Online poker traffic continued to show seasonal weakness last week, with player counts falling 0.4% despite a boost from PokerStars. Traffic has now decreased 11 out of the last 12 weeks. Among the top 10 sites and networks, decliners outpaced advancers seven to three.
PokerStars gained 4% for the week after launching a SCOOP reload bonus last Monday. The Spring Championship of Online Poker tournament series kicks off next week with $30 million in guarantees. The bonus was launched in advance of the tournament series, offering players a 50% bonus on deposits made by May 3. The bonus is cleared by earning player points, which ensures an elevated traffic level that may last a few days beyond the May 3 deposit deadline.
IGT Poker (formerly Entraction Network) lost 8% for the week. The network's Purple Lounge poker site recently ceased doing business with no word on the fate of player deposits. IGT boasted more than 1200 average cash game players in February, but now has just over 800.
Top 20 Movers
- Bodog / Bovada moved up a notch to 13th place, pushing iPoker.it down to 14th.
- Svenska Spel climbed from 17th to 15th, causing IGT Poker and EverestPoker.fr to fall to 16th and 17th, respectively.
Year Over Year
The total worldwide online poker market remains under pressure from a global stagnation in poker's popularity as well as continued fallout from Black Friday. According to PokerScout's ACES indicator, online poker traffic (ex-Italy) has decreased by 20% in the last year.
Year-over-year changes for some individual sites and networks are given below. Results are for the main (.com) sites and networks unless stated otherwise.
Top three:
PokerStars* 
11%
iPoker Network 
4%
PartyPoker 13%
Notable gainers:
888poker 38%
Winamax.fr 30%
Merge Gaming Network 6%
Notable decliners:
Full Tilt Poker 100%
Cereus Network 99%
International Poker Network (IPN) 49%
Small but interesting:
Chico Poker Network (formerly Action Poker Network) 277%
Everleaf Gaming Network 45%
*Yearly comparison affected by the introduction of Zoom Poker in March 2012.
