Results of PokerStars Boycott
8 years ago06 Dec
The three-day strike over changes to PokerStars VIP rewards system finished yesterday, with reports of the 2500+ player walk-out having âsignificant effectsâ on several areas of the site.
High-stakes game numbers were significantly down on previous weeks and there were reports of several tournaments not meeting guarantees â this despite the launch of PokerStars MileStone rewards and $2million Christmas promotion.
The strike, organized largely by poker pro Dani âAnskyâ Stern, was launched by players who believe PokerStars has misled its customers, with changes which have âcrossed the line into outright deceptionâ and are âextremely unethicalâ according to Stern.
The strike actionâs success has been difficult to measure in concrete numbers, given that Starsâ launch of their Promotion tends to attract huge numbers, but the PokerScout tracking site reported that âcompared to a composite average of the three Tuesdays prior, peak high-stakes traffic was down 29%, or approximately 90 playersâ.
High-stakes players are among those set to lose out the most on rewards, with PokerStars set to stop awarding any loyalty points to players participating many of their bigger games.
Pot-limit and no-limit games $5/$10 and above, as well as 8-game $10/$20+ and other limit games with blinds $10/$15 or higher, will be affected come January 1st 2016, when Stars roll out their changes.
Despite overall numbers being dramatically up because of the promotion, PokerScout reported that:
On Wednesday (day 2 of the planned 3-day strike) high stakes traffic continued to reside well below normal averages, despite the Milestone Hands promotion coming to a closeâŚstrongly suggesting that players are remaining steadfast in their commitment to not play.â
This commitment by over 2500 players had seen them sign up for various pledges on poker forums such as 2plus2, in the hope that their actions would encourage PokerStars to re-think their strategy-with FPPâs being replaced by StarsCoins, devaluing the currency by approximately 25%.
This strategy is intended to create a âbetter poker-playing environmentâ for recreational players, but those taking action this week claim that the changes suggested would do nothing other than force many regular players either out of poker, or down the stakes â thereby making things even tougher for the new and casual players.
The other huge bone of contention among the high-volume players is PokerStarsâ decision to change the SuperNova and SuperNova Elite rewards, capping them at a level some 30% below that which the players had been working towards.This has been called particularly insidious as the change occurs at the end of this year, not the beginning of the next. Players have already spent 11 months working toward benefits that have suddenly changed in the last leg of the race, so to speak.
Ansky tweeted:
For those wondering about my take on strike thus far: Itâs working,â adding that despite the numbers of players taking advantage of the promotional giveaway, players should, âKeep going. Believe me this is bigger than total players online.â
On the subject of the PokerStars promotion, which has masked the effects of the strike somewhat, OnlinePokerReport stated:
If anything, relative to previous Milestone Hands, the traffic impact of the latest promo was rather muted, especially considering that yesterday marked the first day of PokerStarsâ much anticipated Christmas Calendar.â
According to poker writer Lee Davy on calvinayre.com:
Itâs difficult to see the mess you are making, especially when the strike takes place during one of the siteâs most successful promotions of the year.â
Nevertheless, this seasoned commentator expects the strike â which will likely be followed by others and a sustained media campaign â to have a positive effect.
PokerStars will improve communicationâŚStern and his band of not so merry men and women will be responsible for that.â
Among the other groups who have been angered to the point of action are Project TiltBook, a FaceBook page which stated recently:
Groups of angry customers are forming all over the world to organise anything from media campaigns to strikes in order to stop these (PokerStars) changes that are killing poker. We will not rest until our voices are heard and answered the way they deserve.â
The strike action has seen other sites offering increased tournaments and tables to give refuge to the wide mix of pros, regulars, and casual players who have decided to participate in the protest.
The project TiltBook page had already mentioned such possibilities as being âorganisedâ, stating before this weekâs action that:
We will also initiate talks with other online poker rooms, looking for possibilities of moving to a site that treats us with at least a bit of decency. We are all-in, Amaya, whatâs your move?â
In response, 888.com slashed rake on its higher-stakes Omaha cash games, increased guarantees on 22 tournaments and introduced two completely new tournaments as the affected players look elsewhere for their usual poker fix.
Despite the lack of clarity re: numbers of the success the strikers have had, Lee Davy hits the nail on the head with his comment:
The substantial work of Stern means that PokerStars reputation has been opened up with surgical precision, and everyone has gotten to see their guts. They have treated their customers in an appalling fashion, and now everyone knows about it.â
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