Date set for iPoker split
New network policy to take force from 1 July " rooms which fail to comply will be separated from "main liquidity pool" in September.
Playtech will begin ring-fencing liquidity on its iPoker network from September, with operators failing to meet various criteria set to be excluded from what it describes as its “main liquidity pool”, the company revealed today.
The move comes several months after eGaming Review first reported on such a potential split, with bet365, Paddy Power and William Hill among the operators set to remain in the main pool. Playtech is still yet to give any indication as to which operators – or indeed how many – would be included on the upper tier of the two-tier network.
A new network policy will be introduced on 1 July, providing a number of conditions which operators on the network will be required to comply with in order to enjoy benefits of the main pool. One of these conditions is the maintenance of a base of 6,000 monthly active players, as well as the introduction of 850 new players each month.
An anonymous representative for one iPoker skin told eGR that he would need further information from Playtech on the make-up and policing of what he calls “the minor network” before deciding whether it was viable to remain on the network.
One of the main concerns is that there will be little done to prevent those operators failing to meet player number targets ending up in the same boat as those who fail to fall in line with a more recreational-focused ecology, thus providing a continued risk of cannibalisation within the second tier of iPoker.
The third criterion, according to Playtech, is a scoring metric which addresses a balance between different “player segments” and is based on the contribution of players. Operators on the network have previously expressed concerns about the potential exclusion of skins with a high proportion of rakeback players.
“What’s likely is some of the key data is not available on the profile of the minor rooms – will we be dominated by shark-infested sites? Until we get that detail [our situation] is difficult to evaluate,” explained the anonymous skin representative.
“Most of our players are recreational and we don’t want them to be ‘eaten up’ by players on other skins. We have had statements [from Playtech] about how it is going to be policed, but the question remains as to whether they are able to police it,” he added.
Operators on the network, of which there are 33 listed on the iPoker site, will be forced to comply with the new policy immediately upon its introduction. Playtech has described the move as “A product of a long term process, which was made with a sole aim to create a better poker environment for our players.”
The software provider explains that it is looking to bring into action a twofold process aimed at
“¢ Extending players’ life time expectancy on the network, as well as extend the deposit over spend period for players.
“¢ Balancing the “drain” volume amongst network’s card rooms.
Sites on the network will be subject to a monthly audit, with the first such audit taking place on 1 September. As a consequence, the current compensation method for skins will end on 31 August.
Earlier this week Playtech revealed that its new fast-fold poker variant, Speed Hold’em, would be rolled out across the network from next month.