Since the online poker room’s inception in 2005, Everest Poker has kept its head well above water by providing its own intuitive, proprietary software. However, it seems that is about to change as an unceasing trend of declination in the player base has humbled the company to the point of seeking growth through a change in networks.
It hasn’t been confirmed but yet, but all fingers and reliable sources are pointing toward Everest Poker’s intentions to hop on board the iPoker Network in the near future. According to a leading poker network traffic calculating site, Poker Scout, the iPoker Network is sitting comfortably in the 2nd position, under PokerStars, while Everest Poker, once a dominating network in the polls, has slipped all the way down to the 23rd position.
Interestingly enough, Everest Poker’s French domain, which carries stand-alone traffic from French online poker players, is ranked substantially higher at 15th. Among France-based poker sites, Everest is ranked number 3, surpassed only by Winamax Poker and PokerStars respectively. This leads to pertinent questions as to whether the French Everest Poker site will continue to maintain its elevated status among French online poker players if and when the network transfer takes place.
In the last six months, the international version of Everest Poker has lost a staggering 40% of its once consistent traffic. In February of 2012, the Everest Poker Network was averaging an impressive amount of about 1,000 players at any given time over a seven day period. Since that time, the numbers have declined on a frighteningly steady basis, now averaging just 560 active participants.
Everest Poker’s waning performance has resulted in a significant loss of sponsorship deals, as well as its standard revenue, all but bringing the international poker brand to its knees. By making the switch to the iPoker Network, Everest would be able to promote a much larger player base via the network’s 34 integrated poker brands which include big names like Titan Poker, William Hill Poker, Gala Poker, Paddy Power Poker, Expekt Poker, Poker770 and many others.
By infusing Everest with the innovative software of Playtech, the chosen programmer of the iPoker Network, the online poker room will also be able to provide a larger assortment of card games and a more illustrious line-up of poker tournaments. In its current stasis, Everest Poker only provides the most standard card games like Texas Holdem and Omaha Poker. Members of the iPoker Network are privy to less common titles that include Seven Card Stud, Five Card Stud and the network’s newest variation termed Fast-Fold Poker.
Fast-Fold Poker is a more expedient way to play online poker. It is highly unique because it is one form of online poker that cannot be replicated in a live format. Each time a player folds a hand in Fast-Fold poker, they are immediately whisked away from the table and delivered to another table where they can be instantly dealt into a new hand.
Neither Everest Poker nor the iPoker Network have acquiesced to any statements regarding the speculations of an impending merger, thus we cannot even speculate as to when such a fusion might take place, or even confirm its intended existence. What we do know is that if Everest continues on this perpetual decline of traffic, missing out on an opportunity to abandon its proprietary software and grasp the coattails of a flourishing network could be the ultimate death of a once thriving operation.
