» Spotlight on DevilFishPoker
Poker Curious presents, describes and rates hundreds of poker websites. We want our visitors to know their options and make informed decisions. But websites are never just a domain name and some HTML code. They are real people with real stories to tell. In this ongoing series of articles, Poker Curious will bring the spotlight onto the human aspect of websites that we cover.
Our first article brings the spotlight on DevilFishPoker.com. DFP is a poker room on the fast growing Entraction network. Well known U.K. based poker player Dave 'Devil Fish' Ulliot is the ambassador for the site. The management team consists of CEO Paul Barnes, COO Karl Hutson, CFO Andrew Flitcroft and Nic Whelan, the Gaming & Services Manager. They all play poker, a couple of them semi-professionally. We asked the team behind DFP what it is like running a poker room.
"We took a dormant poker site and livened up the brand" explained COO Karl Hutson. "The Devilfish name is now associated with online gaming as it is Dave ‘Devil Fish’ Ulliott. We’ve succeeded in growing the brand to capture the fun and wit of Devil Fish himself while growing brand loyalty with top customer service and VIP player support." Devilfish Poker was originally a branded skin on Ultimate Bet when Ulliot was a sponsored pro. When he left UB, Devilfish PLC was launched in 2008 and soon added a Casino shortly afterwards. Devilfish Gaming PLC is a publicly listed company on the PLUS market in London.
It's a hard-working group. Daily tasks usually begin with answering VIP customer inquiries and talking to a growing network of affiliate sites. Web updates take up much of their time. Depending on the time of the month, they might be working on a new product or launching a new promotion. There is never a dull day at DevilFishPoker.
"We have a casual work atmosphere." Karl added "We enjoy the challenge of growing our poker baby in such a competitive industry. We all love what we do and the freedom the industry allows. Our players are rarely awake when we hit the office, so there are a lot of late nights when the site gets busy."
As for how they balance business, poker and a personal life, “I don’t have much of a balance at the moment where poker is concerned," Karl Hutson notes, "as I probably play poker online for 20 hours a week on top of my work hours. I’m sure I'll cut this down now the weather is picking up. A major advantage of working in poker is the flexibility. We have a 24-hour poker room, so it’s easy to pick the hours you want to work and make room for some downtime when you need it. It’s 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday - Friday for most of us but there tends to be a lot of email at the weekend, too, when we’re busy… which at the moment is most weekends…."
Management is just another word for customer support. Nobody turns off the blackberry/iphone/computer triad at DevilFishPoker.com. "We all could but none of us do. We all check email seven days a week except when we take a holiday." Karl asserts "That’s a strict rule we’ve introduced – no laptops on holidays."
You can bet they play a little poker while on vacation. “We all play poker outside hours and sometimes in the office," admits Hutson. The word really has lost all meaning. I play online quite a bit and pick out the odd medium buy-in live tournament and take a shot.”
"We all travel regularly with the business, so we have to fit everything else 'round it as best we can. Since hours and days are flexible, this is probably easier in poker than in a traditional job. Ignoring friends and family isn't an issue. We make the time. Everyone works pretty hard these days and it’s just about making the time."
"The best thing about this business is, we’re all poker nuts and working at something you love is rare. Oddly, the worst thing is probably how competitive it is, especially when a lot of the larger sites are only large because they got to market early. It’s a battle but an enjoyable one."
The battle is ongoing.
“Devil Fish plays on the site every week in the Devil Fish Bounty on Thursdays," explains Huston. "The first week we launched, we’d promoted this quite a bit and I was on a long deserved holiday after all the work to get the site live. All was going according to plan until Devil Fish called me at 7:50 p.m. to say his wireless internet had just stopped working. Disaster! The tournament kicked off at 8 p.m., so we had a problem, especially considering he was in Hull, our team was in Dublin and I was in the Canaries.
"I had ten minutes to do something, so I talked him through hooking a cable connection up to the modem. The remaining issue was his modem was in a press under his stairs and he only had a very short cable. Always the pro, there he stayed, under his stairs, for the entire tournament.” Karl explains.
By the way, the bounty doubles if Devil Fish wins his own tournament, which he's done on more than one occasion.
He takes playing in the bounty tournaments seriously. "The last time I played one, I flopped three kings. The guy had A-J and no outs on the flop. It came spade, spade, and I think he had the ace of spades or something like that and hit the flush, and I said, ‘Well, guys, at least you know that this site is on the square.’ It was quite funny. I don’t really want to go busting people on my own site, but I have to play the way I play; otherwise, they won’t want to play me. I have a bit of banter with them, and they all seem like nice people."
And the site is growing. DFP is positioned as the leading brand on the world’s fastest growing poker network and its elevation into the premier league of liquidity with the news that its network, Entraction, has grown 108 percent in the past year and is now ranked 4th globally of open networks and 10th globally of all poker networks. The ranking, conducted by PokerScout.com, is based on active cash game players and DevilfishPoker.com, as the most visible brand on the Entraction network, is delighted with the progress it has made since relaunching.
Paul Barnes, CEO of Devilfish Gaming Plc, said, “The growth in liquidity over the last 6 to 8 months has been quite spectacular, with our network moving from 15th to 10th position worldwide. This, coupled with a dazzling array of new features and games released during the period, clearly validates our choice of gaming platform and enables us to offer our players a best-of-breed wide-ranging branded product.”
Liquidity on online poker websites is a key cornerstone for stability and growth in the online poker sector.
The recently expanded affiliate program - Devilfish Partners - is already getting a great deal of attention from partner sites. They are planning to launch Devilfish Bingo very soon and Hutson adds "There’s some other projects in the pipeline but they’re top secret at the moment."
"We believe that with our strong brand, name recognition and our position as a ‘Poker Player’s Poker Site,’ we are well positioned to make our mark in the industry," said Karl "We have a great product, an experienced and hard-working team and give as much as possible back to our players."
