GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 10 - Sept 2009

17 :: GPWA Times have affected that, but it hasn’t. In fact, it may have helped. People still want to be entertained. And they can still do that during a recession by staying home and playingonline.” GPWA member Karim Wilkins took advantage of the game’s continued development and created RakeTheRake. com, a poker loyalty site that educates players on how to get the best deals with the top roomsvia rake races, freerollsand cashback tournaments. “Retention and loyalty are becoming moreandmore important,” saysWilkins. “Therearesomanypokerroomsout there for players to choose from, the good sites need todistinguish themselves from a lot of thedross.RakeTheRake is theperfect vehicle toget thismessageacross.” But as much as online poker has grown over the last decade, more change and adaptation must take place in order for the game to continue extending its reach across the U.S. And a big part of that is changing the perception of the average person who believes online poker is a sordidandunderground industry. Paul Mathews has 20 years of experi- ence in both online and land-based gam- ing and is the former senior vice presi- dent of International Game Technology. Mathews thinks that thefirst step in getting online poker – or on- line gaming altogether – regulated in theU.S. is to change the per- ception. “People in the U.S. have tounderstand that not only is it regulated overseas, but some of the biggest companies in the world that are publicly traded on the stock market are in- volved,”saysMathews. “This isn’t ‘Joe’sCasino’ with two guys in a shack somewhere in theCaribbean. It’s big-time companies like Ladbrokes and Rank. And they have proven that this kind of activity can be operated in a re- sponsiblemanner.” Mathews also believes that the intra- state online poker bill that’s on the table in California could be the first step in seeingU.S. regulation.Hepoints out that the history of gambling expansionworks withadominoeffect,but that it’s typically a slowprocess in theU.S. “Land-based gaming started in one state (Nevada) and then it took nearly four decades to get to another (New Jersey),” he explains. “Then after that we saw the riverboatsand theNativeAmericancasinos andnowthere’sanumberofstatesthathave it. So you’dhave to think that if California canget theball rolling,otherstateswhere it isviablewould followsuiteventually.” A studydonebyPricewaterhouseCoopers showed thatmore than$50 billion could have been generated during the next 10 years if online gaming legislation had passed in 2009. But even without regu- lation there isn’t reallymuch of a fear of seeing online poker reach a saturation point. “I don’t believe saturation is a reality. However, more affiliates need to start sharing the wealth with their players moreandhelp themwitheducation,”says Wilkins. “Affiliates need to work more withplayers to seewhat theywant rather than just referring them to rooms and forgetting about them.Most importantly, affiliatesneed tobe selectiveaboutwhom they choose to promote and make sure the (programs) they are promoting are reputable and have serious financial backing.” AddsEnke: “The growthmay slowdown, but I can’t really see thedaywhen it dries up. Imeanyousee the tobacco taxesgoing up,butyoudon’tseemanypeoplequitting smoking because of it. And if things ever do dry up in the U.S. there are plenty of othermarkets likeGermany that are just starting toopenup, so I don’t see theday when online poker struggles. Right now it’s just too strongof an industry.” “The skill level of amateur playershas goneup dramatically. . . . People aremore serious about improving their game rather thangoingonline and just playing.” –2004WorldSeriesofPokerMain Event champGregRaymer U.S. (10Million Players) U.K. (1.9Million Players) Germany (1.6Million Players) France (1.3Million Players) Scandinavia (1.4Million Players) Online PokerMarket Share Online Poker in the USA— Strong, Steady and Here to Stay!