The independent online poker monitor Poker Scout has released its report for the month of May, noting that there was a significant decline in cash game activity , with seven of the sector’s top ten sites experiencing negative results.
The pattern was repeated in the legally-hobbled US market where both legal and illegal operators suffered, and only Bovada delivered positive numbers.
Internationally third-ranked 888Poker reported a generally flat performance but was at least not in decline, probably thanks to its sponsorship of the World Series of Poker currently making the industry news columns.
Even market leader PokerStars’ seven day average ring game statistics declined – and sharply at 1,000 players – to 13,500 despite the migration of Full Tilt players mid-way through the month, whilst the Italian iteration of the famous brand dipped 250 players.
Playtech’s iPoker network reported a loss of 200 players to 1,050, and Party Poker a loss of 150 to 950, and Winamax and MPN experienced similar losses at 100 players apiece, dropping to 950 and 800 players respectively.
The French-dedicated PokerStars site lost 200 players to 600 players, and Georgia’s Adjarabet lost 175 to finish on 575….both sites dropped out of the top ten, replaced by Unibet (650) and Winning Poker Network (650)…tied in tenth position.
In the legal US market, performance of the Nevada and Delaware combo remained flat at 160 cash game players, but with WSOP now gaining momentum that result is expected to improve through June and early July.
Conversely, the New Jersey market lost 50 players to finish on 300, with the three leading sites experiencing decreases in activity.
Among the main unregulated online poker operators it was a similar disappointing story of reduced activity, with Chico, Equity and Merge network numbers down