Network Traffic Reports Since Black Friday
As various repercussions from the indictments of Black Friday continue to make themselves clear, the network traffic reports from assorted scrutineers give some clue as to how traffic to each of the sites involved had changed.
The chart below shows how the biggest losers have been those sites connected to the Cereus Network - that is Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Along with PokerStars and Full Tilt, these poker rooms no longer operate inside the U.S. PokerStars and Full Tilt have managed however, after early falls, to maintain their traffic levels.
The biggest winners are the European sites which offer gaming for Americans, such as PartyPoker and the American sites which have remained operating legally in the U.S, such as Cake, Bodog and Merge.
Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker Confirm U.S. Exit
In related and not altogether unsurprising news, Blanca Games, the company which operates the above mentioned sites has stated that it is will be:
“…..focusing its resources on consolidating its non-U.S, rest-of-the-world operation and software business.”
Essentially they are saying they have given up on the U.S. market and will be concentrating on everywhere else for now on. This will also mean significant restructuring and downsizing, especially in the States. Only 20% of the current workforce will be retained.
There was a nervous moment for U.S. players with cash still stored at these sites several days 
ago when news emerged that the American arm of Blanca was filing for bankruptcy. This would of course have meant those deposits would have disappeared. The whole story seems to have been based on another company, Madeira Fjord, failing to receive payments from Blanca and consequently that company filing for bankruptcy in Norway. A spokesperson reiterated that Blanca is not bankrupt and that:
“This notice has no negative impact upon Blanca, the operating company, or its brands. As stated previously, Absolute Poker and UB continue to operate their non-U.S. facing business around the world.”
That’s a bit of good news at least for the affected players but limited withdrawals per month during this unstable period means that not everyone is particularly happy.
