Everest Poker Representative: Black Friday Did Not Affect Our Operations

Mariken Hogenhout, Everest Gaming Global PR Manager, talked in an exclusive interview for PokerStrategy.com about several topics, including Black Friday, the Full Tilt Poker issue and Everest Poker's future plans.

We expect traffic to continue growing

Mariken Hogenhout, Everest Gaming Global PR Manager

PokerStrategy.com: How did the events surrounding Black Friday affect your operations and your plans for the immediate future? Did you take any particular steps or measures as a result of Black Friday?

Mariken Hogenhout: Black Friday didn't affect the operations of Everest Poker since we do not accept US players.

PokerStrategy.com: With Full Tilt Poker currently offline, your traffic has gone up. How happy are you with the traffic increase? Do you think it will continue to grow?

Mariken Hogenhout: We noticed an increase in our traffic, partly due to the situation with Full Tilt and the successful launch of the fifth season of the Everest Poker International Cup (EPIC). We do expect traffic to continue growing because of our plans to continually improve our product and offer the best gaming environment possible.

PokerStrategy.com: How important is security and transparency to you now? Are you fielding more questions these days from customers about security?

Mariken Hogenhout: Security and transparency have always been and will continue to be of paramount importance to us. Everest Poker takes our players' security very seriously and considers it one of our primary responsibilities. We are committed to providing a safe, secure and regulated gaming environment.

Our software is designed to prevent underage participation, fraud, collusion, addiction and other activities which undermine the integrity of the game. You are invited to visit our website for more information about our security policies.

We have experienced a small increase in security questions following the events of Black Friday, but not a significant amount. Players were mainly looking for reassurance from Everest Poker.

September - a busy month at Everest Poker

PokerStrategy.com: What kind of promotions will be available at Everest Poker in the near future? Which target audience will you focus on more with these promos: VIPs or recreational players?

Mariken Hogenhout: September is a busy month at Everest Poker. Here's a quick preview of our promotions:

1. New players are invited to play in The Daily Grand Freerolls. They will get free access to 30 daily $1,000 freerolls with their first deposit! Existing players can qualify for the same freerolls by being active for at least 5 days during the previous week, buying in with Summit Points or referring a friend.

Existing players will have four different ways to qualify for the same freerolls! They can win their way in by meeting a specific Summit Points requirement, referring a friend, playing free feeders, or they can simply buy-in with Summit Points.

2. Improved Tournament Schedule. Everest Poker is launching a completely new tournament schedule that includes a range of games and buy-ins for beginners and pros alike.

3. Some of the highlights for the new Everest Poker site:
 - Increased overall guaranteed prize pool to more than $1.25 million a month.
- To celebrate the launch, players can take a seat in the $75,000 Big Prime on October 2 - that's $25,000 more than our regular Sunday guarantee.

4. Live Event Offer - Escape to St. Maarten. Love the sun as much as poker? We're giving away fantastic, 7-day poker holidays to the Caribbean! Weekly Escape to St. Maarten Direct Entries award $6,500 packages that will cover a trip for two to the Dutch side of St. Maarten. Players who win will play the St. Maarten Open, a $2,000 buy-in tournament organized by Thomas Kremser of TK Poker Events.

5. Survivor - All Everest Poker players are also eligible to compete in Survivor this September. The player who earns 25 Summit Points a day for the longest period of time gets to claim $2,000 cash for being the last man (or woman) standing! Visit our promotions page in September for all the details.

New features, improved software

PokerStrategy.com: The Everest Poker software has recently undergone some updates. What changes and improvements are planned next?

Mariken Hogenhout: Thanks to player feedback, we recently released many new features in our software like late registration, as well as tile and cascade windows for the regular player.

In addition, we released the Quick Seat Lobby. This unique feature is ideal for poker enthusiasts looking to find a game fast. The convenient and easy-to-use interface generates timely tournament and game recommendations based on a player's bankroll and preferences.

At Everest Poker, the game is all about our players. To address our players' needs and wishes, we started organizing player committees with community leaders in a major European market. At these meetings, we listened to their valuable feedback and asked for help prioritizing our software improvements. Thanks to the positive outcome and the enthusiasm of our community, we are looking to run these committees in other markets in the future.

To improve the player experience at our tables, we are actively working on a deep redesign of the table and betting interface that includes new features. This new interface will be tested and evaluated by our players. Player feedback is critical for us to ensure the best possible gaming environment.

In addition to the table redesign, we are working on a web and mobile client for the iPad, Android and other mobile devices to give our players the capability to play poker anywhere and on any device they like.

Looking forward to a regulated market

PokerStrategy.com: How are you preparing to enter other regulated markets such as Spain or Germany and what are your plans on this matter?

Mariken Hogenhout: Everest Poker is part of the Betclic Everest Group, one of the largest e-gaming operators worldwide, jointly owned by Lov Financial and Société des Bains de Mer (SBM) of Monaco. Betclic Everest Group currently holds gaming licenses in several jurisdictions and continuously monitors regulatory developments in the industry. As licensing regimes begin to emerge in different markets, we remain dedicated to becoming a leader in those markets.

PokerStrategy.com: What are your predictions for the poker industry as a whole?

Mariken Hogenhout: Legalizing online gaming - The online poker sector seems to be moving toward wide-scale regulation, and we expect that trend to continue. We look forward to becoming leaders in a fully regulated marketplace.

Security and reliability - Following the events of Black Friday, we expect that more transparency, security and reliability will be demanded of gaming operators from both players and regulators.  

Consolidation of the market - We anticipate further industry consolidation. This accentuates the importance of strong operators in the market who are able to provide customers with the necessary liquidity and security.

PokerStrategy.com: Thank you for your time and good luck with all the upcoming Everest Poker projects!