Holdem Manager Officials Discuss Black Friday Fallout

Date: 2011-05-15
Author: Paul Ellis

This week, PokerSoftware.com sat down with Holdem Manager CEO Jim Varnon to discuss how the U.S. Department of Justice indictments against the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker have affected the poker software business.

PokerSoftware.com: Have the events of April 15th had much of an impact on the operating business of Holdem Manager?

Jim Varnon: Obviously, it affects anyone who has customers in the U.S., but long-term, I think it will have minimal impact on our business.  Online poker has continued to flourish over the last several years despite setbacks, and this is not an exception.

PokerSoftware.com: Most poker-related businesses are reporting a drop in revenue of somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% to 30%.  Is Holdem Manager seeing similar statistics?

Jim Varnon: That is similar to what we are experiencing, but with continued innovation and new products, we think in the long-term it will be even less than that.  And if poker opens back up in the U.S. again, then obviously much of this is moot.

PokerSoftware.com: What strategies are you employing to cope with the events of April 15th?

Jim Varnon: Our strategy is to continue to be the premium brand that people think of with respect to poker software.  At the end of the day, that is the only thing in our control and, to that end, we have built one of the largest teams of poker software developers outside the poker sites themselves.  These are all guys who are both experienced online poker players and outstanding software developers.  Our team is committed to providing very substantial resources to innovation and product evolution.

PokerSoftware.com: In recent years, we’ve seen a large number of people making the transition to Holdem Manager.  Is that true?  And why do you think that is?

Jim Varnon: Over the last two years, we believe that a majority of new customers have chosen Holdem Manager over any competitor’s product, and that trend continues to grow.  I think word of mouth is the biggest influence on that.  We recently did a survey of  ourcustomers and 98% said they would recommend Holdem Manger to their friends.  That is a pretty amazing endorsement of a product and the most important endorsement that you can have from your users.

PokerSoftware.com: What’s in store for Holdem Manager in the future?

Jim Varnon:  The market for poker software has been expanding much faster than for online poker in general and more people are becoming familiar with Holdem Manager at an earlier point in their poker evolution. A big emphasis we are making is on the teaching and analysis aspects of the software. There are just so many ways now to analyze the game away from the tables within Holdem Manager, so players who are committed to using it as a learning tool quickly see how it improves their game. But it is like anything in that you get out of it what you put into it.

You can follow Jim Varnon on Twitter - @jdvarnon. Also, get Holdem Manager free through PokerSoftware.com.


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