It's your own fault

This is an abridged version of an article by Patrik Selin that will appear in the July/August issue of InsidePoker Business

The poker industry seems to enjoy a doomsday story and is forever talking about dwindling numbers, but the reality is that the numbers are strong and the competition even stronger. Nevertheless what most rooms seem unable to see is the damage they are doing to their own industry.

I realise a quick snap shot of facts to support one side is easy to do but here are a few salient statistics to support the theory: PartyGamings poker revenue for Q1 2010 was 11% lower than Q1 2009 and 34% lower than Q1 2008. Bwin's poker numbers (excluding Gioco Digitale) for Q1 2010 were even worse: the revenue decreased by 17%.

Personally, I think the most important shift over the last five years is in the quality of the players which has improved so much due to the access of teaching material, software programmes and the natural progression players make as the game's appeal becomes ever wider.

Poker rooms are not only accepting this they are actually encouraging it and fall over themselves to attract and retain the wrong type of player. Rakeback is the obvious focus, but they also provide easy access to players' hand-history and actively encourage multi-tabling, to the extent that the software provides sophisticated tiling mechanisms to make the process easier.

All of this favours the pro and leaves the other players getting increasingly disillusioned with the game. What the poker rooms are doing is, essentially, lining the pockets of their least profitable players and at the same time losing the ones they actually want to keep. A double dose of the wrong strategy. It's a bit like an airline turning down First Class passengers so they can fill up the Economy section.

I have talked at length in the past about how the rake back system needs to be completely rethought and when we launch the Bodog Poker Network we will do exactly that. Inevitably many rooms have already copied the thinking though they have slightly missed the point and are actively trying to block good players. Obviously this is wrong too, but I won't go back down that road here.

Inevitably, and rightly, many will disagree with this thought process and for those that have built their brand on being a room where the pros play; then it is totally understandable and correct that they take this route. But the game of poker is multi-layered and other rooms need to find a way of distinguishing themselves from each other. My suggestion is simply that going heads-up against an established brand with a reputation for pros may not be a sensible option.

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