Changes at PokerStars Will Hurt Pro Players

Amaya’s online poker room continues to push for preserving the game as a recreational activity, so the new changes at PokerStars will only hurt the pros and high rollers.

• Changes in favor of casual players
• Amaya: online poker must remain a fun game
• PS want more of Ronaldo and Neymar

PokerStars announced that the VIP programme of the operator will see some major refurbishing. The new approach will also affect promotions, campaigns and many aspects of the internet poker room that has to do with player experience. Changes at PokerStars are for the sake of recreational players according to Amaya.

A new programme will replace the current VIP system starting 1st January, 2016. It will be called ‘VIP Steps’ and its currency will be a constant value ‘StarsCoin’, replacing Frequent Player Points (FPP), that has different values at different VIP levels in the actual system.

Players at the highest VIP levels will feel the changes at PokerStars

Those players, who reached ’Supernova’ and ’SupernovaElite’ levels will hurt by the capping of VIP Club rewards at 30%. ‘PaltinumStar’ status players will also have experience a 10% reduction in their rewards. Those players, who have already reached SupernovaElite status or will do so in 2015, will enjoy a 45% benefits cap in 2016.

According to the changes at PokerStars, as EU gambling news reported, players will be not credited with VIP Player Points for pot-limit and no-limit games with blinds of $5/10 or more, 8-game $10/20 and more and other limit games with blinds of $10/15 or more.

Amaya: changes at PokerStars emphasize that poker is a fun game

Vice-president of corporate communications at Amaya, Eric Hollreiser underlined that the new changes at PokerStars were implemented to retain the fun factor of online poker. He said, “PokerStars today unveiled a comprehensive plan to enhance the playing experience and to re-emphasise the fun and social aspects of online poker while attracting and retaining more players to the game.”

Hollreiser added, “Poker is a fun game that we love and our responsibility is to make sure that every player at PokerStars – advanced, recreational, or new – can enjoy this game as much as we do.”

The same motives were behind the move that recently saw policy changes at PokerStars towards third party poker software after that a list of online poker tools were banned by the online casino and poker operator.

Slight changes at PokerStars and Amaya regarding personnel

PokerStars also plan to add some depth to the partnerships they already have with Real Madrid and Portugal footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona and Brazil forward Neymar Jr. Many fans of football and online poker in the EU can’t wait to see these soccer stars to show more of their poker skills at the table.

Amaya Inc. also announced that Rafi Ashkenazi will take the CEO post at the Rational Group, Amaya’s online gaming division. Therefore he will supervise brands like PokerStars and Full Tilt. He joined Rational Group as a COO in 2013 and he was named as Senior Vice President of Strategy at Amaya earlier in 2015.


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