PokerStars Strikes Back

8 years ago
PokerStars Strike Did Nothing Future Freerolls Executives
17:03
11 Dec

PokerStars have announced a bumper package of $1million freerolls for 2016, at the same time robustly defending their stance on VIP changes which led to a 3-day strike last week, stating:

We will not alter those plans.”


The four $1million freerolls are intended to “create buzz and generate excitement among players at all skill and experience levels and the injection of $4 million into the economy will help many players' bankrolls” according to Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars and Amaya VP of Corporate Communications.

The 3-day strike, organised in the main by Dani ‘Ansky’ Stern and supported by over 2500 players, was also addressed by Hollreiser. “The recent three-day boycott by some players that disagree with our announced VIP changes did not have a significant impact on PokerStars,” he said, defending the company's stance on both the planned changes and their communication to players.


In a small response to the striking players and their supporters, Hollreiser added:

Of course that doesn’t mean it went unnoticed by us. We care very deeply about what players say and what they expect of us. And we strive to live up to their expectations.”

He emphasised that the divisive VIP changes would not be up for discussion or reversal in any way.

We will not alter those plans,” he stated in the announcement, explaining, “The current VIP program is no longer fit for its purpose. When combined with the increasing skill gap in the online poker market, the result is an increasingly poor experience for recreational and new players.”


Addressing the serious complaint that those chasing SuperNovaElite status for 2016 had been seriously affected, if not ‘robbed’ of a significant % of their expected earnings, Hollreiser claims:

Although we did not publicize it at the time, we did recognize that players might not be expecting as severe a decrease in awards, so we provided a higher level of reward in 2016 than originally planned and delayed implementing the full decrease in rewards until 2017.”

This will come as news to many of the players affected, with poker forum discussions running to 100+ pages on the changes with no mention of such a thing.

However, Hollreiser states quite categorically:

There was no intention to deceive and certainly not profit from this, as an increase in the number of SNE’s, who are on average net-withdrawing players, does not provide a financial benefit to us.” He adds, “It was simply a function of a long internal process and an honest belief that we had given players sufficient notice.”


Amaya, the owners of PokerStars, have also blamed currency exchange problems for the “reduction in purchasing power” of the average player, and their planned changes to “level the playing field” for new and recreational players, alongside promotions such as their four $1million freerolls are seeking to redress these problems.

While we cannot influence where currency exchange rates will go,” said the Vice President, “we can make changes that we believe will improve retention of such players by lengthening the time they will be able to play, allowing them to have more fun at poker and hopefully becoming a lifetime player.”

The announcement covers many aspects of the recent changes and future direction of the PokerStars ‘experience’, with plans for extra promotions, new games and platforms and many other ideas aimed at the casual player, rather than the professional and grinder segment who have found PokerStars to be steadily decreasing their options.

Changes are needed and we are making them,” states Hoillreiser, claiming that, “The funds that previously went to these rewards will be placed in more and bigger online promotions, more consumer marketing campaigns to attract new players and research and development of innovative new products and features.”


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Andrew from Edinburgh, Scotland, is a professional journalist, international-titled chess master, and avid poker player.Read more

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