European Poker Sites Hunting Nervous Customers
European poker players have been inundated with promotional E-mails, since Black Friday, from companies hoping to capitalise on the paranoia among the customers of the biggest operators.
When news broke that three major online card rooms, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker had had control of their websites seized by the FBI, many players panicked. Rumours circulated though online forums that players might never see a dollar of their money, and that these companies were going to be permanently shut down by the US government. It was even published, by at least one irresponsible website, that these companies had stolen their players’ money!
It did not take long for European-based competitors to jump on the bandwagon – sending out messages to boast of trustworthiness!
As already reported by PokerBlackFriday.com, European sites have been increasing their traffic during the past week, as a result of the panic. But now that the District Attorney’s office has passed back control of some .com domains, things might change. Along with this announcement is the fact that the largest site, PokerStars, has issued a reassuring FAQ for its customers, and are also offering a 50% deposit bonus – the most generous deposit bonus in their history (discounting first-time deposit bonuses).
The largest competitor to the indicted sites is Party poker. They enjoyed a huge boost to their share price in the aftermath of Black Friday. Party was one of the sites who banned US players back in 2006 with the advent of the UIGEA. At the time of this legislation, Party poker was the biggest online poker room, both in terms of assets and customers. They suffered enormous losses in revenue after taking the decision to boycott the US market. But they managed to survive, and must now feel as though the decision is paying off quite handsomely.
The likelihood is, after the dust settles, that many players will return to the biggest card rooms, as they offer the biggest selection of games and the biggest prizes online. But for now, the smaller European sites have been given the chance to attract more business. And perhaps, if they provide a good enough service, they will keep some of those customers for years to come.
Related posts:
- Full Tilt Poker Announced That They Will Ban US Players From Their Site
- Pokerscouts Weekly Online Poker Traffic Update
- Merge Gaming Rise 23% In Traffic Since Black Friday
- Pokerstars,Fulltiltpoker,Absolutepoker – Poker Traffic Fell By 25%
- FBI Closes For Access To Online Poker
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Posted by Senior Editor on Apr 27 2011. Filed under Featured News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
