Poker Players Speak Out Against Changes in PokerStars VIP Program
When PokerStars, one of the top rated online poker sites, had announced its plans to make changes to its VIP program, players responded with protests. Along with plans to change its VIP program, the poker site had also made adaptations to its rake structure.
Once this news went public, PokerStars received a series of complaints from its members who apparently preferred their initial set up. Protests from players requested the site to revert back to its old VIP program and rake system. It would also appear that PokerStars players are taking this protest very seriously and have actively decided to make their displeasure felt. The players are protesting in 2 ways; some poker players have decided to not log in to their poker accounts at PokerStars while others are logging into cash poker gaming tables and then refusing to play.
However, since PokerStars is one of the most reliable and reputed online poker sites, it is constantly receiving an influx of new players and as a result is not suffering for player traffic as a result of the protests. In fact, the site has recorded an increase in its player traffic for cash poker games. PokerStars has a 5% increase in traffic, but this is comparatively lower to that of other poker sites like Party Poker which saw a 25 percent hike in traffic while iPoker took in a 12 percent increase. At the same time, one cannot help but wonder exactly how many of these poker players at PokerStars are actually playing rather than sitting it out.
Simultaneously, the protests of the players at PokerStars cannot be ignored, especially at the French branch of the site: PokerStars.fr. The French players at the PokerStars site made a strong protest that affected the site’s numbers. Since its announcement about changing the VIP player program and rake structure, many of the French online poker players have stopped logging in to the site and actively playing at the cash tables. As a result of this, PokerStars.fr has seen a 10 percent drop in its player traffic for cash games. PokerStars.fr has also lost its position as the number one online poker site in France because of this. The site was replaced by Winamax.fr, which has now recorded more player traffic than PokerStars.
In addition to protesting by not participating, the French poker players have also actively staged a protest at the site ClubPoker.net. There were more than a 100 high stake online poker players who participated in this event, of which several among them were noted and reputed poker players. There were a number of Supernova Elite online poker players from PokerStars.fr, a category that refers to the highest level of the VIP player program at PokerStars on account of the fact that the newly suggested changes to the PokerStars VIP program are no longer as beneficial to high roller players.
The modifications to the rake structure no longer allow players to get an equal share of the rake; instead the players are given a reward based on how much they contribute to the pot.
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