GPI Says Companies Must Innovate To Stay In Buisness

The global poker industry has grown exponentially between 2003 to 2013 but during the last two years the growth in both live poker and online poker markets has slowed down considerably. There are a number of reasons for this market slowdown and the two main reasons can be attributed towards governmental regulations imposed on the poker industry and the lack of innovation in the poker industry.

Global Poker Index (GPI) CEO Alex Dreyfus has been one of the few leaders in the industry who has focused on innovating and setting a new trend in the poker industry by looking to sportify the image of poker and launching a number of new initiatives designed to promote his brand and the game of poker.

Dreyfus recently shared his views on the poker industry and what needs to be done to ensure that the game does not lose its popularity. The charismatic CEO stated that poker establishments have to deal with the changing needs and growing demands of the consumer and need to be innovators or run the risk of going out of business. Alex Dreyfus stated that a number of new games on the market are now capturing the attention of poker players who are choosing to move away from poker and instead spend their time playing Hearthstone, an online card game which is being played all around the globe.

Hearthstone was only released in March 2013 but since then has gone on to accumulate a database of over 30 million players which is around forty percent of PokerStars current player database. PokerStars the biggest online poker website in the world started in 2001 and took 14 years to build its database which is now around 75 million players.

In a statement, Dreyfus said

Daniel Negreanu, regarded as the best poker player in the world, has publicly said that he is addicted to Hearthstone and plays every day. Recently, I met the number one Italian poker player and he told me he is now spending more time on Hearthstone than poker. Do they make more money? No, but they enjoy the game and the experience.

Dreyfus also stated that the average age of poker players in the U.S is around 40 and in Europe around 33. The younger generation are no longer flocking towards poker but are looking to experiment with new games that entertain and capture their attention. Dreyfus stated that poker companies must be willing offer new products that will attract a new and younger customer database.