by a drop in player counts at PokerStars. The world's largest poker site lost 5% on the week while Full Tilt Poker gained 5%. PokerStars now has just over 1.9 times as many players as Full Tilt, the lowest ratio between the two rivals since last June. The ratio peaked at nearly three during the PokerStars 25 billionth hand promotion in February but has been declining ever since.

PartyPoker gained 9% this week as its Gladiator promotion kicked into high gear. The promotion, similar to Full Tilt's Iron Man Challenge, rewards players with cash prizes for accumulating a minimum number of points on a daily basis. The formula seems to be a winning one as PartyPoker's traffic is now at its highest mark in more than two years.

PartyGaming also announced a $105 million settlement this week with US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, erasing any potential legal liability for actions taken before the company pulled out of the US market in 2006. The settlement was cheered by investors as it clears the way for PartyGaming to participate in mergers and acquisitions as the online poker industry continues to consolidate.

The Flash Poker Network and its flagship site Pitbull Poker suffered from serious technical issues this week. The problem was reportedly a loss of server connectivity at the company's hosting facility, which caused the network to be available only intermittently or not at all for four consecutive days. The network has been back online since Friday and seems to have recovered most of its previous traffic.

Top Of The Charts

The top five ranked sites kept their positions this week. This makes 54 consecutive weeks without a change in the top five spots.

Movers

Action Poker Network and World Poker Exchange each moved up one spot from last week, while Everleaf Gaming Network and Flash Poker Network each slipped down one notch.

Year Over Year

The worldwide online poker market continues to grow despite the global economic slowdown. According to PokerScout's ACES indicator, online poker is growing at an annual rate of more than 25%.

Notable gainers:

PokerStars 48%

Full Tilt Poker 69%

Entraction Network 106%

CakePoker Network 49%

Notable losers:

Bodog 39%

Svenska Spel 20%

Cereus Network 16%

Everest Poker 12%