According to a press release by the Ongame Network of poker rooms obtained by Poker News Daily on Thursday, Betsafe will become its newest member. The site is the latest to depart from the CryptoLogic Network, which is poised to turn over its online poker clientele to the Boss Network by the end of the first quarter of 2009.
Kevin O’Neal, a press spokesman for Ongame, commented, “We feel confident that Betsafe is the right partner for us and we are looking forward to a successful and long lasting partnership. Betsafe has the knowledge and expertise needed, and contributes to the liquidity of an interesting customer segment perfectly suited for Ongame Network.” The online poker room will join bwin, Eurobet, Hollywood Poker, Poker Loco, PokerRoom, and RedKings as sites on the Ongame Network.
In the same press release, Henrik Persson, Chief Executive Officer of Betsafe, explained why the move to Ongame was appealing: “We looked into many options, but when the possibility with Ongame Network arose, it was an easy choice. Ongame Network has a great selection of tournaments, promotions, and is a leading innovative poker software supplier. We are now in a position to offer a world class poker product.”
Major tournaments on the Ongame Network include The Grand, which is held on the last weekend of every month. The Grand features a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool and it comes with a $1,040 price tag. All players receive 10,000 starting chips, with blinds increasing every 30 minutes. The aptly-named Big Deal has a buy-in of $320 and at least $50,000 up for grabs. Starting chip stacks in this tournament are 2,500 and the price of poker goes up every 15 minutes. The tournament takes place every Sunday at 18:00 GMT. The final major event held on the Ongame Network is the Grand Prix, which takes place every Saturday. The $162 buy-in tournament also starts at 18:00 GMT. Scheduled qualifiers for it run $24 each.
Several notable online poker rooms have bolted from CryptoLogic recently. According to a business update provided by the Network this week, its fleet of poker rooms is scheduled to be “outsourced” to the Boss Network by the end of the first quarter. Playboy Gaming, a CryptoLogic site, announced that it would shut its doors on January 29th. Sun Poker and PokerPlex each left CryptoLogic for the iPoker Network. Littlewoods Poker, soon to be followed by Classic Poker, will move to 888.
In October, Mansion Poker departed the Ongame Network for iPoker. Other recent network switches include Gutshot heading to the Cake Poker Network and Carlos Poker joining Microgaming. The Ongame Network plays host to 30 brands in total, boasting peak traffic of more than 40,000. At the time of writing, over 30,000 players are battling it out on its felts.
According to poker room traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, the Ongame Network boasts the fifth busiest cash game traffic, featuring a seven day average of 3,100 players. It ranks ahead of Everest Poker (sixth), CEREUS (seventh), Boss Media (eighth), Svenska Spel (ninth), and the Entraction Network (tenth). Leading the pack are PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which come in with 23,900 and 9,900 average ring game players, respectively. Both accept real-money customers from the United States and feature a stable of recognizable poker pros. PokerStars is fresh off its annual Caribbean Adventure, which became the largest live poker tournament held outside of Las Vegas at 1,347 entrants. The eleventh Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) will begin in February, with $15 million up for grabs over the course of 25 tournaments.
