PokerScout, the online poker site traffic tracker, has noticed that the number of poker players visiting online poker rooms has been steadily falling week by week. According to its latest weekly report, traffic to online poker rooms has fallen by 2.9 percent.
However, there are a few exceptional cases. For instance, Merge Gaming Network, which includes popular poker rooms such as Carbon Poker and Pokerview, has reported 0.4 percent rise in traffic volume.
This increase in traffic percentage has pushed Merge into the seventh place in the PokerScout ranking.
Merge Gaming Network gained a lot after the events of April 15, 2011, commonly called Black Friday in online poker gaming circles.
Traffic to skins on the Merge Network increased all of a sudden, but recently even Merge has reported 2 percent decline in poker traffic. Still, this decline is not as drastic as the decline observed at some of the other networks.
PokerScout, however, believes that things are going to improve this month as three of the ten top online poker rooms have reported increase in player traffic. While Merge clambered into the seventh rank, pushing Winamax.fr to the eighth rank, Bodog occupied the 12th rank, International.it moved up to the 13th rank, and iPoker.it fell to the 14th rank. PartyPoker.fr got into the 17th rank, a place previously occupied by Svenska Spel, while International Poker Network fell out of the list of top 20 sites and Ongame.fr took its place.
PokerScout is of the opinion that the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which began in Las Vegas on Sunday, will lead to an increase in player traffic. They also feel that the newly regulated Spanish poker market will increase online poker traffic.
Lock Poker’s acquisition of Cake Poker Network could also make a significant difference in traffic. Since Lock Poker has re-christened Cake Poker Network as Revolution Gaming Network and intends to develop the product, traffic to poker sites on the Revolution Gaming Network is bound to increase.
Traffic to online poker rooms has fallen by 19 percent this year, and online poker rooms are struggling to retain customers after Black Friday. PokerStars, however, stands in a class of its own. While PokerStars rivals Party Poker and the iPoker Network have reported a 14 percent decline in traffic over the year, PokerStars has reported a robust traffic increase of 9 percent. Similarly, 888 Poker, Winamax.fr, Chico Poker Network, and Everleaf Gaming Network reported significant rise in traffic.
