PokerStars continues ecology overhaul with random seating tool
New Seat Me function to be trialled in Spain before potential roll-out to other markets
PokerStars has introduced a new random seating tool, designed to protect recreational players from being targeted by sharks.
The Seat Me function eliminates the ability of players to pick their tables and seats, and will instead put them into a game automatically once a format and stake has been chosen.
The new feature will be trialled on PokerStars.es before potentially being rolled out in other markets.
“With so many customers who trust our products, we have to be particularly vigilant against tools or strategies used to gain an unfair advantage,” PokerStars’ director of poker innovation and operations, Severin Rasset, said in a blog post.
“We also need to be able to ensure that we create enforceable and sustainable policies, making sure that players who do follow the rules are not at a disadvantage.”
The Amaya-owned brand also announced changes to its tournament pay-out structures, in an effort to boost “winning moments”.
Spin & Go tournaments will be revised towards bigger pay-outs, with more 4x and 6x multipliers and fewer 2x pay-outs.
However the operator is going the other way on multi-table tournaments, taking a few percentage points from the final table and distributing that among those who cash for the minimum amount.
“Cashing in a tournament, even for the minimum, is a significant accomplishment that we wanted to be more highly rewarded,” Rasset explained.
“Looking ahead to 2017, our focus is to continue to explore more ways to protect the game, bring more players to the game, and increase those winning moments.”
Gaming consultant and head of Aftermath Interactive, Kim Lund, said the changes made sense as they rewarded a set of skills that aligned with PokerStars’ own objectives.
“Operating a game that rewards being really good at deducing which game to play simply isn’t very smart. It adds nothing to other players’ entertainment value,” he said.
Poker entrepreneur Alex Dreyfus said the changes would create a “fair and balanced” game that mimicked live formats.
Amaya CEO Rafi Ashkenazi said last week the ongoing adjustments to the poker ecosystem had helped generate record 2016 revenues.