New numbers from online poker monitor Pokerscout reveal the alarming news that 7-day average cash game traffic at market leader Pokerstars has declined 50 percent since 2011, with the latest figure of 11,500 players continuing the trend.
Observers have been speculating on the reasons for the decline, arguing that it could be a lessening of interest in the game, or the advent of increasingly strict regulation and taxation around the world.
A more optimistic explanation put forward this week is that the decline is the result of an operator shift in focus from cash game activity to other formats, notably tournament and more appealing genres.
Online Poker Reports published its interesting take on the situation, which can be accessed here:
http://www.onlinepokerreport.com/21595/steep-decline-cash-game-traffic-pokerstars/
In related news, Pokerstars suffered the humiliation of losing its four-month long top spot in the New Jersey online poker market to the WSOP-888Poker alliance last week, according to official numbers.
Observers have put the decline of Pokerstars down to a lack of cash-game promos and the fading novelty of its appearance on the US legalised online poker scene, although some have argued that aggressive promotions at WSOP-888, and the publicity generated by the recent World Series of Poker tournaments in Las Vegas are responsible for the switch in market positioning.
PokerScout.com stats show that liquidity on WSOP/888 began to grow around July 5 and was boosted by aggressive promotional and rakeback offerings in the weeks that followed, culminating in a traffic increase of 31.5 percent.
That positioned the alliance comfortably ahead of Pokerstars and Borgata-Party, which remained in the doldrums with largely flat numbers.
With the aggressive activity continuing, interested parties are now waiting for the latest numbers and whether WSOP-888’s supremacy will continue.
Current seven-day industry cash game averages are at 322 players – the highest in six weeks.
However, in terms of revenue over the period Pokerstars remains the top dog at $778,070 vs. WSOP-888’s $602,103.