French online poker and casino group Betclic-Everest has announced its partnership with Playtech that brings further consolidation of its brands on Playtech’s iPoker Network.
As revealed exclusively on pokerfuse last month, Everest will drop its proprietary poker software and transition its players onto iPoker. Betclic.com, the only other site on the Everest Poker Network (EPN), will also make the switch.
They will join Betclic-Everest’s other brands, Expekt and Betclic.IT, that already reside on the iPoker network. The move is expected to happen by the end of the year.
The transition of the two brands was touted last week by Playtech looking to reverse the declining player numbers on the network. Everest is expected to provide a 20% boost in active cash game players.
The France-only (.FR) sites for those two brand names will also move on to the stagnant iPoker.FR network. Everest Poker is the third-largest player pool in France, behind PokerStars and Winamax but ahead of PartyPoker.FR.
Betclic Everest Group CEO Ignacio Martos cited player-pool liquidity and Playtech’s upgraded software as reasons for the the change. iPoker having recently rolled out a new “Speed Poker” brand of fast-fold poker.
Said Martin about the Playtech partnership, “[O]ur player community will enjoy a much better product and state of the art technology. With this move we continue to execute our strategy of offering the best online gambling experience to our players and cementing our leadership position in the main European markets where we are currently present.”
Everest Poker used to be a top-tier independent poker network, with large player bases in France and Italy. However, following the regulation and segregation of these two markets during 2009-2010 network traffic plummeted. Although buoyed by introduction of betclic.com players in in 2011, the network never returned to its former glory. Traffic is down 26% year on year, according to PokerScout data.
