In a recent poker site popularity statistics, Pokerstars.com leads the online poker market with 25000 ‘Real Cash’ players. It is far ahead of nearest competition Full Tilt Poker which has approximately 15000 ‘real cash’ players. Full Poker Tilt has seen a decline in the number of players in the first few weeks of February. From 20000 average ‘real cash’ players the numbers have fallen to around 15000 players. This is not a very good sign for the site and there is some catching-up that needs to be done. PokerStars has moved way ahead with average numbers as high as 35000 ‘real cash’ players from 25000. However, there is a clear sign that the Top 2 poker sites are way ahead of other online poker sites. There are many features which attract players to these 2 sites. Some of them are 100% bonus and large number of players, tables and tournaments to choose from.

Some of the other sites that have less than 10000 ‘real cash’ players are Party Poker and ipoker. Recently iPoker was losing ground and the average number of players had dropped to around 4700 but recently the numbers have started to pick-up indicating better performance of the site. The list of poker websites that are active is long but as we go down the list the number of ‘real cash’ players reduces dramatically. The performance of a poker site depends on marketing strategies, usability, user interface, tournaments, bonuses and a host of other factors.

The list of websites which have more than 1000 players include Ongame which has approximately 5000 players, Cereus which has around 2000 players, International at almost 5000 and MicroGaming Network about 3000. With newer technologies making the launching of poker sites much easier, the competition among poker websites is set to increase. However, the major chunk of online poker revenues will continue to remain with the leading websites. Poker websites hardly reveal their earnings but the top sites generate millions of dollars in gaming money. Online poker and gaming is illegal in the United States and as a result the bankrolling of funds has come down drastically. If online poker becomes legalized in the United States one will definitely see a huge upswing in online poker revenues.

In the ranking list Cake Poker, Entraction, Pacific Poker and Svenska Spel are some of the other names. Some of the websites accept US players but many among them do not, given that online gambling is illegal in the USA. Online poker is becoming popular in Europe, Latin America and Asia and we are seeing many launches happening in these regions. With the US still undecided on the issue operators are looking at other destinations where online poker is legal.