Read our January report here.
From 1 July, 2012, the iPoker network started to rank its rooms according to previously released criteria. Those that met certain standards got selected into the iPoker 2 tier and those that did not made it to iPoker 1. The criteria were as follows: at least 6,000 active real money players per month (players generating at least $1 in rake being considered active), at least 850 new real money players per month, as well as certain requirements considering players’ bankroll sizes and the ratio of fish and regulars.
Skins have ever since been working hard to get into the premium tier, or iPoker 2. Many of them have succeeded: Bet365, Betfair, Gala Poker, William Hill and Everest Poker, as well as late additions to the Rakerace.com portfolio, Coral Poker, Winner Poker and Paddy Power Poker are all part of the premium tier, while Betfred, MyBet and Boylepoker are in the iPoker 1 network.
Not all games have been split; all heads-up cash game tables on all stakes are separated, while 6-max tables are merged from NL600 upwards and full ring tables from NL400.
Sit and Go tables are also varied; the heads-up player pool is split under the $30/€30/£30 buy-in level and 6-max and 9-max tables under the $10/€10/£10, with the exception of the Jackpot Sit and Go tables, the popularity of which exceeding that of the normal ones by far. The most popular tables are the $5 + $1 Maui Jackpot Sit and Go ones, where there is a chance to win the minimum $15,000 jackpot, in addition to being optimal for rake generation.
It is important to note that more and more rooms introduce exclusive tables; the best example is probably Bet365, trying to lure players to these tables with special promotions. In the chart below, you can see the number of active 6-max tables on the different limits at Bet365, a premium room without exclusive tables (Coral Poker) and an iPoker 1 room (Betfred), late in the afternoon on a weekday.
Apparently, the increasing number of rooms moving to the premium network has left the second tier relatively in trouble. Up to 5-6 tables, players find action at iPoker 2 as well but on mid stakes, traffic drops down. On the merged NL600 stakes and above, action is back on track in the second tier as well. For low and mid stakes cash game players, we suggest Speed Poker tables here, as these are merged and we can find action under NL100 as well, except for the early morning hours.
It is also clear that Bet365 pulled off the Premium tables and the promotions organised around them; with players lured over from sports betting and casino games, the room has traffic on its exclusive tables equalling that of the entire iPoker 1 network.
As reported earlier, traffic of the entire iPoker network has increased relative to its competitors and it even took over the second place on the overall list; with an average of 2,350 cash game players, the network now bests Full Tilt Poker, which has 2,300.
In August, you can play in the following exclusive iPoker cash races at Rakerace.com:
iPoker 2:
Bet365 $5,000 Cash Race >>
Paddy Power Poker $5,000 Cash Race >>
Winner Poker $5,000 Cash Race >>
Betfair Poker $5,000 Cash Race >>
Coral Poker $5,000 Cash Race >>
Gala Poker $5,000 Cash Race >>
iPoker 1:
Boylepoker $5,000 Cash Race >>
MyBet $5,000 Cash Race >>
