- The unadvertised exclusive tables on certain skins, including Betsson and Betfair, have been closed.
- The move follows the recent departure of bwin.com and the migration of Betfair onto iPoker.
Ongame has closed its “exclusive” player pools on its dot.com network, meaning all players now share the single pool of players.
Previously, some of the more recognizable brands on the Ongame network, including Betfair and Betsson, maintained separate additional tables at lower stakes games.
According to a report last week on PokerAffiliateSolutions.com , Ongame representatives have confirmed that the practice has ended. All tables are now available to all players.
Unlike the much publicized split of iPoker 2, and previously marketed “exclusive” tables on the same network, Ongame’s network division was not publicized which lead some within the industry to believe it didn’t even exist. However, on closer inspection, it was clear that certain skins had additional tables, and that multiple “tiers” were also in affect.
This practice has now ended and, according to the latest PokerScout data, may have caused a welcome, if temporary, uptick in cash game traffic.
The need to consolidate was likely driven by recent news of a couple of high profile departures from the network: bwin finally completed its move from its old network onto PartyGaming, and Betfair has begun its migration to iPoker.
It is not all bad news for the network. New owner Amaya recently announced a deal with Playboy Enterprises that will lead to the Playboy brand returning to online poker. It also has eyes fixed firmly on the United States, evident by a recent distribution agreement with Shuffle Master to bring the software to Nevada.
