PartyPoker’s New Loyalty Scheme Working

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Tuesday, July 25th, 2017 | Written by Shane Larson

As the online poker boom has dwindled, operators have been left scrambling to find ways to remain profitable and promote growth. For PokerStars, that has meant abandoning its popular VIP model and shifting its focus towards recreational type players. This strategy seems to be working for PokerStars, too, but it has also left many of its regular grinders feeling frustrated and searching for other sites to take their business. Now, competitor Party Poker seems eager to pick up those disillusioned players, and attract them to its virtual tables.

PokerStars Vs. Party Poker Strategy

Following a wide-held belief that the future of poker depends upon attracting a steady stream of recreational players, PokerStars has shifted to a rewards model that does not reward volume of play. Instead, players now receive personalized and semi-random rewards for playing both online casinos, sports betting and poker games. With this strategy, PokerStars hopes to appeal to players who are heading to the virtual tables purely for fun, rather than for profit.

Party Poker has instituted a rewards system very similar to the previous pre-recreational one in place at PokerStars, with the system very straightforward and rewarding frequency and volume of play. Depending on how much a player hits the tables, he or she will receive a minimum rake back of 20 percent. Needless to say, this rewards system does little for recreational customers who play only a little each week, but it can be very profitable for those who wish to earn a living playing online poker.

Initial Success Vs. Long-Term Sustainability

Basically, Party Poker is gambling on the fact that pro and semi-pro players at PokerStars will flock to its site in their droves in order to earn rewards similar or even better than what they once did at PokerStars. So far, the strategy seems to be paying off for the site, as its cash game traffic has been steadily increasing since the roll out of the new program as word spreads about its benefits. It makes sense that many pro players who have been complaining about their inability to earn the type of living they once did would be eager to head to the site.

But, will the strategy prove to be a success over the long term?

Possibly not.

There is a reason why PokerStars and other top poker sites are focusing so heavily on recreational players. Many industry experts argue that there are a finite number of pro players looking for the type of game play and rewards that Party Poker is promoting. Once the site has attracted the majority of these players, there is little room to grow except by bringing in recreational players. Unfortunately, past experience has proven that tables full of pros can be intimidating and boring to the more casual player.

In the short run, Party Poker’s rewards system will fill a void left by the changes to PokerStars VIP system, resulting in growth over the near future. It will be interesting to see when that growth plateaus and what Party Poker does to address the stagnation if and when it does occur.

PartyPoker

After launching in 2001, PartyPoker soon became the world’s biggest online poker room until its withdrawal from the US market in 2006 following the introduction of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). PokerStars, on the other hand, decided to fill the gap left by PartyPoker, and was rewarded by becoming the new number one poker site, a position it has retained ever since.

In 2011, PartyPoker also agreed a $105 million settlement with the Department of Justice for its wrongdoings, in return for one day being allowed back into the country pending regulation. In 2013, Party Poker then returned to the US via the New Jersey market which was regulated that year, and the operator currently works in partnership with the Borgata Casino. According to the latest statistics from tracking site PokerScout, Party Borgata NJ has an average of 75 cash game players on the site over a 7-day period, and a 24 hour peak of
212 players.

In the meantime, PartyPoker’s main site is ranked 4th in terms of global traffic with an average of 1,200 cash game players, and a 24 hour peak of 2,428 players.