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The online poker networks plan to focus on casual players (also known as “fish”) in 2012 according to a report filed at Inside Poker Business. Those networks offering high stake play are few and far between with one of the main exceptions being PokerStars, which just happens to be the biggest Internet poker network in the world.
888Poker.com: Gareth Edwards, director of marketing and strategy at 888, says as well as targeting casual players through marketing, they’ve also set about simplifying their software to make it more user-friendly to new players. ‘The market is maturing in terms of hardcore poker players and every operator, including ourselves, needs to look into generating new players into the game, which means we have to be a lot more softcore focused and make it more user friendly and inviting to use.
OnGame: Fredrik Kjell, head of poker at Ongame, offered this: “We have a very clear casual gamer focus. We are definitely not trying to be a new PokerStars when it comes to features. If anything, we are going in the opposite direction and are, to some extent, removing features. For example, we have removed the waiting list for players, because waiting lists create an environment not really for the casual player. We want to attract the casual gamers because they are to some extent the net-depositing players, they are the ones putting money into the system.”
Inside Poker Business also had this to add:
Anonymous tables have been adopted by a number of operators recently, including Ladbrokes, PartyPoker and Unibet. This is one of a number of measures operators have taken to try and stop the fish being eaten too quickly by the sharks, by using software which discourages the use of tracking software and multi-tabling. Enriching the experience Operators have also been adding other non-core features aimed squarely at the social player, such as poker cams and 3D options.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
