Online Poker Rooms Battle: PokerStars Triples Traffic of Full TiltAt the top of the online poker battle for most players, PokerStars sits comfortably. So comfortable is PokerStars that they have triple the traffic now of their nearest rival, Full Tilt Poker.
PokerStars had originally considered abandoning the US market last year after the passage of a new law that looked to ban online poker. The popular online poker room consulted with its legal counsel who would ultimately interpret the law as "too vague" in its enforcement. A court ruling on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and its policy is anticipated within days.
Recent monitoring shows that PokerStars has had nearly three times the number of cash players as Full Tilt Poker and almost 20,000 at its peak on Tuesday while Full Tilt had under 10,000. PartyPoker, which no longer accepts US players, has also been beating out Full Tilt.
"It could be that Full Tilt is losing its marketing edge," commented Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher.
One of the biggest shocks is that Bodog.com has not be able to capitalize on the departure of other top online poker rooms from the US market over the past year.
The site continues to flirt with the bottom of the top 10, hardly mirroring the unprecedented growth of the Bodog brand when it was first launched in 2001.
"Gambling911.com is going to be working closely with Bodog Poker to try and build that brand to become the power house it should be," Costigan said. "Calvin Ayre mentions our website in the 2006 Billionaire's issue of Forbes Magazine as one of his most endeared advertising vehicles prior to anyone having even heard of Bodog."
Part of the problem with Bodog Poker is its celebrity endorsers are either too snooty or boring.
Jenny Woo of Gambling911.com:
"We have tried repeatedly to reach out to toe-sucking MILF-loving David Williams (Bodog Poker celebrity endorser who was filmed having sex with a grandmother). We requested that he become one of Gambling911.com's MySpace friends, but no dice."
Even Bodog founder, Calvin Ayre, is a MySpace friend of Gambling911.com, despite being stalked by resident alternative life style reporter, Sparky Collins. The two are rumored to have shared an "intimate" moment in Room 141 of the Sanctuary Hotel in Miami Beach last year, though both deny that any "intrusive" activity took place.
"See, it could be worse David!" Woo advises.
Speaking of getting screwed (okay you saw this one coming a mile away), Absolute Poker has recovered nicely from its disastrous "October Surprise". A consultant for the firm was found to be cheating in some online poker tournaments over a one month period.
The reaction, though slow at first, was to pay out all those who could have remotely have been affected by the "cheater". All said customers were refunded.
Absolute Poker, also a Gambling911.com endorsed online poker room has been edging out Bodog. Its sister site, UltimateBet, frequently comes in around the number 7 online poker room. Both Absolute and UltimateBet, however, rank 3rd and 4th in the US market, respectively.
iPoker Network, OnGame and Everest have ranked among the upper top 10 in recent months. Betfair Poker, another Gambling911.com endorsed online poker room, continues to push its way up from the lower top 15 tier. That major betting firm has held a podcast to announce its new Poker Director, thus signaling Betfair's commitment to taking on the big boys over the coming months.
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Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor
Originally published November 21, 2007 9:04 am EST
