In an unconfirmed rumor first reported by RakeTheRake, Victory Poker, which currently makes its home on the Cake Poker Network, may soon be jumping ship to the CEREUS Network. The latter family of sites includes UB.com and Absolute Poker, both of which accept players from the United States.
Poker News Daily contacted Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman, who revealed that a signed agreement is not yet in place. Fleyshman told us on Friday, “I would be excited to join a network that hosts the third largest site in the U.S. and has very few partners to focus on. It would be great for everyone involved.”
Earlier this week, the Cake Poker Network entered into a strategic partnership with PokerListings. According to a press release sent by Cake Poker officials on Thursday night, “A notable aspect of this partnership includes an ongoing commitment from PokerListings to drive a minimum of 2,000 new depositing players per month to the Cake Network, which will have a significant impact on the number of recreational first time depositors.”
The press release continued, “This partnership adds considerable strength to the position of the Cake Network by ensuring a steady stream of new depositing players every month, which will soften games and increase liquidity across the network.”
Victory Poker becomes one of a handful of companies and individuals to part ways with the Cake Poker Network in the past few months. DoylesRoom bailed in favor of the True Poker-led Yatahay Poker Network in January. In late December, Cake Poker Card Room Manager Lee Jones and Tournament Director Serge Ravitch both resigned from the network’s flagship room.
Last August, Victory Poker moved from the Everleaf Network, on which it launched, to Cake. On what made the move appealing, Fleyshman told Poker News Daily at the time, “There were only two networks we really considered, Cake and Merge. The other networks are more international like Entraction and Ongame. The Merge Gaming Network’s software is amazing, they have a great backend, and they have great management.” However, the Cake Poker Network was ultimately selected.
One poster on PocketFives.com questioned the impact that Victory Poker’s arrival would have on CEREUS: “I see how this is good news for Victory Poker, but how does this help the CEREUS Network? I guess I have never played there, but I can’t imagine they are much of a significant traffic boost to CEREUS.”
Speaking of traffic, players on Victory Poker should see a sizable bump in liquidity if the rumored move comes to fruition. According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room activity, the Cake Poker Network is the 26th largest worldwide and the sixth largest to accept USA customers. It stands with a seven-day running average of 610 real money ring game players with a 24-hour peak of 931.
Meanwhile, the CEREUS Network is the eighth largest in the industry and the third largest to accept U.S. players. The home of UB.com and Absolute Poker has a seven-day running average of nearly 2,000 cash game players with a 24-hour peak of nearly 3,200, making it over three times as large as the Cake Poker Network.
If a move happens, we’ll have it for you right here on Poker News Daily.
