Poker, one of the most popular games on the Internet today, now has a dedicated space on the Internet. Global registry services provider Afilias has recently introduced the first phase of a new generic top-level domain for the world’s most popular card games: ‘dot POKER’ (.poker). With approximately 20 million names under management, Afilias is the second largest domain registry in the world.
Thanks to the growing popularity of online poker rooms and tournaments, as it lead to the development of .POKER domain. .POKER is the first and only internet domain dedicated to the game of poker. This logically thought of domain will acts as an effective web address for anything and everything that has to do with poker – from gaming to news, and from tips to products. An easy-to-remember web extension, .POKER will handily strike with anyone who is involved in poker whether its poker fans, gaming entities, tournament organizers, product manufacturers, or news sources. In all, it will highlight a site as completely poker-centric, and increase visibility to potential customers.
There is a three- step Registration Schedule for booking .POKER domain. Also known as the sunrise period, this first phase is limited to eligible trademark holders whose marks are registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse. This period will run from February 5 to March 7, 2015, and domains will be awarded in a first-come, first-served basis.
The second stage, Landrush, will run from March 10 to April 9, 2015. In this stage, public can put a stake in the ground and apply for the names they want. The applications will be finalized after the conclusion of landrush period. In case, the names receives more than one registrations, the domain will be awarded through an auction process.
The final stage is the open registration for all that will begin on April 21, 2015. In this stage, the names will be available for registration in the same manner as any other top level domain.
With the introduction of .POKER domain, start-up organizations will now have an option to further expand in the online poker market. Furthermore, adoption of this domain by start-ups and transformation by present organizations into .POKER domain will be a strategic move as it will increase the legitimacy of regulated markets across the world.