- Players at partypoker’s French brands have finally moved o the new poker client nine months after it was introduced to its dot-com poker room.
- partypoker has three brands on the network, ACFPoker.fr, PMU.fr and partypoker.fr. Their players will now have access to the full range of features introduced by the new software including Missions and Achievements.
Players at partypoker’s French brands have finally moved to the new poker client, nine months after it was introduced to its dot-com poker room and six months after it debuted in New Jersey.
partypoker has three brands on the network: ACFPoker.fr, PMU.fr and partypoker.fr. Their players will now have access to the full range of features introduced by the new software, including Missions and Achievements.
The partypoker.fr website has also been updated with the new brand colors, logos and fonts.
Moving Forward
Of more practical importance, players will also be able to enjoy Fast Forward, partypoker’s fast fold poker game. Fast fold poker accounts for more than one hand in four of all cash game hands played, and is particularly popular for players who use mobile devices—the fastest growing area of the market.
The tournament schedule is also being changed, with more satellites and flatter payout structures.
From a corporate perspective, the move will reduce overhead and help fulfill one of bwin.party’s strategic goals of having all its customers playing on the same software platform.
bwin.party also owns the Bwin.fr brand, which still remains on the Ongame France network. The company has announced that it will shortly migrate players to the new software client, so all its players will be in the same liquidity pool.
Impact
The French regulated segment of partypoker’s business has been one of its best performers over the last 12 months. Its market share in France has jumped by 25% and although cash game traffic has been relatively flat partypoker has maintained its numbers better than the market leaders Winamax and PokerStars France.
With a 15% market share, partypoker France lies in third place in the traffic rankings. The new software may not make a big difference to cash game traffic—its impact in the dot-com market was difficult to see because the initial launch was plagued with IT problems—but the introduction of Fast Forward and the additional liquidity when Bwin.fr joins should make the network much more competitive.
