GGPoker Reports 102% Surge in New Users
Interest in online poker and associated details on search engines has risen hugely since the UK went into lockdown during the fight against COVID-19, something that has led to a surge in new players registering for online poker sites according to new research.
GGPoker, which regards itself as “the home of online poker”, has conducted the research using Google’s Search Trends and Analytics and their analysis indicates that more and more British people are looking to online poker to ease their boredom with restrictions on movement still in place.
Huge Increases in Online Searches
During the month following the announcement of a lockdown in the UK, analysis indicates that there was a 282% increase in online searches for “best poker hand”, while SEO data also shows that there were further huge increases on other search criteria too.
“Royal flush” was searched 47% more often than normal, “full house” was up 43% and “four of a kind” 66% while there was a massive 106% rise in the number of searches for the words “straight flush”.
A look back at search engine trends during the past three months reveals that the general interest in online poker and similar games has been rising steadily since the end of February, searches for the words “Texas Hold’em” for example having risen by an incredible 292% from month to month.
Further analysis of the keywords and phrases used in searches indicates that the increase is largely due to new players now taking up poker due to the lack of live sports on which they’d normally gamble. The phrase “how to play poker” saw a whopping 200% increase month-on-month, “poker hands” was searched 182% more often and “poker rules” rose by 98%.
The most intriguing phrase seeing a rise in searches was “how to bluff”, a rather strange request given that players cannot take part in face-to-face games at the current time. The phrase was searched 144% more often than normal during the first month of lockdown, perhaps by those looking to practice now before being allowed to attend tournaments in bricks and mortar casinos.
GGPoker Lands a Wealth of New Customers
As well as conducting this research for the whole industry, GGPoker has said that its own figures are on the rise with a 92% rise in the interest in online poker generally leading to a 102% bump in their new users.
GGPoker’s head, Jean-Christophe Antoine is not surprised by the figures and has moved to say that he thinks that with people currently searching for ways to pass the time and look for a little escapism, online poker is one of the go-to pastimes and therefore has seen a huge increase in interest in the last few months.
Antoine says that his form anticipates that engagement in online poker will continue to grow for the time being, GGPoker looking forward to seeing how the market then evolves as a result of new and old players continuing to refine, adapt and advance their online poker skills.
While GGPoker are celebrating their own luck currently, Canadian poker sites have also registered a significant increase in interest over the same period.
More new players are joining the hoards there, with “how to play poker” having increased as a search phrase by 60%, “Texas Hold’em” going up 42% and “poker rules” increasing 21% month-on-month as people around the world clearly look for a way to enjoy themselves during these unprecedented times.
