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POKERSTARS ACHIEVES ESTONIAN LICENSING
2010-08-19
Online poker flourishing in small Baltic nation
The Estonian Tax and Customs Board has issued PokerStars, the world's largest poker site, an activity license in Estonia.
Tomas Larsson, PokerStars’ Baltics country manager, said, "Applying for a licence is always a complicated process and I am therefore very happy that PokerStars has successfully met all the necessary criteria to obtain an activity license in Estonia."
Estonia is one of the smallest EU member states, but poker is flourishing and the country remains one of the most significant new markets for PokerStars, Larsson said.
PokerStars has made significant investments in Estonia during the last few years, contributing to the development of the local sports and cultural life. The company is the main sponsor of the Estonian national volleyball team which last year battled its way to the final tournament of the European Championship.
Operational licence applications have previously been approved in Italy and France for the online poker giant. PokerStars.it launched in October 2008, in compliance with Italian law. PokerStars.fr, which was granted a licence in June 2010, permits similar access for French players. Poker is booming in both countries, Larsson noted
FIGHTING THE DECLINE IN ONLINE POKER
2010-08-19
Could operators and providers do more?
The independent online poker monitor Pokerscout.com's report for mid-August showed that across the industry, online poker traffic dropped 1.1 percent, with nine of the top ten tracked sites all booking a loss for the week.
Considered in the context of a growing number of corporate financial reports illustrating an apparent decline in online poker revenues, the stats triggered some interesting and erudite op-ed pieces at Inside Poker Business and Pokerscout, all well worth reading.
Pokerscout noted that a global slowdown appears to be gripping the internet poker market, with traffic overall this year declining by 4 percent over the same period last year. It points out that various reasons have been postulated for this slump, including the depressed world economy, market saturation and even the end of the lucrative and long-running poker popularity boom.
The malaise appears to be impacting even Pokerstars and its rival Full Tilt, although the two sites, which have continued to service the vast US market despite processing problems, still command a 60 percent share of the overall market. Pokerscout notes that the combined traffic of the two giants is declining, with Full Tilt showing an annual decrease of 8 percent, whilst PokerStars maintains a small positive annual growth rate.
The elephant in the room is clearly the future of the US market and its massive potential if freed from the bonds of legal uncertainty. A market where players are free to play without financial and other disruptions to their entertainment on well regulated and safe sites would be a serious market-booster for the industry, and for those sites that achieve regulated status.
Mid-August numbers from Pokerscout show that the top four ranked sites, headed by Pokerstars and Full Tilt, kept their positions for the seventh consecutive week.
Notable movers over the week were flagged as PokerStars.fr, a French market dedicated operation which edged out GTechG2's IPN to take eighth place. Everest Poker moved up two spots to 12th, jumping over People's Network and Svenska Spel. Sky Poker slid down two notches, losing ground to win2day and FullTiltPoker.fr, another dedicated French site.
Inside Poker Business also examined the apparent decline at http://www.insidepokerbusiness.co.uk/poker/analysis/343/reasons-and-excuses.html, noting that revenues have declined at Party Poker, Ladbrokes, Unibet, Bwin (excluding Gioco Digitale) and 888 this year when compared with 2009 numbers.
In a well-informed piece, the publication considers the probable causes, and the main reason put forward by corporate execs - the 'competitive environment'.
"If you believe everything you read then operators around the world seemingly only have one major problem at the present time, and that is PokerStars," it observes, going on to accept that the US-inspired player liquidity and huge marketing budgets of Full Tilt and PokerStars undoubtedly have a significant impact on competitiveness.
However, it poses the question of what other factors may have been contributors to the present situation, such as the rakeback wars, a major cutback in brand advertising by corporates, a reliance on affiliate marketing and online acquisitions and a loss of focus on poker by some sports betting focused operators.
"It's also notable that few sites offer a clear differentiated offering beyond PKR, either in terms of technology or brand positioning," Inside Poker Business remarks. "When PartyPoker did a major software overhaul its final product bore more than a passing resemblance to PokerStars. And while there are some fantastic brands, such as PartyPoker, in the poker sector, the marketing has shifted more to pricing, bonuses and promotions than brand positioning."
The frustration of operators who have opted not to risk the US market is understandable in this industry-wide problem, but Dominik Kofert, chief executive of Pokerstrategy.com, has asked whether operators are doing enough to offset the US problem, pointing to a lack of innovation in the poker market both in software and in brand building.
"Operators have failed to turn their products into experiences for their customer," says Kofert. "The fact everyone always says it's unfair they are taking US players is all true, but that doesn't mean they did the best they could. I'm not saying they can overtake PokerStars and Full Tilt, but there is no reason for resignation or passivity."
Inside Poker Business concludes with the observation: "But what is less obvious is what the firms are doing in response to this problem, beyond focusing on new players to fill the gap left by customers who have tired of a commoditised online poker experience."
PKR CELEBRATES FOURTH BIRTHDAY
2010-08-18
3D online poker site is not resting on its laurels
PKR.com, the UK-based 3D online poker website, has come a long way since its historic launch on August 17, 2006 with advanced graphics and innovative proprietary software.
In the past four years the online poker company has accumulated some impressive statistics that include more than 3,750,000 registered players on the site, a total of 15,850 people playing online at once, and $2,925,816.31 given away in freerolls.
PKR.com has also achieved recognition for its work, earning Online Poker Operator of the Year 2009 at the International Gaming Awards and Poker Operator of the Year 2009 from the eGaming Review Awards.
The company has launched its own poker magazine, started its own regular TV show, and sponsored London’s first licensed live poker venue. PKR.com has also fulfilled its community promise, introducing its own bi-annual live poker event PKR LIVE, and Team PKR Pro, which is made entirely of up and coming players from the site.
