State Of The Poker Industry

Mar 20, 2006

Online poker has seen a recent explosion in growth and profit.  The growth has lead to a few leading poker sites that are leaving the rest of the pack in the dust.  To get to the top, sites such as Party Poker and Poker Stars had to provide great service to their players and spend millions on advertising.  Now that these sites are so popular they rarely have to improve their services to keep players returning.  This has had a negative impact for the players.

Recently, Poker Stars reached 100,000 players online simultaneously.  Party Poker regularly has in excess of 80,000 people online.  With all these people playing at once how can one expect superior customer service?

Prior to the poker explosion Party Poker was known for its great customer support and premium bonuses.  Recently however, the bonus amounts have dropped, even though they are still easy to clear.  Also, the new software has had frequent glitches since Party's update.  With so many players online at once their email support has slowed down. 

Poker Stars is also experiencing similar problems.  Ever since they became the premier online poker site their bonuses have become almost non-existent.  Their email support is still fairly quick, but the lack of bonuses is frustrating.

The reason for these problems is the two sites' popularities.  Because they are so saturated the sites no longer need to provide superior customer service or great bonuses to attract players.  If you aren't a very high stakes player Party Poker or Poker Stars isn't concerned about your problems, and why should they be?  There are literally hundreds of players on waiting lists for different tables, so it isn't a big deal if one $1/$2 fixed player leaves.

If you are sick of being treated like a small fish in a huge pond there is something you can do.  With so many new poker sites entering the market there is fierce competition to get players to new sites.  To attract players new sites are offering high bonuses and superior customer service.  Players can take advantage of these features by switching to smaller poker sites where they can receive better bonuses and feel more valued as a player.