PokerStars, the largest online poker site in the industry, cracked an unofficial record last week for the most players in action simultaneously on cash game tables.
According to PokerScout.com, PokerStars drew in an astounding 105,230 players to its cash game tables on September 22nd. This beat the previous unofficial record, also held by PokerStars, of 103,010 players that was set back in February. In both cases, promotions by PokerStars drove the record numbers.
In February, PokerStars was in the midst of its 40 billionth hand promotion, bringing players out in droves in an attempt to earn some of the riches that the site was giving away to celebrate. Just seven months later, PokerStars was dealing its 50 billionth hand, which was cause for another celebration and another rush to the virtual felts. That the 50 billionth hand came in conjunction with the most recent running of the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars and probably only added to the breaking of the record.
PokerStars has been on a tremendous run over the past couple of weeks due to the WCOOP and its 50 billionth hand promotion. PokerScout.com reports that the site has seen a double-digit percentage increase in traffic, driven by the multiple draws, and has been able to siphon off players from competing sites. PokerScout reports that the main room that lost players to PokerStars was the #2 site in the industry, Full Tilt Poker, which saw a 5% decline in the past week.
The new regulations in France regarding the licensing and regulation of online poker seem to be drawing players to the virtual card rooms. Since the new laws took effect in France in June, the country has now passed Italy in terms of the percentage of players participating in online poker. The French market makes up 8% of the online industry, while the Italian market makes up 7%.
The new dedicated French sites have also had their effect on the overall online poker industry. In the short time since their introduction, the dedicated French site PokerStars.fr has moved into the top 10 online poker sites and sits in sixth place in terms of cash game volume, according to PokerScout. This outranks other non-American operations such as the Microgaming Network and the Entraction Poker Network and also outpaces a network that accepts American players, CEREUS. Other dedicated French sites such as Winamax.fr, EverestPoker.fr, and PartyPoker.fr are also outpacing such established online operations as the Cake Poker Network, Merge Gaming Network, and Bodog.
PokerScout reports that the top four players in the online poker industry have remained the same for the past 13 weeks. PokerStars enjoys over a 2-1 edge in cash game players against Full Tilt Poker, while PartyPoker retains a slight edge over the iPoker Network for third and fourth, respectively. The latter two do not accept action from the United States.
For the year, PokerScout states that industry numbers are still on the rise, even though current financial issues around the world continue to play havoc. Player numbers show an annual growth rate of 7%, with the Merge Gaming Network (up 67%), PokerStars (20%), the Entraction Poker Network (6%), and Full Tilt Poker (1%) being the main drivers of growth.
