New Player-Friendly Poker Sites Face Challenging Times

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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 | Written by Stephen Smith

Phil Galfond already runs a successful poker training site called Run it Once, but the legendary poker player is now set to compliment his offering by launching a brand new poker room geared towards the needs of players called RunItOnce Poker. While many in the poker community have expressed excitement at the prospect of taking to its virtual tables, industry insiders caution that Galfond is entering the market at a precarious time, and that he will face a steep uphill climb in order to realize any success.

LuckyChewy Poker Treading Water

When predicting what the future has in store for RunItOnce Poker, you can look to what has happened to another small poker site run by a well-known name in the industry, namely Andrew Lichtenberger. The player boasts an impressive poker pedigree, having won a WSOP bracelet during his illustrious career, as well as $11,567,830 in live and online earnings.

In December 2016, the 29 year-old US pro subsequently launched his own poker room called LuckyChew Poker, hoping to attract disillusioned players who had left PokerStars after the controversial changes it made to its VIP Rewards program. Calling his site a player-friendly space, Lichtenberger offers a high rewards and low rake system that one would think would draw players; however, the basic format of the site and low key marketing have made LuckyChew Poker more of an object of ridicule, rather than a major competitor in the online poker space.

RunItOnce Poker More Impressive

Many industry insiders believe that RunItOnce Poker will have a much more impressive platform than LuckyChewPoker, as Phil Galfond has shown his entrepreneurial talents in the past. He is also one of the game’s top player, having won $2,339,619 and 2 WSOP bracelets playing live tournaments, in addition to a further $8 million from online cash games.

Nevertheless, many experts remain doubtful that RunItOnce Poker will be able to survive in the highly competitive world of online poker rooms, especially as margins in the iPoker industry are already very thin, and so low rake/high rewards systems don’t make good fiscal sense. That’s why all of the big name sites have now shifted away from this type of format and have not tried to adjust in order to attract disgruntled former PokerStars players.

Quite simply, the industry seems to have decided that it’s better to lose these players completely than it is to appease them and decrease their profitability. Commenting upon the site’s potential, poker analyst Steve Ruddock explains:

“I’m not sure how an online poker room that’s business model yields razor-thin margins on a daily basis will be able to compete against an established and better developed product, with a bigger marketing budget, and a larger team of customer support and tech personnel. But if anyone can do it, it’s probably Phil Galfond.”

Player-friendly Sites Bad Business

Being too player-friendly simply doesn’t make good business sense, and that’s something Galfond will have to contend with as he launches his site. In the past, Galfond has expressed an interest in creating a site where casual players feel at home, and enthusiasts and semi-professionals have the necessary liquidity to enjoy the game. While this seems like the idyllic setup, existing poker sites have found that it’s just not possible to please everyone, and even Galfond has admitted in recent posts that as he has worked on RunItOnce Poker, he’s come to the realization that he will likely have to make decisions with one target market in mind, rather than trying to appeal to every type of player.

Software Issues

In addition to the dangers of being too player-friendly at the risk of profitability, Galfond could also stumble with his software. Sites like PokerStars have been testing, developing and refining their software for 10 to 15 years and run like a well-oiled machine. Although some glitches and errors can be predicted prior to launch, the real test of a site happens once it goes live. If technical glitches get in the way of play, those who come to check out the site may become frustrated and never return again. Galfond will also be operating with a much smaller marketing budget than the big names in the industry, putting him at a disadvantage.

Conclusion

The decks do seem stacked against upstarts, but Galfond is aware of this. He’s moving forward with confidence, and we’ll all be keeping an eye on his site to see if his bet on RunItOnce Poker manages to prove the experts wrong and eventually pay off.