When the new online poker opportunities arose in America, you knew that some sites were rubbing their hands at the thought of making some money and being extremely popular. There was supposedly a huge market waiting to try out online poker, in a legal manner, in the US, and this meant that plenty of players were just sitting there waiting to hand over their money to quality poker sites.
Of course, poker sites, much like online poker players, should know that it is all about the winning and losing. It is extremely rare that there will be a situation where everyone is a winner and it seems as though 888 Poker are experiencing a lot of problems in the New Jersey market at the moment.
Historical evidence suggests that April and May can be slow months for online poker. For whatever reason, these are the months when the demand for real money online poker slips slightly but the drop off in cash-game traffic in NJ has been heavier than you would expect from the global trend. This is bad news for a good few online poker firms but the fact that 888 Poker announced major losses last week will be a big concern for many people. A lot of this is down to the fact that the 80% rakeback promotion that the site was running has now come to an end.
Poker sites need to put their players first
Many players were more than happy to use the site when this was in place but it is not as though it is the only problem or reason for the downturn in what the site is offering to players. Many poker players have taken to the forums and message boards to slate the decisions made by the site and their poor communication in explaining the decisions that they make.
An online poker site may not think that they owe explanations to their players but in the modern era, where there is so much competition, poker sites that don’t take the time to communicate with players will find that players just up and leave to other sites. This is the situation in online poker communities all around the world and it is the situation in online poker in the United States.
While the 80% rakeback promotion came to a close on the 1st of May, being replaced by a VIP scheme, the news that the site has extended the 80% rakeback promotion for a select number of players has been met with angry reactions. The site has made the decision to reward certain high volume players with this promotion, leaving players that have missed out on this opportunity feeling slightly aggrieved.
Even with the downturn in Spring, it seems as though 888 Poker have made some very bad decisions.