It started during the poker boom.
Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003, which launched a rise in poker popularity that remains unparalleled. In 2007, Zynga launched in the USA as a gaming app connected to Facebook with poker as one of its core games.
It was a free-play poker app. At the time of massive real-money online poker sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt pulling in players from around the globe, Zynga attracted people who wanted to learn poker but not pay to do it.
Fifteen years later, Zynga Poker is celebrating a milestone by giving back to its players.
Rise of Zynga Poker
Zynga’s popularity came from two primary factors. It was free to play, and it was available on social media apps like Facebook and MySpace. There were also easily downloadable apps for Android and Apple devices.
Zynga Poker was advertised as a social game. And unlike most poker sites that required real-money deposits, Zynga was free to play. There were in-app purchases available, but those were optional. And being billed as a social game, players felt that there was no pressure to play perfectly or even win. It was a game in which people could play with strangers or gather friends to play together virtually.
By 2011, Zynga Poker was at peak performance with 38 million players, registering more players than any other poker site in the world.
Two years later, Zynga Poker also consumed 61% of the total social poker revenue market via its in-app purchase options. Its monthly revenue averaged $9M to $13M. But the apps proved to be too much, and a sharp 44% decrease in traffic later in 2014 prompted Zynga to relaunch poker the following year with a more basic version, more akin to the original.
Updates to Keep Up
After Black Friday, when companies like PokerStars were forced out of the United States market, it was an ideal time for Zynga to capitalize on its online poker efforts. The site did grow in spurts, but it had to implement updates to keep up with the changing poker environment.
In 2018, found itself with little more than 6% of the market share. In a world of poker in which fast-fold poker was sweeping the sites, Zynga Poker added Spin and Win. It offered more of a “game of chance” component but with bigger prizes that could be won in less time. Spin & Win eventually became the fast-fold poker option for its players.
However, the lack of non-hold’em poker variants was another reason for stunted growth. While many people around the world still played No Limit Hold’em, other games were soaring in popularity.
Early in 2022, Zynga added Short Deck Hold’em. And nearly a half year later, it finally added Pot Limit Omaha.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcYaUwPGooo
Fifteen Years
The best way for a poker site to celebrate an anniversary or milestone is to give back to the players who made it all possible. Zynga Poker is doing that for its 15th anniversary.
One part of the party starts on September 9, with players able to win giveaway rewards every day of the month going forward. Some of those include bonuses, gifts, extra time, and extra chips. Players can also take on new challenges to win even more prizes. And they can earn points toward winning a special, limited-edition anniversary watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWHWl9a5x-k
There will also be a massive chip giveaway. Zynga will award 15 random players from all entries, and each will win 15 billion in gaming chips. Players can enter via Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok. That promotion begins on September 15 and runs through September 23.
The 15th anniversary promotions will collectively be the largest giveaway in Zynga Poker history.
https://twitter.com/zyngapoker/status/1568269627368833026?s=20&t=kfgHaaLhwNLlR_cO1XfkEw
