With the fate of online gambling legislation at the national level in the United States possibly having to wait until next year, it would be understandable if online gambling traffic lagged during the holiday shopping season. After all, Little Susie wants a bike for Christmas, and you have had your eye on that brand-new Android smartphone, so you cannot be blamed if you are playing less online poker, slots and table games and instead spending those dollars on holiday gifts. But oddly enough, online poker room traffic globally jumped a full 10% in less than a week recently, spurring overall online gambling growth, and that is nothing but good news for the worldwide online gambling industry.
What caused this generous surge in online poker play around the globe? One previous online poker giant has returned to the virtual felt, as Full Tilt Poker reopened their doors last week, with literally hundreds of thousands of former players returning to claim their previously frozen accounts. According to online poker analyst PokerScout, the majority of those returning players did not simply log into their account and cash out. They are staying and playing. The company uses different metrics to measure online gambling traffic globally, and they said that their research shows a full 400,000 former Full Tilt Poker customers were accepted back into the fold of online poker players immediately following the site relaunch. This single-handedly drove most of the 10% increase in global online poker traffic.
Sites like Lucky Red and Mona Casino have stepped in during Full Tilt’s absence, delivering a full slate of slots, video poker, table games and poker games to global players, as well as to US participants, but having a big name like Full Tilt Poker back in the online casino industry is positive for both players and other online casino operators. Thousands of account holders had their accounts frozen for more than 18 months after the Department of Justice in the United States shut down the Full Tilt Poker website in 2011. With players around the world now able to access their previously frozen accounts, the online casino community in general will receive an uptick as Full Tilt Poker players who still have a bad taste in their mouth from that experience move to other online casinos and poker rooms.
The proliferation and growth of massive deposit matching bonuses offered by online casinos and poker rooms ever since the Black Friday DOJ poker ruling in 2011 can also be accounted for the increased popularity of online casino gaming. Many smaller companies that did not run afoul of United States gambling and banking regulation are still up and running and have never closed down. These companies offer very attractive initial deposit welcome bonuses that double and even triple your initial bankroll.
This is a very effective way to attract eyeballs and mouse clicks away from larger casinos and poker rooms, and will no doubt drive the popularity of online gaming going forward. We here at Bonus Geek constantly scour the online gaming community for the best bonuses offered by the most reputable and dependable companies. We are always on the hunt for good news in the global online casino community, and would like to welcome back those 400,000 Full Tilt Poker account holders around the world, as well as the vaunted Full Tilt Poker brand. The recent 10% uptick in global online poker traffic is a great sign for the future of online casino gambling in the US and worldwide, and we look forward to seeing all of you on the virtual tables.