Everest Poker have conducted their annual Poker Trend Survey with the help of marketing survey firm JupiterResearch in 16 countries.  The survey has found that the game is at its most popular among younger players.

In Germany, Sweden, Poland and Hungary in particular there has been a big rise in the number of younger online poker players compared with a year ago.

Almost 3,000 players across 16 countries in Europe and Asia completed the Poker Trend Survey online.  The survey aims to give a picture of the demographic and behavioural characteristics of poker players.

The survey has discovered a big change in the age demographic of European online poker players.  The 18-24 age bracket of players has shown a substantial increase.  This is most notable in Germany whereby 41 percent of respondents were in this age group compared with just 17 percent in the 2007 survey.  In Sweden the proportion of players in the 18-24 year-old age range has risen from 18 percent last year to 25 percent this year.  Poland and Hungary have the biggest proportion of its players in this category with 58 percent and 61 percent respectively.  Spain has bucked the trend as it has seen no rise in the proportion of younger players but the percentage of its online poker players in the 25-34 year-old group has increased to 42 percent.

The survey has also found that more and more women seem to be playing online poker.  In Spain, the survey showed that 44 percent of its players are female, a big increase from just 16 percent in 2007.  In Italy the figure is 34 percent, 12 months ago it was just 18 percent.  In Scandinavia, online poker has been well established longer than in many other countries.  46 percent of Norwegian online players are female, whereas the figures are 38 percent in Finland and 37 percent in Sweden.  In Eastern Europe where the online poker market is much newer than say Scandinavia the proportion of female players is lower.  In Hungary 28 percent of players are women whereas in Poland it is 27 percent.

The survey found no distinct pattern which separate countries whose players play for fun and those who play for cash.  However, the survey did indicate that in countries where online poker is more developed players are more inclined to want to play for money.  68 percent of European players play for fun and 54 percent recognise the convenience of playing online.  More than a third of Swedish and German respondents find poker challenging and enjoy improving their skill while playing the game.        

This is Everest Poker’s second Poker Trend Survey and they are likely to keep conducting the survey once every year.

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