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With the second annual 2008 World Series of Poker Europe just days away, one has to question why BetFair Poker continues to lag so far behind the competition. Once again, BetFair Poker is the sponsor of the WSOPE.
The amount of buzz generated from its branding at the first ever WSOPE has not resulted in an abundance of new players apparently.
A review of PokerSiteScout.com shows that BetFair Poker ranks in 17th place, just behind PRK Poker, though a bit ahead of Ladbrokes.
This has little to do with not being able to access the US market.
Three of the top 5 online poker rooms in the world do not accept US players: PartyPoker, OnGame and the iPoker Network.
BetFair in fact has been struggling to build a name for itself. Sites like PokerStars seem to be one-upping BetFair Poker. Case in point: Despite having his endorsement deal with Betfair.com, Canadian poker player, Sorel Mizzi, was listed by EPT Barcelona Open tournament organizers as a PokerStars.com qualifier. Thankfully for BetFair, this professional was among the casualties during Day 2 of play.
BetFair recently invited Olympic powerhouse swimmer, Michael Phelps, to participate in the WSOPE on its watch. Apparently, he had other ideas, electing instead to learn from the master, Doyle Brunson, over at Gambling911.com endorsed online poker Doyles Room.
Betfair is the world's largest Internet betting exchange. The company is based in Hammersmith in West London, England.
Since Betfair was launched in June 2000 it has become the largest online betting company in the UK and the largest bet exchange in the world. Betfair currently has over 1,000,000 clients and a turnover in excess of £50m/week, yet that success - like with the United Kingdom's largest bookmaker Ladbrokes - has failed to translate in the world of online poker.
Even Bodog Poker, which has lost massive market share in recent months due to its difficulties paying out customers, is still managing to perform better than BetFair. Bodog ranked just ahead of BetFair Poker in terms of real cash players.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
