{"id":33034,"date":"2015-11-30T13:43:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T21:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=33034"},"modified":"2015-11-30T13:51:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T21:51:05","slug":"pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"PokerStars Boycotted by Players in Protest at VIP Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dani
Dani Stern, who is helping to organize the sit-out protest claims that PokerStars is being disingenuous about its motivation for changing its VIP program. (Image: Danny Maxwell\/ PokerNews.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PokerStars will feel the wrath of player power over the next few days, as a small but significant portion of its customers will sit out in protest at the proposed changes to its VIP program.<\/p>\n

The online poker giant says that the sweeping changes, which are due to come into force on January 1, 2016, are part of an industrywide push to attract more recreational players to the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecs\u201d have increasingly abandoned online poker in recent years, as the skill gap between new players and everyone else is greater than it ever has been, meaning they get swallowed up and spat out at a faster rate than ever before.<\/p>\n

Faced with multi-tabling players using tracking softer and hunting them down via the use of seating scripts, amateur players, who ultimately represent the fulcrum of the poker economy, are finding the game too difficult, devoid of fun and are staying away. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2,000 Expected to Join<\/b><\/h2>\n

As well as curtailing the use of certain software, PokerStars<\/a> has introduced a new reward system designed to favor recreational players at the expense of the high-stakes, high volume players.<\/p>\n

This is controversial because the high-stakes, high volume players are, by definition, PokerStars\u2019 best customers.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn some cases, players will receive less; in some cases, players will receive more, but it’s very much in the same ballpark,\u201d assured Eric Hollreiser, head of Corporate Communications for the site.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But tell that to all the high and mid-stakes grinders who will be left high and dry by the changes, around 2000 of whom are likely to boycott the site from December 1 to 3, according to organizer Dani Stern. It\u2019s the closest a professional poker player can get to industrial action.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Demonstration of Force<\/b><\/h2>\n

“This is a demonstration of force and an effort to show PokerStars that we are a body of players, not just individuals,” Stern told PocketFives. “While PokerStars claims the changes are to provide relief to recreational players, there is no such change happening.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are telling their players outright lies and we will not stand for it. Beyond that, it follows an ongoing trend that PokerStars\/Amaya<\/a> has been taking in recent years. A site that was once clearly for the players has completely lost sight of that.”<\/p>\n

Player protest boycotts have worked with PokerStars in the past. Last year the site abandoned proposed changes to the rake structure following a similar backlash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PokerStars will feel the wrath of player power over the next few days, as a small but significant portion of its customers will sit out in protest at the proposed changes to its VIP program. The online poker giant says that the sweeping changes, which are due to come into force on January 1, 2016, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":33035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPokerStars Boycotted by Players in Protest at VIP Changes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PokerStars players to sit-out for three a days over unpopular changes to VIP scheme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PokerStars Boycotted by Players in Protest at VIP Changes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PokerStars players to sit-out for three a days over unpopular changes to VIP scheme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-30T21:43:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-11-30T21:51:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/dani-ansky451-stern.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"309\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/\",\"name\":\"PokerStars Boycotted by Players in Protest at VIP Changes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/dani-ansky451-stern.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-30T21:43:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-11-30T21:51:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"PokerStars players to sit-out for three a days over unpopular changes to VIP scheme\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-boycotted-by-players-in-protest-at-vip-changes\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/dani-ansky451-stern.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/dani-ansky451-stern.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":309,\"caption\":\"Dani Stern, who is helping to organize the sit-out protest claims that PokerStars is being disingenuous about its motivation for changing its VIP program. 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