Great show guys (obv)

Can anyone be so kind as to link me to the rake graph mentioned in the show please

RE 'Amaya don't have a monopoly'

I agree to an extent seeing as there is the option for anyone to compete as Adam mentioned. However the issue I have is that stars built up their huge market dominance by being a fantastic player friendly company. Now the company focus has completely changed, and they are beginning to take advantage of players in the knowledge that there isn't much anyone can do about it due to a lack of serious competitors.

Isai Scheinberg and his group built the company to what it is being exremely customer centric. The new owners have different priorities and therefore cannot be expected to adhere to what was. They have to go forward with what is, and that is that they likely overpaid (for the locations they have access to) and have to recoup the costs to satisfy their investors.

I'm not sure why so many players are so shocked at these non-player friendly changes under the new ownership.

Another great show you guys have been knocking it out of the park lately.
I also agree you did a great job of tackling the Pokerstars/Amaya rake increase.

First, there are some smart people at Pokerstars/Amaya. They made a lot of changes all at once. Great PR move. All the focus is on the rake increase - lots of changes.

Is it the industry standard to get emails when the rake increases? Unfortunately for me, I haven't played real money poker since black Friday. If yes, then PS blew it. If not, then they shouldn't catch as much heat as they are getting.

I also think people forget that PS left a lot of grey area countries. With no regulation, this might have been a huge source of revenue that they have to make up.

Additionally, Amaya has added another layer of bureaucracy to the company, huge amounts of debt and are exploring other areas of potential revenue generation. (casino, sports betting etc.)

Pokerstars is the cash cow and it's only normal for Amaya to draw money from that honey hole.

Finally, it sounds like Pokerstars is trying to break-up some shenanigans by some of the players. When you talked about the 'player cartel' I really found that interesting.

https://twitter.com/ruperte/status/527793166553210880

RE 'they likely overpaid for the site', I find it pretty hard to imagine that a company of Amaya's size making a $5billion+ purchase wouldn't do full research in order to get the best estimate of the value of the site (including reductions in the playerpool due to having to adhere to gambling regulations and withdraw from certain countries).

I am not shocked that changes are happening, but it doesn't mean that the changes being made are acceptable. Amaya now are obligated to make as much profit as they can for the investors. However as discussed on the show, from an outside perspective it seems like a lot of the changes will hurt the site long-term. Some of the changes are absolutely ridiculous.

For example, in the UK from next year onwards we will have a reduction in VPP multipliers, which means that we will earn less rakeback. This is designed so that players are responsible for a portion of the tax that Amaya are required to pay. I don't agree that stars should expect the players (customers) to pay for 50% of the tax that they are obligated to pay for as a COMPANY, especially when players themselves are not actually required by law to pay their own tax on gambling winnings in the UK. However stars have found a way to reduce their own costs by effectively raking us even more in the UK than elsewhere. Imo if stars want to operate in a highly lucrative, regulated UK market they should be prepared to absorb the tax costs themselves. As I said I don't think raking the players more is right for them to do, but unfortunately they are able to and we have to deal with it.

However in addition the above, stars are now planning to rake every single rebuy in mtts for UK players. This is completely outrageous! Stars used the excuse of new tax laws etc to justify this change, however as mentioned we are already effectively footing 50% of the tax bill and EACH rebuy or addon will effectively pay the tax 10x over! So not just covering their costs, rinsing us for a huge profit. This post in particular is very good at explaining this issue for those that are more interested:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...&postcount=732

Finally, I am not at all an expert on economics but I am pretty sure that Amaya would be considered to have a monopoly by any measure/definition that is used by regulators in order to stop market abuse etc.

Agreed. While they may not be a true monopoly, they are pretty close to an effective monopoly.

Loved the show. Looking forward to the next.

Solid co-hosting job by Remko. Thoughtful, articulate, and not afraid to speak his mind. The anecdotes from his experiences travelling the poker circuit were great and left me wanting to hear more.

Any reason a Stars rep didn't make an appearance? Or just the obvious?

Just the obvious. We've never had the ability to do phone interviews when on location, but you already knew that.

I would guess that ps has enough market share to be considered monopolistic, although I don't know what economists typically look for, nor what their share is in various fields so who knows.

A monopoly is typically reliant on high barriers to entry: software requirements and the power of liquidity are pretty classic examples there, you by no means need a government mandated monopoly, so another tick.

But... A classic monopoly charges a higher price than the perfect competition clearing price, leading to maximise 'supernormal' profits. I don't think that there's any evidence that ps has thus acted in a monopolistic way - they've not followed a strategy that takes advantage of their market position

And I think you're all way over estimating the power of information and the size of the brains inside big corporates. We're all pissing in the dark, and putting on a suit and getting a few business school graduates to write you reports doesn't make decisions any less guesswork.

Great show as always. Love the shows from the road, great to hear the trip reports, especially buners antics, glad he got join you guys this trip.

Also, how about that pic of the weird Asian guy that was stroking the beard?

Also, in b4 there is actually only $300 added to the invitational prizepool by stars next week

give it time, they are buying party, the last "brand" with top teir worldwide name recognition


they arent really buying it for the business itself, just like ftp, they are buying it to prevent someone else with some sense taking advantage of the opportunity to rebuid a major brand and take a huge chunk out of stars profits and diminish their control of the industry

stars just has some backdoor deals w the other frontrunner sites... ie we will give you 25m a year in addition to your revenue, to not improve


#tinfoilhat

#itsrealtho

Remko is the bomb...I don't know if you remember Adam, but the way you kept saying his name wrong, reminded me of Antonio in One Drop saying "Reinkemeier" lol...Also, there was a comment that the background noise was too loud, then you came back in the last segment in a new location...I like the background noise...Actually, many of my favorite episodes were the live ones...Specifically the time Mike got sick and you interviewed Hellmuth lol...The noise from the casino brings everyone closer to the event. I strongly disagree with that being taken out. For next episode, Mark after busting on facebook, "**** didn't work out, it's whatever man. I'm in a better spot than I was a couple years ago and I'll be ok. I am so happy for all the friends and family who came out to support me and show me love. All is good and ima be aiight."

Thanks

Do anything you can to make Remko a regular part of the show. His input is on point,and he has a great sense of humour.
I have really enjoyed the last few shows 338 and 339 with four voices providing the input,It's a dynamic that really works.

Keep up the good work,since MJs departure the show continues to be strong as ever.

Any tips for 1/2 no limit trying to build my bank roll

Great show as I enjoyed Remko's insights and analysis.