Partypoker slashes rake in continued bid for market share
Operator asks for support from players as it removes rake on the bounty element of PKO tournaments
Partypoker will stop taking rake on the bounty element of all PKO tournaments, as GVC continues to invest in growing the brand.
The change will take effect from 6 May, and run for six months, with party saying it plans to make it a permanent reduction if possible.
Partypoker managing director Tom Waters said: “We have over 350 PKO MTTs per week with guarantees of over $4 million, so clearly, we will need players continued support to remain competitive revenue wise with other online poker sites.”
Party said the change means the value of bounties will increase by between 4% and 12% as the old rake amount will be added to bounties won by players.
The announcement reflects continued investment in growing the partypoker brand, which was said to be one of the main drivers behind a 12% increase in gaming brand revenues in 2017.
However, the investment has also put pressure on margin, with increased rewards for players already reducing profit margin across the entire games division, leading some to question how long party can continue to invest at the current rate.
But no one is pretending that this investment doesn't cost. This is GVC's contribution, 2016 to 2017 across entire games label. Margin shrunk from 44% to 34% across *entire division* (includes partycasino, bingo etc) and poker investment was 100% the reason for cost inc. pic.twitter.com/ceBB6K36Eb
— Nick Jones (@pokerprojones) April 16, 2018
GVC said last year partypoker was the firm’s “sleeping giant”.