Online poker traffic climbed 6% in the first full week of the New Year. Among the top 10 sites and networks, advancers led decliners 9-1.
The peak season for online poker is starting off in grand style. PokerStars, PartyPoker, 888 and MPN all booked weekly gains of 5% or more. Many of their competitors are not far behind, and some regulated market sites saw even larger gains.
Full Tilt Poker was the only loser among the top 10 with a fractional decline. The world's second largest poker site performed remarkably well over the holiday period, leading to tough comparisons after the holidays. Full Tilt's lead over PartyPoker, recently more than 50%, has now fallen to just under 40%.
International.it jumped dramatically in the rankings as traffic spiked overnight last Wednesday. The Italian network has moved up rapidly from 18th to 11th. The cause of the increase is under investigation, and may be simply a case of bad data.
More big gains may be in store for the coming weeks as we get closer to the very busiest time of the year.
Read more analysis in our new Scouting Report newsletter.
Top 20 Movers
- International.it jumped up the charts from 18th to 11th place.
- Revolution Gaming slipped a notch to 12th.
- Dollaro Poker climbed from 14th to 13th.
- Bodog and Ongame Network each lost two spots, falling to 14th and 15th, respectively.
- Svenska Spel dropped from 15th to 16th.
- PartyPoker.fr slid two notches to 18th.
Year Over Year
The relaunch of Full Tilt Poker brought a significant number of players back into the online poker market. Nevertheless, the total worldwide market continues to feel the effects of a tough regulatory environment and a global stagnation in poker's popularity. The introduction of fast-fold poker in the last 12 months has also had the effect of reducing player counts for the same amount of play volume (or increasing the rate of hands dealt for a given number of players). According to PokerScout's ACES indicator, online poker player counts have decreased by 4% in the last year.
More year-on-year data and charts can be found in our new Scouting Report newsletter.
