GGPoker are now bigger than PokerStars
As predicted, GGPoker have overtaken PokerStars for the most reliable industry metric for poker room size.
We wrote last month that GGPoker were poised to become the biggest site in poker at some point this summer. It has already happened much quicker than we expected.
pokerfuse and GameIntel have reported that GGPoker have overtaken PokerStars for the most cash game players averaged over the last seven days, which is a long-standing industry way to measure the market share of poker rooms.
This is the first time PokerStars have been overtaken in 15 years,
something many in the game thought would never happen again. GGPoker had 5,006 concurrent average cash game players last week while PokerStars had 4,981.
Cash game traffic is not a perfect metric, especially as the rise of Lottery SNGs has taken a lot of that marketshare from all operators. It is, however, one of the key metrics the industry looks at when documenting these things. GGPoker is also crushing on other fronts, their own Lottery SNG (Rush & Gold) has just had its first millionaire, for example.
They are perhaps best known for their growth in online tournaments. They will once again host online bracelet events this summer and now regularly boast huge guarantee touraments and series that rival, and often beat, PokerStars.
No signs of slowing down
What is the secret to this success? It would be easy to attribute it to getting the WSOP, their focus on the Asian market, PokerStars taking their foot off the gas or the increase in interest during the pandemic.
In reality it has to be the remarkable software and gaming innovations that makes GGPoker interesting and different to play on. Their in-client staking system, final table seat switching, all-in insurance, Flip & Go, Battle Royale, Smart HUD, cash drops and more. Not all their ideas are their own, but the speed and pace at which they introduce new innovations is seeing them leapfrog the competition.
It doesn't look like they are showing any signs of stopping either, especially as they are about to host the online World Series of Poker and official satellites to the live WSOP. It looks like every other operator is going to have to learn from GGPoker if they want to keep up with them over the next few years.