Why are there so few players at web-based bitcoin poker websites?

[GannickusX]

It takes only one person to make a Blackjack game and ten to make a good Hold-em game.

^This. Poker is not a game where you play against the house like you usually do at Dice games or other Casino games, it require players and I guess currently there are not too many players who are interested in it or they don't have the patience to sit and play through it as sometimes it can be a little slow paced, which is why after a while players start going 'all-in' in almost all the hands, it can be argued that it's their tactics but I doubt it is.

And with people coming from all over the world it's hard to get them online at the same time, which could be another factor while you see not so many people on BTC Poker sites. Also, some players on these sites are 'rat-holers' which is frowned upon by some of the poker players.

It also seems that most gamblers here prefer dice sites as you can see in the whole gambling section, mostly because they prefer a fast game, betting fast, poker is not fast, it takes some time and i guess thats why not many people like poker, i personally like poker and blackjack, they have low house edge, 0% if its poker on player vs player.

[1715343188]

1715343188

[1715343188]

1715343188

[magicmexican]

0% if its poker on player vs player.

Its never 0% because every room takes rake. If you put 1$ against the 1$ of other guy, the prizepool wont be 2$, it would be less.

Btc poker could grow in the future, but it will take a lot of time and effort.

Right now, the only reason to search alternatives for stars and fulltilt is being located in US, and even then, i think there are some smaller rooms accept US players.

[erpbridge]

I'm not poker expert or something, but I think that serious poker players prefer games IRL over clicking on web..

This is exactly what I was thinking.  I don't play poker all that often, but really there is no substitute to facing your opponents, having a showdown, and going home the victor or loser.  I have tried online poker but it lacks that certain thrill I get from conflicts.  The only advantage to online poker is that i can do it in my underwear.

None of that are reasons for lack of traffic on Bitcoin poker sites. Pokerstars and Fulltilt usually have over 50,000 players online most of the time, so there is clearly no lack of players for online poker. And a huge part of poker players are from countries where its banned. So that doesn't explain the reason why there is lack of traffic on bitcoin poker sites. I feel the reason is probably alternatives to Pokerstars like Americas Cardroom and other sites that accept players from these countries. They are more prefered than bitcoin poker. Also the price swings of bitcoin probably kills their bankroll management.

[tsoPANos]

Also for some weird reason, bitcoin gamblers really like the classic dice game.
They are free to customise the odds. Maybe it's because of satoshidice, which was
once the biggest gambling site out there.

[ShetKid]

SWC had good traffic before they launched the new software. Most of the players are aware of it as Micon advertised in the WSOP events. But now they don't have online client so traffic is less. I am sure once they have online client we will have lots of new players back in the game.

[ACR Rep]

Hello,

I'm the official Americas Cardroom rep. We are the fastest growing poker site in the U.S. We have been in business since 2001 and we have super fast payouts.

We don't have a web client right now, but we are currently working on one to be launched in the future.

on August 2nd we will have a $1 million dollar guaranteed tournament: The Million Dollar Sundays tourney

You can deposit and cash out using Bitcoin.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help or have any questions.

The ACR Team

[Betcoin.AG]

Hello please give is a try at www.betcoin.ag as our rake is HALF as much as most conventional fiat websites and you get all the benefits of a bitcoin only website with quick and easy registration, 1 confirmation deposits quick withdrawals and the ability to play in tournaments up to one million gtd.  Check us out today at.

www.betcoin.ag

[Slark]

There is couple of reasons really:

1. Bitcoin Community tends to gravitate towards Dice or other 'single player' casino games where you play against the house.
2. Bitcoin Poker sites are not on the par with the best 'normal' fueled poker rooms, not enough tournaments, players etc..
3. It is as you said OP if bitcoin gambler want to play poker and see that bitcoin poker sites are not populated he would rather go to some place with bigger community.

[panjul07]

Why are there so few players at web-based bitcoin poker websites?

Here are the number of people that are currently playing ring games:
1. nitrogensports.eu: 14 users now playing
2. betcoin.ag: 30 users now playing
3. luckyflop.eu: 1 user now playing

When I used to play at FullTilt and PokerStars (and PartyPoker many years ago), there would always be THOUSANDS of players. Don't those people still want to play?

Why don't the existing web-based bitcoin poker websites market their services more effectively?

Why don't PokerStars and FullTilt offer web-based bitcoin poker websites?

Have you tried bitspoker.com? I see there are a lot of online players play in the ring games (87 online players, 21 active tables when I write this)
I think it is a high stake poker room, the lowest stakes in the ring game is 100/200bits with minimum buy in 4000bits, but it is worth enough to make some deposit and play because there are many active players..even I see there are some players in the waiting list of the ring games.

[Bitus]

Luckyflop.eu is getting busier lately.
Very good site to play poker!
This is the site what I was looking for. (Not rigged)

[Twipple]

Also for some weird reason, bitcoin gamblers really like the classic dice game.
They are free to customise the odds. Maybe it's because of satoshidice, which was
once the biggest gambling site out there.

That in no way should be the reason. Just because you like Dancing as well as Singing, doesn't mean you will leave one of those for the other.

[FanEagle]

Building something trustful like swc is hard, you must work really hard to purpose something good.
Yet, there is still people that thinks that making a poker website in btc is the easiest thing in the world and then puff, they disappear 1 week later.

[apriyani420]

Luckyflop.eu is getting busier lately.
Very good site to play poker!
This is the site what I was looking for. (Not rigged)

well if you play just for some time and withdraw instantly after playing it they wouldnt scam you, but if you want to hold bitcoins i would trust only seals with clubs website

[Bitus]

Luckyflop.eu is getting busier lately.
Very good site to play poker!
This is the site what I was looking for. (Not rigged)

well if you play just for some time and withdraw instantly after playing it they wouldnt scam you, but if you want to hold bitcoins i would trust only seals with clubs website

U are wrong, luckyflop would not scam.
Ive been playing and have a decent amount.
Never had a problem..

[ticoti]

Because poker needs many players to play,and if there are no players, nobody play and everybody goes to other sites

[meadefreling]

More and more online poker websites are opening on daily basis, they are only sharing the existing traffics or players and some people also quited just as you did.

[Twipple]

Because poker needs many players to play,and if there are no players, nobody play and everybody goes to other sites

Not much of a valid reason. People who want to play would sit at a table and wait for the others, and people join soon . Someone always has to start be it any site.

[skathan]

what bitcoin poker site currently has the most users?

[panjul07]

what bitcoin poker site currently has the most users?

There are some sites such as swc, betcoin, nitrogen and bitspoker..but if you're looking for ring games and huge GTD Tourney, you may try bitspoker. More than 140 online players and 17 active tables atm and most of them on ring games including me, and others are playing in 8btc GTD tourney..

[DiscoverCebu]

Personally I don't even play poker, don't know why its such a big deal, I like playing on dice sites. Great house edge and manageable payout for trying out many strats.