Party Poker inhaled MultiPoker, PokerNow, and Empire. They are now officially The Borg. They are the WalMart of online poker. They are, well, you get my point. Do you think this is the wave of the future? Consolidation, forcing out the smaller guys, turning it into 5 or so huge brands, blandness and arrogant customer service to follow? Anyone see a trend beginning? I'd be interested to hear your comments.
As far as consolidation, I wouldn't be too surprised. I remember when there were more than 100 word processors for the PC on the market. It turns out that the world only needed about 3.
I thought Party just broke off from the old network, now it's collecting up pieces again? Some wierd world domination consolidation going on here.
Interesting question about whether Party will become the WalMart of online poker. The same question might be said about sportsbooks. Will Pinnacle eventually be the one stop shop for sports betting? In the case of Pinnacle, I think it is inevitable with modest management expertise and vision. As for Party, I'm not quite as certain. With sports betting, it's easy to see who is laying the best lines and best variety. With poker, it's tougher to differentiate between which online poker room offers the best service for what a player wants.