I can't gauge what PP are doing. They serviced the country I live in and then were either barred or removed themselves from the market without clear explanation.
However, the impression I get is the larger companies with an on-line poker presence seem increasingly focused about the business rather than the poker itself. One could argue that's a natural state of being for a business entity. But I would counter with the idea corporate entities who are truly invested in their products conduct business with a passion. Whether a five star hotel, a great restaurant or a hand made shoe company- its easy to see when a company truly believes in what they are offering. Yes, they all want to make a profit but they want to do it with integrity.
Increasingly, I get the impression the larger poker companies simply want to turn a dime and are out to attract an even less sophisticated client base than they have ever had. Players who will drop 5 bucks in a few minutes on a lunch break via a mobile device. When Daniel Negreanu was recently explaining some of the 'product' GG poker was offering (the largest global on-line platform) he noted they were offering a blind pre-flop all-in feature for those that wanted a pure punt. What?
Call me a bit of a purist, but I just do not get it. I presume if you can ultimately get another five million or so round the globe to casually drop 5 bucks or so via a mobile device every month, that's 25 million in turnover and in the short term highly profitable. But I have no idea (or little confidence) how this approach is going to add to the long term health of on-line poker. And, unless I am reading this wrong, this is why there has been a noticeable up tick in players attending live events over the last few years - many of the more serious players seem to be heading back to the live venues whenever feasible.
This has to say something about the state of the on-line game. The passion for poker does not appear to be diminishing but the attraction of playing on-line seems to be lessening.
