Why Won't They Just Let 3D Poker Die An Honorable Death?

In what I can only imagine is was an attempt to put me on tilt, 888 has proudly announced the release of a 3D client. Sorry, this is one of my pet peeve topics so I’m going to rant a bit here.

3D poker has never taken off. Never. Ladbrokes launched their 3d client sometime back in 2007 and if their poker numbers are any indication, it hasn’t helped them. According to PokerScout, PKR, the grand daddy of 3D poker clients, is in 19th place in the poker market. That’s one spot ahead of PartyPoker’s .fr French regulated room. And that’s after spending millions upon millions promoting PKR 3D poker as the coolest and hottest thing to ever hit the poker scene.

I’m not saying they haven’t created a good product. I’m not even saying 3D will never take off. What makes me want to pull out my hair is that it’s like watching a market economy in reverse. If there was the huge consumer demand for 3D poker - that every room that launches a 3D client thinks there is - Party, Tilt, and Stars would be out of business. Players would have flocked to PKR back in 2006 and they would be the market leaders. But the fact that they have to keep buying ads in all the major media outlets and they’re still at number 19 seems to indicate that the demand for 3D poker isn’t there yet. It might be in the future, but it’s not there today.

And I can’t really fault PKR because they tried something nobody else had done before. Bravo to them. But when it didn’t work and others moved ahead and launched 3D clients you have to wonder if they fell asleep in Econ 101.

Maybe someone will get it right at some point down the road but it’s still got a long way to go before it’s a must-have for poker rooms. With both Ladbrokes and 888 posting “disappointing” poker numbers quarter after quarter you would think they had better things to do than chase market segments that aren’t very promising.