Online poker traffic fell another 2.2% this week. Nine of the top 10 tracked sites and networks showed a loss for the week.

The exception was Cereus Network, which surged ahead 22%. The network saw a serious ramp-up in traffic Thursday through Saturday. The reason for the bounce is unknown, but it does not appear to be related to the network's announcement a week earlier that it had patched all remaining security holes in its client-server communication. A larger than usual bad beat jackpot may have contributed to the late-week climb, but the main cause remains a mystery.

Merge Gaming Network also defied the odds and posted a gain for the eighth consecutive week. The network has more than tripled in size since acquiring several sites from Cake Poker Network.

Top Of The Charts

iPoker Network held off PartyPoker to keep the third place ranking for a second consecutive week. iPoker now leads Party by nearly 3%.

Movers

Cereus Network moved up three spots, from ninth to sixth, pushing Everest, IPN and Microgaming down a notch. PacificPoker eased ahead of PKR to take 13th. Merge Gaming Network continued its run, jumping like a quick brown fox over a lazy Bodog to take 15th place.

Year Over Year

The worldwide online poker market is still growing, but at a relatively sluggish pace. According to PokerScout's ACES indicator, online poker traffic is increasing at an annual rate of 9%, marking the first time in history that online poker's annual growth has dropped below 10%.

Notable gainers:

Merge Gaming Network 103%

Betfair 26%

PokerStars 22%

Full Tilt Poker 21%

Notable losers:

iPoker Network 30%

Cake Poker Network 30%

PacificPoker 16%

Svenska Spel 13%

Microgaming Network 12%