Stars reaches rake compromise after player meeting
Week-long discussion on Isle of Man ends with operator agreeing to implement changes from 1 February.
PokerStars has arrived at a compromise over its planned rake amendments following week-long discussions with a panel of players on the Isle of Man.
A simplified rake structure, coupled with the introduction of a weighted contributed model, was met with a sit-out protest by a number of players, leading to an invitation from the operator for a select number of player representatives to air their grievances at the company’s headquarters.
As a consequence of the talks, PokerStars has reduced overall rake by about 2% compared to 2011 levels, although a weighted contributed method is retained with regards to the earning of frequent player points, while rake at higher buy-in cash games has, in some cases, increased.
The operator has also lowered the requirements for its Supernova and ‘Supernova Elite’ VIP programmes, while also introducing two new blind levels for micro-stakes cash games (¢3/6 and ¢8/16) in a move which is expected to ease congestion at lower levels. All these changes are set to be implemented from tomorrow.
Those players in attendance have posted the outcome on the Two Plus Two poker forums, although PokerStars is yet to make an official statement on the matter.
They were generally pleased with the measures taken by PokerStars, with one player – using the pseudonym ‘xPeru’, also noting: “I think that this is a first in the poker industry, that major changes to product and pricing have been announced by the players and not by the company.”