Marketing Director Simon Prodger said this week, “We’re very proud of our achievements to date. We came against a lot of pessimism for being so innovative when we launched, but our customers have shown that they enjoy playing in our true-to-life environment and really appreciate the community feel.”
MORE ONLINE POKER CASH SEIZED IN THE UNITED STATES
2010-08-18
$13.3 million settlement reached with processor
Federal prosecutors continue to go after financial processors in their attempts to stifle online poker, reports Forbes Business, revealing that the authorities reached a settlement worth $13.3 million Tuesday with Ahmad Khawaja, together with his firms, Allied Wallet and Allied Systems.
The settlement brings to a close a year-long issue that began when the FBI seized the $13.3 million in June 2009 (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Officials alleged that the funds constituted proceeds of operating an illegal gambling business that were deposited between January 2009 and May 2009 in an account at Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Arizona. Those funds were traceable to PokerStars, the world’s biggest online poker firm, and other offshore online gambling companies, and include “proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling information and operating an illegal gambling business," court documents reveal.
Forbes reports that the funds were linked to allegations of money laundering by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, with some of them traceable to wire transfers from outside the U.S. by individuals who knew that the funds represented the proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling.
Isle of Man-based PokerStars issued a statement following the settlement in which it said: “PokerStars does not condone efforts by processors to conceal the nature or purpose of funds used to play online poker. PokerStars has taken steps to ensure that processors properly disclose the nature of their business to their relevant financial institutions.”
Forbes notes that PokerStars has long maintained that it offers for-money online poker play to U.S. players in accordance with legal opinions from several U.S. law firms that state it is not violating U.S. law.
"Department of Justice officials have for years taken the position that facilitating for-money online poker violates U.S. law, making no distinction between online sports betting - clearly illegal - and online poker playing. Still, the fact that prosecutors have not moved directly against the online operators has suggested to some that the government’s position is weak," the publication observes.
Despite the UIGEA, PokerStars continues to dominate the U.S. market for online poker, making it the world’s biggest online gambling firm, with estimated annual revenue of $1.4 billion and some $500 million in profits.
ZYNGA POKER IN ASIAN MOVES
2010-08-18
Expanding in the US, social games developer is building up a stake in Asia, too.
The San Francisco-based internet social gaming developer Zynga has made its Zynga Texas Poker offering available in China as well as on Facebook in Hong Kong and Taiwan this week, with a localised version playable in traditional Chinese or English - part of a continuing drive into the Asian market, reports Techcrunch.
The gaming giant recently bought Japanese gaming startup Unoh, took a $150 million investment from Japan’s SoftBank Capital, acquired Chinese game developer XPD Media and set up a Beijing office (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Zynga Poker, the company’s first ever social game, launched in July 2007 and is currently the third most popular game on Facebook, attracting 28 million players every month. On an average day 375 000 Zynga Poker players are simultaneously playing together live across the internet in 100 countries.
Techcrunch reports that the game itself simulates playing poker in a social gaming environment. Users enter a casino lobby and can play at any table or join friends for a game. Players choose from casual Hold ‘Em tables, tournament play or VIP tables. A leader board shows players how they compare in chip ranking to other players and allows players to send or receive gifts.
"As an incentive for users in Hong Kong and Taiwan, Zynga Texas Poker players will automatically receive a complimentary stack of 8,888 Vegas-style Poker chips to play games with. Additionally, this month, Zynga is offering a grand prize for the “ShootOut” tournament that allows local players to compete for a prize of $880,000 Taiwanese dollars. Zynga is also giving away a trip to Las Vegas to a user," Techcrunch informs.
The publication notes that recent moves in Congress to legalise online gambling in the United States could deliver a further boost to Zynga's popular poker offering, and in the Asian region a release to the Japanese localised market would seem to be a logical next step.
Zynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus, Michael Luxton, Eric Schiermeyer, Justin Waldron, Andrew Trader, and Steve Schoettler
PKR 2.0 IS A MAJOR UPGRADE FOR ONLINE POKER SOFTWARE
2010-08-16
Complete top-to-bottom re-development of a 3D fave
The UK and Alderney licensed 3D online poker site PKR.com has undergone a number of software upgrades since it launched in 2006, but the biggest re-development to date has just been completed with the launch of the company’s v. 2.0.
PKR was among the forerunners in interactive 3D graphics and fully customisable avatars, and the new software builds on this popular foundation in its latest incarnation, which retains features like avatar body language, expressions, chip tricks and poker tells.
The playability has been enhanced in the new software, which now boasts a range of new features including a multi-table option enabling action on up to nine tables simultaneously without switching screens - up to six of these in 3D. Players can view all nine or switch between tables, add national flags, and increase button and chat size, among other preferences.
PKR's head of development Leon Walters says: "The whole look and feel has changed. We've designed it from the ground up. It's much more accessible and fun to use.
"We listened to what poker players said about the multi-tabling and have responded to that. It's quicker, slicker…far more attractive.
"It looks much more contemporary. We're developing lots of industry firsts, lots of tournament and cash game innovations."
With over 3 million registered players globally, PKR has a wide audience with diverse priorities to satisfy, and the updated site now features an innovative game finder 'wizard', a completely new lobby where players can set personal filters and designate favourites, and an in-game stats centre.
The developers have also included new features like tournament chip stack graphs, new table layouts and bet button options.
Walters notes this week: “It's very easy to say 'don't fix what ain't broken' and people are naturally resistant to change, but we felt that the look and feel of PKR v1 was getting rather tired. It's four years old after all.
“More significantly the technology that we built the old User Interface with was getting out of date and made introducing changes to the game became very labour intensive.
PKR have posted a video on the new software at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR8VFD0dJXM
