Initial Period for .Poker Domain Registrations Underway

Afilias, the world’s second largest domain registry, announced yesterday that the landrush period for new .Poker (dot - poker) generic top level domain names has begun. All interested individuals or organizations can apply for a .Poker domain name, which is the only top level domain dedicated to the game of poker.

When the landrush period ends on April 9, 2015, all applications will be finalized and applicants for the domains that received more than one application will be invited to enter an auction process. The applicants will have to bid on the domains of their choice, with those domains most desired awarded to the highest bidders.

The applicants for domains with only one application will receive their domain names without competing for it. Open registration will commence on April 21, 2015.

Roland LaPlante, CMO of Afilias, explained that the most popular names will probably receive a lot of bids during the landrush period. Those who want a .Poker domain name should start submitting their applications. He also stated that a .Poker domain allows for instant identification with online poker, calling it the perfect Internet space for everything related to the game - tournaments, news, players, poker tips, and poker products.

The new poker domain could increase visibility to potential customers, but the question is whether or not established sites such as PokerStars would want to have .poker in their name.

However, a new poker domain is easy to remember and it will probably help a lot of sites to increase their visibility and traffic. It is still unknown if it will be popular or not, but it will certainly grab the attention of poker fans, players and organizations because it is the only top level domain dedicated to poker.

Opinion on the new poker domain is divided in the community; most people are excited to have a unique domain that exactly represents the essence of a site, but others are not really sure that the new domain will provide that many advantages.

Afilias powers a wide variety of top level domains and their technology makes Internet addresses more accessible, while their system provides secure domain operations. It was formed in 2000 by a group of domain registers and now has offices near Philadelphia, sale offices in London, an operation centre in Toronto, and operational services in New Delhi, India.

Afilias started their operation in July 2001 when they launched .INFO, which was their most successful top level domain. Today the company supports a wide range of domains under contracts with various Registry Operators.