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CEREUS Network Jumps Absolute Poker And UltimateBet To Top Ranks

Last week, Absolute Poker and UltimateBetPoker, both under the ownership of Tokwiro Enterprises, finally made the long-awaited merge onto the CEREUS Poker Network. As expected by industry analysts, the merging of both player bases has boosted the network into a much higher position in the online poker rankings.

According to PokerScout, an online poker traffic tracker, the CEREUS Network, consisting only of AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com player bases, jumped to the number 7 spot overall. In terms of US-facing online poker rooms, however, CEREUS now claims the number 3 position, behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

The top 6 ranked online poker networks – respectively PokerStars, Full Tilt, iPoker Network, PartyPoker, OnGame Network and Everest Poker – have not budged from their current position in the last 35 weeks. With CEREUS averaging 3,470 players at peak hours, that won’t likely change either. Everest Poker, in the 6th spot, currently maintains an average of 4,781, well over a thousand higher than CEREUS.

Then again, both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet have received a phenomenal amount of news coverage in recent weeks, but not all news is good news. CBS ’60 Minutes’ broadcast a report last week about the cheating scandal that went on in both online poker rooms over the last two years. While the extreme measures Tokwiro is taking to compensate its players and ensure this type of behavior never occurs again has certainly encouraged new player sign-ups from some, in the same token, it could be having a negative impact on traffic numbers.

The merge onto the CEREUS Network was designed to increase participation at tournaments, thereby increasing the amount and value of such poker tournaments, as well as the promotional aspects of both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet. The timing of the integration could not have been better either, as 12 months of work came to fruition at the close of the Tokwiro vs. Excapsa court hearings that resulted in a $20 million ruling in favor of Tokwiro.

It should be interesting to see how the player traffic fluxuates over the coming weeks as Absolute Poker and UltimateBet have become CEREUS.

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