For the third week running, online poker has seen an increase in worldwide traffic. According to numbers from independent industry tracker PokerScout, peak cash game numbers over the last seven days rose 3.8%, and up 6.5% since the end of November.
The gains this week were largely attributed to PokerStars' 72bn hand promotion, boasting an impressive 9% increase as players flocked to cash tables in the hopes of winning their share of $750k. To avoid any controversy, the poker room barred heads up play a day leading up to the milestone.
The major casualty of the week was Bodog that, according to PokerScout estimates, dropped 10%. The room controversially made all poker tables anonymous at the beginning of the month.
Despite these seasonal gains, online poker traffic has dropped 26% compared with this time last year. Black Friday is the obvious culprit; the vast majority of players from the United States no longer play.
