According to online poker traffic information site PokerScout.com, the player traffic at WSOP.com in Nevada, which is one of three regulated online poker sites in the Silver State, has hit record highs.
Since the launch of WSOP.com in Nevada the player base has grown slowly and steadily.
But as it stands right now, the 7-day average is 140 cash game players. In recent months, the WSOP Nevada online poker room was averaging around 100 players. It is the highest amount of cash game traffic since the operator entered the market back in September 2013.
As a weekly traffic update article on PokerScout explained, “It is probably the network’s slew of cross-promotional events and widespread marketing that ultimately got players talking about the site.”
The 2014 World Series of Poker (WSOP) which started on May 27 has taken full advantage of the increased number of online poker players that are currently in Nevada grinding in live WSOP events.
At the Rio Casino, where the WSOP is being played, a “grind room” has been set up for players to play online poker while participating in any of the WSOP scheduled events. This is the first time the WSOP has offered an exclusive room for players in the WSOP to play online poker. It’s also the first year that online poker has been regulated in Nevada.
From a marketing point of view, a lot is also being done this year to encourage players to join the site. The Rio has gone to great lengths to make it obvious to players that regulated online poker in Nevada is open and ready for business, with WSOP.com logos, banners and other ads every where you look they can also be found on featured tables during the course of the WSOP. This has no doubt helped to drive a lot more traffic to the WSOP.com website.
The WSOP Nevada traffic surge can also be attributed to the laptop-friendly rules during the WSOP, making it possible for players to grind WSOP.com online poker games on a laptop whilst playing in a live event at the Rio.
WSOP’s live stream hosted by David Tuchman is another medium the Nevada online poker site has used to gain more exposure with plugs for the WSOP.com as well as online satellites into live WSOP events or the WSOP.com Online Championship, a regular occurance on the stream.
Add to this the 100% match bonus up to $1,000 on offer for players who are opening a new account, and you can begin to see why so many new players have flocked to the cash games and online poker tournaments hosted on WSOP Nevada.
For the first time since December 2013, traffic at WSOP Nevada is greater than it is on the WSOP New Jersey site, even though the Garden State has more than three times Nevada’s population. In addition to this, the WSOP.com Online Championship Series on the Nevada site is outperforming the same series of tourneys hosted in New Jersey by a fairly significant margin, although it must be said that the WSOP.com in New Jersey has picked up a bit from the recent traffic surge at WSOP NV. And clearly it’s not just the cash game traffic that has benefited from the improved player traffic.
Due to the greater awareness of the WSOP.com site, Ultimate Poker’s traffic in Nevada has been fairly flat since the start of the WSOP, which is not very surprising, the three regulated sites are all competing ferociously to get new business.