Nevada Traffic Report: Measuring the residual effects of WSOP NV’s cross-promotional efforts

Written By Robert DellaFave on July 23, 2014
WSOP bigs fair-well to their good numbers after the WSOP finish

As expected, WSOP Nevada’s cash-game volume plummeted this week, dropping almost 50% back to its levels before WSOP, surprising no one.

After the determination of the November Nine on Monday the 14th, a large portion of the state’s visiting poker community packed up and left. Those who chose to stay and pursue their dream would no longer be perpetually bombarded with banners, plugs, and cross-promotional events reminding them that WSOP.com and legal online poker were accessible in Nevada.

I have previously contended that the success of WSOP NV’s marketing blitz would be determined through its instantaneous and lasting effects. Judging by the first criterion, it was a tremendous success, as traffic soared nearly 60% between May 19th and July 11th.

However, I would contend that the network’s success in keeping a number of the players it attracted during the live WSOP is what will truly make its efforts stand out.

Cash-game volume on WSOP.com stumbles

The 7-day averages from all Nevada iPoker networks, as reported by PokerFuse Pro via PokerScout, are as follows (with last week’s numbers in parentheses):

WSOP.com would face its worst week in terms of week-over-week growth in the network’s brief history, plunging by 16.4% since the previous Monday. On the other hand, UP’s volume would remain comparatively stable, experiencing a slight increase in traffic by 1.9%.

The recent trend demonstrates the influence of brand recognition. Although there was an increase in poker tourists staying in Vegas from June to early July, Ultimate’s traffic barely fluctitated.

Do you know why? Because these very players were barely informed about the existence of UP.

Consider this perspective: A check worth a million dollars could be taped under one of the poker tables at the Rio, but if nobody is aware of it, would anyone bother to search?

On the flip side, players at the Rio were constantly bombarded with reminders from WSOP.com. It was WSOP.com here, WSOP.com there – it reached a point where even someone like me, who was already well-acquainted with WSOP NV, was tired of hearing the phrase “legal online poker at WSOP.com in Nevada”. However, I’ve since moved past it.

However, for the uninformed online poker enthusiast, it must have sounded like music to their ears.

I was optimistic that post-WSOP traffic levels wouldn’t drop back to their sluggish May levels, precisely due to this reason – enhanced brand awareness.

Given the recent decline, my enthusiasm has dwindled, but…

…it’s still too early to tell

PokerScout exclusively provides rolling 7-day averages. Therefore, we won’t be able to get a fairly accurate evaluation of the numbers post-WSOP until at least Tuesday.

Moving forward, if we hypothesize that a few late departures didn’t leave Vegas until the end of the previous week, then the upcoming Monday will provide our first clear snapshot of the average number of cash-game players visiting the site in the era after the live WSOP.

PokerScout displays 24-hour peaks. The peak volume numbers for all regulated networks in NV and NJ on Monday are listed below:

  • PartyPoker NJ: 406
  • WSOP NJ: 348
  • 888poker (NJ): 204
  • Ultimate NV: 152
  • WSOP NV: 196

WSOP NV’s peak 24-hour volume of 196 isn’t particularly promising, especially when compared to the volume on 888’s New Jersey site. Despite its 7-day averages being only around 70, it manages to peak at just over 200.

PartyPoker NJ, typically having around 140 cash-game players, often surpasses 400 during peak hours. This suggests that if peak volumes reach 200, it would roughly correspond to an average of 70 players.

This data suggests that the volume on WSOP could significantly drop below its May low of 96. Such a drastic drop would be devastating, especially considering that just a week ago, the site was the leading regulated market in the U.S.

Feeling somewhat skeptical, I contrasted the turnouts from last weekend’s tournament with those from the previous week. Here’s what I discovered:

  • The network’s largest weekly tournament, which guarantees a $15k prize, drew in 104 participants on July 6, increased to 120 on the 13th, and slightly decreased to 119 on the last Sunday.
  • The Weekend Warmup of last week, which was a $55 R&A with a $5,000 guarantee, exceeded its overlay by $2,000. This week’s Warmup outperformed even that, surpassing its benchmark by an impressive $2,500, which is a 50% increase.
  • The $27.50 R&A $3,000 Guarantee from last Sunday only did better than this week’s version by a small margin of just four runners.

Alright, something doesn’t seem right. It’s not difficult to understand why the flow of cash-game is declining at a remarkable rate, but why aren’t the tournament participations showing a similar trend?

There are three potential explanations in my mind, likely all operating collectively. Firstly, during the live WSOP, the network facilitated four unique tournament series. This might have attracted players more towards these exclusive events than the weekly MTT offerings in the poker rooms.

Secondly, the present promotional schedule of WSOP lacks variety, as it does not offer any promotions for ring game players. This contrasts with the scenario a month ago when promotions like Multi Table Madness and a time-limited 100% match bonus up to $1,000 encouraged players to participate in the site’s ring games.

In the end, as players departed from Nevada, they presumably took their money off the site. This led to a significant drop in cash liquidity. The considerable decrease in money flow negatively affected the volume of cash games, especially those with high stakes.

Conversely, a flourishing tournament scene does not need the same financial fluidity as a likewise thriving cash environment.

This is merely a hypothesis, but it suggests to me that WSOP urgently needs to recover from its post-WSOP slump and quickly launch a promotion centered around cash games.

Perhaps then the network can avoid being a one-trick pony, or in this situation, a one-month wonder.

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Robert DellaFave

Robert is the managing editor of OnlinePokerReport.com, based in New Jersey. His work extends to a range of online publications focusing on the legal U.S. online poker and casino markets. Beyond his editorial work, Robert is also a game designer. Stay updated with more from Robert by following @DivergentGames on Twitter.

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