Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
Sorry for the bad pun – it’s TGIF, give me a break!
Victory Poker are moving to the Cereus Network, alongside Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. This will make it their THIRD network in 13 months, as they launched on Everleaf initially, moved to the Cake Network, and are now off to Cereus. Credit to Rake The Rake for this news.
If there’s ever an example of how NOT to run an online poker room, this is it. If any room looked like they would be successful in 2010 it was Victory Poker, yet it’s just been one disaster after another. Victory Poker have a lot of big names and money backing them too – however it just seems the people involved there have no idea how to run a poker site. You just can’t move from network to network willy-nilly; any affiliate knows that there will always be a dramatic drop of your player base when this happens.
If any new online poker room is going to succeed over the next few years, they have to start planning for the long-term, not the short-term. Yet I am convinced that the majority of people who are opening up online poker rooms don’t think about the long term – they’re still stuck in 2004, where online poker = striking gold.
I never really promoted Victory Poker and I’m very glad I made that decision. Back when they first launched I was very intrigued by them, and honestly felt like they could be the “next big thing”. If they could combine long-term retention with the marketing that they were doing, I’m sure they would’ve been a hit. Victory Poker did a fantastic job at getting a running start by really getting their brand name out there. From a general marketing perspective, they were top notch.
However wild parties and getting your name out there just isn’t enough – you need to focus on building a player base and building player loyalty. Switching networks every 6 months just isn’t going to do that. Even just one network move can kill a poker room. Pokershare for example: back when they were on the TAIN Network they were a huge site. Then they moved to Microgaming and lost their playerbase, and are now closed.
Network moves just don’t work – I can’t think of one poker room that’s actually moved networks and became a success because of it. It’d be like having a poker affiliate portal with 200 pages of content but not converting any players. Moving to a fresh domain name isn’t going to solve anything: there’s something at the core of your website that’s a problem. Switching networks is just a desperation move.
It’s also such a hassle on affiliates too. If you have a community of players and you’ve promoted Victory Poker to those players, then you’ve had to sell them on the Everleaf Network, not just Victory Poker. Then you’ve had to re-sell those players on the Cake Network. Now just a few months later, you have to attempt to convince those players that Cereus is better? Give me a break.
It’s funny because I believe I wrote something about 6 months ago stating that Victory Poker is the poker room with the most potential. Lots of marketing dollars, getting their brand name out there, and one of the best affiliate managers in the industry. Yet here they are having lost Shenaz and moving networks AGAIN.
Do you hear that ringing? It’s the official Victory Poker Death Knell.
I give them one more year.
This article was written on March 25, 2011 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
