New PartyPoker Software Planned for Q2 2013

For the past year, PartyPoker has been making changes to its poker offerings to make the site more appealing to the recreational player.  With this in mind, PartyPoker plans to release new software in the coming months, according to its parent company.  The software was originally due out in Q1 2013.

Party Gaming noticed declines in new sign-ups, daily active players, and daily revenue in 2012.  The company feels that by moving to a more recreational model, it will be able to revitalize the PartyPoker brand.  Party Gaming understands with the advancements in recent years of social media and other new technologies, a complete overhaul of the site is necessary to help PartyPoker grow its liquidity.  This software update will be the first major change to the online poker site in over a decade.

In the past year, PartyPoker has made many changes to make its site more attractive to recreational players.  While most of these changes upset the majority of loyal customers, in order to bring in new blood, PartyPoker officials felt these changes were necessary.  Here are some of the modifications made in the past year.

1. In 2012, PartyPoker removed all of its high-stakes cash games.  While many grinders make a living in low- and mid-stakes games, PartyPoker made a huge statement that high-stakes professionals are no longer welcome, while at the same time making the site more inviting to fish and new players.

2. A more controversial move was segregating the players on the site, as good players were prevented from competing against fish in cash games.  While I understand PartyPoker wanting to maintain liquidity, it does seem strange that a site can potentially punish you for becoming too good and therefore push these players to other online poker rooms.

3. Another change recently made was removing the highest tier in the VIP program.  While PartyPoker may have been making money off players only grinding huge money, these players were taking money off the site and reducing liquidity.  Players who were loyal to PartyPoker for years, however, were left scratching their heads as to why they were no longer able to receive the benefits they once were able to.

4. In the past year, PartyPoker released a fast-fold poker game called Fast Forward.  This is a fun game for recreational players since it is fast-paced and you see new players each hand.  According to PartyPoker, almost one-third of its cash game traffic is now in Fast Forward games.

5. Another dramatic strategic decision by PartyPoker was ending its affiliate association with PokerStrategy in December 2012, which led to a huge decline in the number of new sign-ups and daily average players.  My opinion is that PartyPoker no longer valued the types of players that PokerStrategy provided since they tended to be more educated about how to play poker than the common recreational player.  Also, the bwin.party financial statement mentioned that the customers brought in through PokerStrategy were not bringing a positive return on investment.

In the short-term, it appears while PartyPoker’s player yields have slightly increased, its total net revenue has gone down.  The introduction of new software along with a solid campaign should bring in many new players and help PartyPoker achieve its goals for the coming years.  While we might not ever see the action that PartyPoker once had, the newly redesigned PartyPoker should be a site featuring recreational players looking to have fun against other players of similar abilities.

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