Annie Duke Helps Cereus Climb
Written by RogerCP | Monday, June 8th, 2009
Apparently all it takes to increase an online poker site’s popularity in the industry is for its front people to be involved in a little bit of celebrity TV.
Annie Duke, spokeswoman for the poker site, Ultimate Bet – part of the Cereus Network – recently appeared on the finals of the Celebrity Apprentice against her arch rival in the program, the actress Joan Rivers. The audience was held captivated as Rivers slammed Duke again and again for her poker lifestyle and even smeared the name of all poker players – causing mass outrage by poker greats such as Doyle Brunson.
Duke’s appearance on Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice obviously helped Cereus Poker’s position on the leader board and it was announced this week that the network has now reached the sixth spot, grabbing the spot from Everest Poker – much to their dismay.
Cereus is slowly moving up the popularity ladder, two steps ahead of Microgaming Poker (number 
and breathing very heavily down the neck of Ongame Poker. Nobody will be surprised if Cereus takes over the fifth place in the coming weeks.
The Chief Executive Officer of Cereus Network, Paul Leggett, said that he had seen “a major increase in traffic” to Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker since Annie Duke’s showdown with Rivers.
Gambling portals noted, too, that in the final fortnight leading up to the final episode of Celebrity Apprentice, there had been masses of traffic for people searching for Annie Duke, as well as searches for betting odds on the outcome of the program.
The Cereus Network’s rapid climb on the popularity chart should not be something taken for granted. The two sites that make up the network went through a difficult time last year following news of cheating scandals that rocked not only Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, but the poker world at large. So intense was the interest in the controversies, that they even earned a segment on the documentary ’60 Minutes’.
Nevertheless, Cereus Poker has fought its way back and it seems that poker fans are putting their faith in these sites once more and flocking to them in droves.
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· Written by RogerCP · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
