MPN was booted out of the top ten, now finding itself in 12th place globally. As predicted in last week's update, the defection of Ladbrokes to the iPoker Network meant that Microgaming's MPN would likely take a tumble. That tumble amounted to 100 cash players in a weekly average.

Also losing ground was Bodog/Bovada, falling one slot to ninth place. Winamax moved up to eighth in PokerScout's rankings, outpacing the estimated player traffic at Bodog by 100 players or so.

PokerStars.fr has claimed sole possession of tenth place after being tied with MPN for that position last week. Industry leader PokerStars operates four of the top ten-ranked poker rooms, as PokerStars.it and PokerStars.es hold down sixth and seventh place, respectively.

The top five poker rooms and networks retained their positions from the previous week, with 888poker continuing to enjoy its end-of-year push into second place. The iPoker Network and Full Tilt remain in third and fourth, with iPoker's 2,600 average weekly cash players only 100 behind 888. Likewise, Full Tilt's 2,500 average players trails iPoker by 100, as well.

PartyPoker has fallen off the pace a bit in fifth place, with a seven-day average of 2,100 cash players. But in New Jersey, Party's partnership with Borgata continues to dominate that market. As of this writing, Party Borgata averages 240 cash players weekly, while WSOP-NJ clocks in at 150.

The New Jersey market is being watched intently by other states, as a few more may regulate online poker in 2014. That is purely speculation at this point, however, as some states may decide to wait and see how things progress in New Jersey over time before making the plunge.

Also being watched closely among U.S.-facing poker rooms is one of the newest kids on the block, the Equity Poker Network. Since launching for real-money on Nov. 8, EPN has slowly added players. Only 60 cash players are found playing there on a weekly average, but that is considerable progress for being up and running less than two months.

Another site for U.S. players to watch in 2014 and beyond is Infiniti Poker. The bitcoin-friendly poker room soft launched earlier this month and will begin the new year with its hard launch.

It appears as though 2014 may be another exciting year in online poker, with the possibility of regulation spreading in the U.S. An industry-wide trend toward attracting recreational players has also been underway, with more of the same expected in 2014. We here at PokerUpdate would like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to all of our loyal readers!