PartyPoker removes high-stakes tables
Move designed to help operator's poker ecology ahead of bwin moving over to platform.
Bwin.party has removed all high-stakes cash poker tables from its PartyPoker client in a bid to improve its ecology, the operator has confirmed.
The highest stakes now offered are $5/$10 for no limit Hold’em and pot limit Omaha, and a statement from the company explains: “This decision has been taken to make improvements to our poker ecology and [is] in our players best interests.”
It follows the bwin.party-owned Ongame network moving to improve its ecology in 2010 with the introduction of its “Essence” system, and bwin’s poker offering “ which makes up a considerable chunk of the network “ is due to move over to the Party Poker platform this year.
Other networks have sought to improve their ecology with moves that give more value to the recreational player, with iPoker’s new network rules among the most recent examples.
In its pre-close update last week bwin.party cited a decline in poker due in part to the advent of PokerStars Zoom, although the operator did reveal in March that its own fast-fold variant is in development.
The removal of high-stakes tables is just the latest in a series of developments since the appointment of Chris Welch (pictured) as bwin.party group director of poker, following on from the launch of a Mac client in October 2011.