Everest Poker will be moving onto the iPoker network in the hopes of increasing their poker traffic. Everest is one of the oldest standalone poker networks with a large European base of customers.
Everest’s cash game traffic has declined by about 40% over the past six months but what was once one of the largest poker networks was adversely affected by regulation taking place in the EU.
Everest’s strongest market, France, was cut off from the rest of the network when gaming regulation was introduced in the country two years ago, crippling the network’s liquidity. It’s no secret that poor network liquidity turns off players.
The French version of the online poker room has been able to maintain its traffic numbers thought operators in France are finding it difficult to earn profits, so it will be interesting to see if the merger will affect the player numbers at the French site.
Players will soon have access to a larger liquidity pool offered with iPoker for the international version as well as additional gaming options, since the room. iPoker recently launched their version of fast fold poker called “Speed Poker”. iPoker will soon be segregating their network into iPoker1 and iPoker2 networks and it is not yet known which side of the fence Everest will find itself on.
With this move, Everest will be able to scale down expenses such as the cost of development teams, fraud and security, licensing and other staff costs.
This move is another sign of the challenges being faced by online poker operators in the recent gaming climate.
