As the main events of the 2014 WSOP are yet to happen, the atmosphere on the casino floor of the Rio is electrifying. However, with almost all eyes in Nevada’s poker world focused on the Big One for One Drop and the upcoming Main Event, one might wonder how the state’s regulated online poker market is performing?
“My friends, the answer is ‘Quite well.'”
The excitement of playing online poker at the Rio has largely faded, and WSOP NV’s intense cross-promotional campaigns are no longer active. As a result, the network’s ring game traffic levels have mostly leveled out.
However, on the whole, the figures continue to increase. The reason for this surge has barely anything to do with WSOP.com.
Indeed, it’s Ultimate Poker – WSOP’s largely overlooked competitor – that is propelling the market towards its annual peak.
Who would have guessed?
Nevada Cash-Game Trends
The traffic for both ring game and tournament in Nevada exceeded yearly averages.
The current 7-day cash-game averages are provided by PokerFuse Pro via PokerScout, with the differences from the past two weeks shown in parentheses, as detailed below:
- WSOP NV: 145 (a decrease of 2.7%)
- Ultimate Poker NV: 64 (increases by 18.5%)
Nevada significantly outdid the global market, which experienced a further 4.8% decrease to 41,413. This decline resulted in international figures dropping to their lowest in over two years.
Traffic on New Jersey sites has also made a comeback, increasing by 5.7% since June 17. Could this be an indication of a future trend where the regulated U.S. market thrives in the summer months as the rest of the industry struggles?
Unraveling the Mystery Behind Ultimate Poker’s Resurgence
Although Ultimate Poker’s increases are not inconceivable, especially considering it’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) season, it’s initially puzzling that UP showed significant growth while WSOP.com experienced a decline.
Making matters worse, UP has not introduced any significant new promotions in the past two weeks. Furthermore, the most rewarding promotion currently available (Chase the Dream) is designed for tournament junkets, not for ring game players.
So what’s the deal?
Upon closer inspection, the probable reason for UP’s revival is its transformation into a superior, more user-friendly poker site – it’s as simple as that.
Chris Danek, UP Poker Product Manager, announced on the dedicated Two Plus Two forum of the network on June 17, that a new software patch would be rolled out in Nevada.
Volume started to increase the following day. Could it be a mere coincidence? Most likely, it isn’t.
Notable features implemented through the patch include:
- In simpler terms, players can now use geolocation features without depending on their cell phone network. This alone is a significant improvement.
- Option of Prepaid Card – Offers a crucial alternative for payment processing for those having difficulties with Visa/MasterCard transactions.
- Time Bank – It’s all about “time.”
- Option for Cash at the Casino at Peppermill / El Cortez
- Bug fixes
The complete patch notes can be found here.
The patch’s most notable feature is that it encourages players, who previously had difficulties creating an account and betting real money on Ultimate Poker, to reconsider it. In comparison, any aesthetic changes or bug fixes seem quite insignificant.
Tournaments Also Make the Grade
iPoker sites in Nevada also did remarkably well in tournaments, with almost every notable MTT exceeding its guarantee.
WSOP NV’s biggest weekly Major, which guarantees $15,000, managed to draw in 106 participants, thereby generating a prize pool of $21,200.
The minimum benchmark was also surpassed by the weekly WSOP Main Event satellite, which drew 55 players and awarded one ticket.
The mark would definitely be shattered even by last Sunday’s $27.50 R&A $3,000 guarantee. With 111 re-buys and 62 add-ons, the total prize pool for the MTT would exceed $6,400.
Ultimate Poker’s Friday and Saturday night tournaments consistently exceeded their guarantees by over 20%. However, the $10,000 Sunday tournament performed less impressively, with 83 participants resulting in a shortfall of $2,447.
Despite grossly underperforming expectations for what feels like the hundredth week in a row, with a $9,252.30 overlay, Chase the Dream still managed to outperform last week’s dismal performance by nearly $2,000 this Sunday.
WSOP.com launches Mini-Fest
WSOP.com has initiated an exclusive tournament series in Nevada for the third time in almost a month.
Mini-Fest, as its name suggests, is essentially the little sibling of the recently concluded WSOPOC, specifically designed to cater to players with a relatively limited budget.
Mini-Fest, a series of 16 tournament events, is set to run from now until July 7. With buy-ins ranging from a mere $5.50 to a reasonable $109, participants have the opportunity to win a share of over $40,000 in guaranteed prize money.
So far, Mini-Fest has been more successful than the WSOPOC, comparatively speaking. Let’s quickly review the attendance for the first three events:
- Event #1: No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) with a guarantee of $2,500, required a buy-in of $16.50. It attracted 163 participants, with 201 re-buys and 122 additional purchases, culminating in a prize pool of $7,290.
- Event number 2 is a No Limit Hold’em Event with a $1,500 guarantee and a re-buy and add-on option. The buy-in cost is $11. There were 132 participants, 124 re-buys, and 79 add-ons, bringing the total prize pool to $3,350.
- Event #3 was a PLO $1,000 Guarantee R&A with a buy-in of $11. It had 68 entries, 91 re-buys, and 33 add-ons, creating a prize pool of $1,920.
It seems that tournament attendance isn’t always dependent on size.
