Everest Poker Identifies European Poker Playing Trends by Publishing the First Poker-Specific Survey in Europe

Montreal, QB (PRWeb) February 8, 2007 -- Everest Poker has commissioned Jupiter Research to conduct a Pan-European survey identifying the demographic and behavioural characteristics of the poker playing community in Europe. Nearly 2,000 consumers in France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Italy completed the survey online which is the first poker-specific survey on European players to be published.

European poker players are male, aged 25 to 34 years and earn less than 35K euros per year. According to the survey, poker remains a predominantly male game, particularly in southern European countries. On average, over 70% of all online and offline European poker players surveyed were male and in Spain and Italy, over 80% of poker players were male. Other countries surveyed have greater female representation such as France (34% were female players) and Germany (31%).

Over 30% of all the poker players surveyed were between the ages of 25 to 34 and this reflects a general trend in most European countries such as France (34%), Italy (35%), Sweden (33%) and Spain (31%). The exception to the rule is Germany whose poker players are older with 32% between the ages of 35 and 44. Interestingly, an average of 10% of all poker players were over 55, with the exception of Italy which has 15% of its player base in the over 55 age range.

According to the Everest Poker / Jupiter Research survey, the average household income of European poker players is below 35, 000 euros per year. This was true for all countries surveyed, in particular Spain where 51% of online poker players earn less than 35k euros. In Sweden, 39% of online poker players earn less than 324,000 Kronas.

The industries in which the poker players work vary between each country. 7% of French respondents work in the Professional and Consulting industry, while just under 7% of Dutch poker players work in Education. 18% of the Swedish poker players also work in Education, and 11% of the Spanish players work in the travel, recreation and hospitality sector. 5% of Italian poker players surveyed work in Retail.

European consumers play poker online four times per month and are driven by the fun aspect of poker. European online poker players play on average four times per month and close to 40% of Europeans surveyed play poker on a weekly basis with evenings and weekends being the most popular times to play.

The fun aspect of online poker is the first reason for online poker enthusiasts to play. An average of 75% play poker because it is a fun game with over 80% of French, Swedish and German players confirming this. Many markets such as Germany (47%), Italy (46%) and Sweden (49%) stated the accessibility of poker rooms as one of the main reasons to play. Other drivers of online poker play were the ability to play against others across the internet and the ability to improve their poker skills, which was a particularly attractive feature for Swedish players (38%). Approximately 28% stated that they play poker online to make money.

Respondents were also asked to assess their online poker playing skills during the survey. Dutch and German players were modest with over 20% believing they have below average poker skills compared to players in other European countries. 8% of respondents from each country considered their poker skills to be above average, with the exception of Swedish players, 11% of whom consider their skills to be better than in other countries. Swedish players also believe they are passive players as do French players. Spanish and Italian players both claim to be rather loose in their online poker play.

Ranked the world's fourth most popular online poker room*, Everest Poker aims to better understand the behaviours of its European poker players through its survey. Everest Poker is one of only a few independent poker rooms that does not belong to a network and is the exclusive licensee of its poker software technology. The poker room is considered one of the top three most popular poker sites in Europe and had a record 31,992 players playing simultaneously on January 15th 2007.

* According to recent statistics on www.pokersitescout.com

For more country-specific information from the Everest Poker survey, please contact Melissa Pauléat.

About Everest Poker
Everestpoker.com is the first site dedicated to the international poker playing community. Recognizing the many non-English speaking poker enthusiasts around the world, Everest Poker has built the only poker software fully localized in 11 different languages. In addition, Everestpoker.com offers poker players customer support in 15 languages, and is involved with local poker initiatives through partnerships and participation in national, European and worldwide tournaments. Everest Poker is owned by Ultra Internet Media. For more information, please visit: www.everestpoker.com

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