Most people that have been playing online poker know that the sport itself is somewhat fluid. There are peaks and valleys like anything else online. Here we’re going to talk about the latest traffic statistics for some of the poker sites you may play at. There is an overall general trend of sites losing poker players and not gaining them.
What does this mean to the average poker player reading this?
Truthfully, not much overall. The only thing that really matters is there are enough players when you go online. If a site has that, then you’re all set to shuffle up and deal.
Overall player traffic fell 2.2% at ring games on the top ten most popular poker sites.
Bovada gained 100 users in the past month and averages 1,800 users at any given time.
Both iPoker Network and PartyPoker gained 50 players each.
Pokerstars saw a 3.2% decline at the cash tables. This number is a little misleading due to more people are now playing their instant games.
888poker and PokerStars.it both lost players in the past month.
PokerStars.es and Full Tilt also saw a decline in their player numbers.
It should be noted that there has been a small uptick in players to the legal online poker rooms geared towards Americans. BorgataPoker.com and Partypoker NJ picked up a few players while WSOP.com and 888poker NJ saw a small decrease. This should be expected as it has been a rocky start for all legal online poker rooms in America.
It all boils down to the poker sites themselves and their ability to attract new customers. At this point they’ve done a fairly poor job at this and maybe things will pick up after awhile. Legal online poker is still new and there are many hurdles that need to be jumped before it can truly take off.
What do these numbers prove?
They prove that online poker is in a slight decline at the current moment. This could be nothing more than a simple trend that will get corrected over time. There have been reports of bots and collusion at some poker rooms. We’re not going to include these rumors because there’s no way to tell if they’re true or not.
The overall state of online poker remains strong and will continue to be in the near future. The problem with lack of credibility is something that has yet to be addressed in any meaningful way. Players are basically left to wonder about the integrity of any site they play at.
It’s clear that the heyday of online poker may have passed. The days of fish flooding the sites waiting to be caught are long gone. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of money to be made. Each and every day there are players from all over the world cashing out.
You too can be one of those players. It’s all a matter of finding the right poker room and practicing. There’s nothing that will turn you into an instant pro and only hard work will inch you closer to your poker goals.