Global Poker Online Traffic Surges As Players Compete For Big Tournament Prize PoolsGeneral Manager David Lyons Talks About What's Next For The Fastest Growing Site In The U.S. |
|
If you have been listening to poker players in the United States in the last couple of years, then you have probably heard about Global Poker. Once considered the new kid on the block as far as online poker sites go, Global Poker has taken the industry by storm and has cemented itself among the top 10 sites worldwide for player volume and as the fastest growing site for US players.
Now, with live poker on hiatus and with many of us forced to stay at home, Global Poker is more popular than ever. The site has increased guarantees on their big Sunday events, and have still had no problem meeting them. Six months ago, the player-favorite Sunday Scrimmage drew a field of 237 entrants for its SC50,000 prize pool. Recently, the very same tournament had 643 runners, easily crushing the new SC100,000 guarantee while awarding the first-place prize of SC23,533 to an online player from Alabama. Global Poker saw 900 players enter when the guarantee was further doubled to SC 200,000!
But Global Poker hasn’t rested on the success of their usual daily tournament schedule. With the increase in demand, the site has risen to the challenge by quickly launching the Global Poker Home Series, a schedule of events that includes 28 Sweeps Coins and 28 Gold Coins tournaments. This SC2 million series wraps up April 26 with a massive edition of the Sunday Scrimmage featuring a SC500,000 guarantee!
And if that wasn’t enough, Global Poker is already putting the finishing touches on the next leg of their Global Poker Championship Series, which will see the Rattlesnake Open run from May 4-25.
Card Player recently caught up with Global Poker General Manager David Lyons to find out more about the site that has everyone playing online poker again.
Card Player: For those of our readers who are unfamiliar, or perhaps just dipping their toes back into online poker, can you explain what sets Global Poker apart from the other sites out there? Who can play on Global Poker?
David Lyons: Global Poker provides a social poker experience, but with the added twist that players can actually win prizes. Like other social poker games, players receive free Gold Coins (the primary virtual currency used to play Global Poker games for entertainment) on registration and may purchase more Gold Coins. Players can also be issued free promotional Sweeps Coins that can be played at the poker tables and provide an opportunity to redeem winnings for real prizes.
CP: The coronavirus has forced many poker players from the casinos back online and based on the numbers in your recent Sunday tournaments, it appears that traffic is booming! Can you talk about how Global Poker is the fastest growing cardroom around?
DL: It has been a rollercoaster few weeks. As people are staying at home, we have seen an influx of new players across all game formats, and this has been most visible in our high-stakes ring games (we are seeing GC10,000-20,000 and SC10-20 games running regularly) and of course our tournaments, where the prize pools for several have more than doubled. This unexpected influx is a blessing and a challenge, as we need to ensure that our infrastructure is able to sustain it, and also that our player-facing staff are able to maintain great customer service.
CP: Global Poker seemed quick to respond to the growing demand for online action. Can you talk about the Home Series and how the idea came to fruition?
DL: The idea was a simple one: can we do something that will be attractive to the live poker community? Before the events of the last few weeks we were planning to rerun the aborted Sunday Scrimmage third anniversary special as an opener to the planned Rattlesnake Open, but then things changed fast. We added some high-stakes ring games, but we knew we wanted to have a big daily ‘event’ tournament to capture the interest and the imagination of poker players. It all came together within a few days and the only big decision was how much to push the guarantees. With SC2 million up for grabs including SC500,000 for the main event, and 28 trophies to be won in the championship events, we think we have something the poker community will love. To top things off we also added 28 trophy events with a GC70 million total Home Series guaranteed for our Gold Coin players.
CP: With the Hometown Heroes promotions and now the Home Series, it seems that Global Poker is very focused on listening to player feedback and the development of a community.
DL: We are extremely lucky to have the best community in poker. Our players engage with each other and with us across a variety of channels including social media, Discord and Twitch. Players share their experiences, help each other and provide feedback. This type of engaged community builds trust in Global Poker and that trust is not just a big asset but also a big responsibility. We take that responsibility seriously, and I believe our players recognize that.
CP: What can players expect from Global Poker in the future? Can you reveal or hint at any upcoming tournament series or promotion?
DL: Our players have not been shy about making their feelings clear about what they want to see in the future, so I have been pretty reluctant to make any promises that we might not be able to keep. However, I can say that we have a few exciting things planned for April and May.
Firstly, we will be piloting Surge, our fast-fold ring game format. Fast-fold is one of the great innovations in online poker and is something that benefits all players types. Casual players have less waiting time between hands which tends to make them more selective, which ultimately means they are playing better poker. Grinders get to play more hands in less time, which of course they love. We expect to see Surge piloted at some Gold Coin and Sweeps Coin stakes before the end of April.
Secondly, we are looking forward to the Rattlesnake Open in May. The GPC series has a loyal following and no doubt the regulars are excited about seeing what the new influx of players does to the prize pools. We expect that handsome Rattlesnake trophies may be a little harder to get hold of than in previous series.
In parallel with this we are working on Bounty Tournaments. These have become more and more popular among the online poker playing community and are a great way for new players to get acquainted with long-form tournaments as they don’t have to wait until the final few tables to enjoy a winning moment. We expect to see our first Bounty Tournaments sometime in May.
If you haven’t yet tried Global Poker, now is the time to do so. The site is giving away SC1,000 every week for new players in a special Saturday freeroll tournament. This Sunday, April 26, the site is upping their Sunday Scrimmage guarantee to SC 500,000! Sign up today.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
