Poker News Daily can independently confirm the rumors that the Cake Poker Network has been sold to PokerListings. Two anonymous sources inside the poker industry have verified the sale, which Bluff Magazine reported will likely be completed in the next 15 days.
One source called the transaction a “conflict of interest” since Poker Listings promotes several different online poker sites, including PokerStars and UB.com. Cake Poker is PokerListings’ top ranked site and boasts an overall score of 8.2 out of 10. A Cake Poker ad is prominently displayed on the top of PokerListings’ website as “Today’s Best Offer.”
According to PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, the Cake Poker Network is the 26th largest worldwide and sports a seven-day running average of 610 real money ring game players. Its traffic is about 10% less than that found on PKR and it is the sixth largest network to accept players from the United States.
On January 28th, DoylesRoom jettisoned the Cake Poker Network for the True Poker-led Yatahay Network. Prior to that date, according to PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network had seen eight straight days of at least 1,100 cash game players. Since then, a maximum of 1,100 real money ring game players has been recorded just five times, the most recent of which occurred on February 10th. The Cake Poker Network’s traffic is down 69% year over year.
Late last month, the Cake Poker Network welcomed the Poker Pros Network, which features well known players like six-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier, Women in Poker Hall of Fame members Barbara Enright and Marsha Waggoner, former IronDuke pro Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, and top poker instructor Chris “Fox” Wallace.
The Cake Poker Network also includes Phil Laak’s Unabomber Poker, Antonio Esfandiari’s Victory Poker, and Only Poker. How any of these sites will be affected by the sale to Poker Listings remains to be seen. The Cake Poker Network has not released any statement about the rumored sale.
Last year, Lock Poker, Players Only, and Sportsbook.com all jumped ship from the Cake Poker Network to the USA-friendly Merge Gaming Network. On the move, Lock Poker’s Eric “Rizen” Lynch told the media at the time, “We will now be able to offer great rewards to the North American market. Our philosophy is built on investing in the true poker player and appreciating and rewarding their passion and dedication. We now have the tools to achieve that.”
Also departing Cake Poker last December was Card Room Manager Lee Jones, who has since returned to PokerStars to oversee the site’s Home Games project. Jones previously served as the Poker Room Manager for PokerStars and had stints at the PokerStars-backed European Poker Tour and the training site CardRunners before joining Cake Poker.
Jones cited “strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable” as the reason for his departure from Cake Poker just before the New Year. On his future at the time, the author told Poker News Daily, “I have a couple of irons in the fire. I certainly have every intention of staying in the poker business, so I’ll have to see what pans out.”
This isn’t the first time that PokerListings has been in the headlines recently. In August 2009, PokerListings founder Andreas Oscarsson was shot to death in Sweden and, 19 months later, here have been no suspects arrested in the case. Oscarsson founded the gigantic internet operation eight years ago.
Cake Poker offers a 100% up to $500 first-time deposit bonus and Poker News Daily has rated it 7.2 out of 10. Visit Cake Poker.