Yea ok but lets not fool our self, the sites are pretty much the same, there all there for the money, and so much as possible, and poker-stars was the site that did it a bit different, well that is over, and they are not going to turn back the changes i guess.
And in a couple of years it is a casino where you can play poker too, because casino's got a higher addiction rate[so more money] and if you log on the poker-site you will see all adverts for black-jack and slots, and you probably can play in the casino and the poker-site with a simple transfer.
But that might be good news for the poker-players, because a lot of people play the slots and black-jack and if they win the play a little poker too maybe with there winnings, but he time will tell hey.

yeah because all regs belong in one big family and communicate daily

It will affect backers, high stakes players and HU players most.
If a group of them get together and contact other sites as a collective to see who is smart enough to offer a better deal to them in exchange for the millions in rake the generate every month.....
It would be a start and I am sure the mass increase in player pool and revenue would give some very good reason for sites that gain the business to work faster on software improvement and consider implementing more changes that encourage a larger pool of players who don't play HU or HS to move over as well.
Stolen idea from someone in HS PLO in a thread about something early this year so not mine or designed for this but would make a world of difference.
Just getting more competitive rake for these games and/or vip status rake back equivalent to that held on stars from the moment you transition would be worth it.

also to hit new stars where it hurts eople could contact the powers that be where they live about spin and goes then point out that they are more of a casino game than poker and as such should be banned in a country that only has poker because it is considered a game of skill which would no doubt cost the new stars some money if they have to take them off or try and argue otherwise.

If the reporting does happen and the government in those countries does threaten to ban them because of spin and goes then they can just block spin and goes for those countries. IMO they would just argue that it is a highly raked version of 3 max where a free bonus is added, or they can re-write the rules to make it so and then it will comply with the country's rules.

The fourth "I cant play" option to vote for is screwing the results, i know players that cant play like to point it out at every turn but you should have left it out.

eg. As i type this, "No" is currently making up 76%~ versus "Yes", but because you threw in "Maybe" and "I cant play", a lot of people will come in and see that only 53% of people say that they are not gonna play.

Yeah at this given point and time, the sites are all the same and looking to maximize profits, so doesn't that make sense for them to try and rake in some new customers from other sites while they have the chance? Look at how much money Stars has made in the past 10 years compared to any of its competitors, and that's a direct result of their business model which was super player-oriented.. They took less rake than competitors, gave better bonuses, and still profitted a ridiculous margin every year.

There was no casino required, no gimmicks, just a poker room made for players.

So there's nothing stopping a competitor taking that same direction now and becoming the new number 1 in online poker. Alternatively, if people cooperate during this sit-out/boycott, Amaya might realise that the reason their company is so successful is because of their original business model, and now nothing seperates them from the rest.

Yes I would not want them banned, the less players the worse it is for us.
It would however cost them money to set up country specific software or pay staff to deal with country specific issues which might make them realise that they can not just do want they want when they want at expense to everyone but themselves with out some of us making it harder for them which could have the the opposite effect and a reduction in profit for them long term.

Might also stop them doing something stupid like making all mtts hyper or short stack, max/min buy in on cash tables smaller, no deep tables or ante tables, all the things that would benefit them increase rake and variance making more for them and taking the essence of game away while reducing the chance we can make money and increasing the chances new and rec players will just jump straight into long shot table/casino games that only benefit the site rather then get little bang for their buck with low reward offered at poker tables.
As it is they no doubt would love to have zoom only pools and no HU games but I think we have the right to play them if we want.
Plus I would feel better if they had to pay some of my extra rake the 3% when withdrawing or depositing to staff rather then just those at the top.

If the sn and sne got together and approached other site think of how much that would hurt stars profit.
Even if they decide not to drop the rewards system and stop the stupid new HU rake for table starting it would make me happy.

request one week self exclusion, easy game

cashed out everything from stars, hope this is gonna be one of those "remember remember the 5th of november"-days...

In the UK it will be Fireworks night.
Rain is forecast.

I fear the protest will be a damp squib.

don't be dumb, this is just another classic example of the prisonners dilemma.

As Iv'e stated already. A successful protest would be to actually withdraw your funds, go play on another site and not play back on pokerstars. None of this empty threat rubbish where by the following day all the guys who sat out will either be banned from the games or even more laughable, playing again the following day on pokerstars. solid protest.

And in a one-shot prisoner's dilemma what's the rational choice?

That's just one reason a one time only protest will fail miserably.

Agree. My post didn't even get a response, so I highly doubt people are actually committed to truly boycotting stars. I'm disappointed that even the affected regs are too short-sighted and weak-hearted to sacrifice a healthy amount for the greater good. I am willing and ready to give up on stars for a whole month or even more, but with such disinterest even in a weekly boycott I'm not interested in helping.
In order to achieve greater things in life sometimes you need to make really big sacrifices and take risks, just like a chess player does. People need to wake up and get a reality check.

PS: I'm not (yet) an affected reg.

Man it is about sending a message and seeing how they respond. Also Other sites will see what is going on here and respond. Also one day of protests will have them lose some substantial cash.

Where there is one protest there is another

You idiot, the regs make up 60% of the high abi's

Has anybody counted how the rake gonna look like for 3/6$ games in bb/100 after those changes? I mean while openning 6m table/HU

assuming nobody changes their play it will double. rake was 3.6bb/100 for me would go to 7.2bb/100 now.

Every time a flop is seen it will hit the max. (nobody was limping last summer not sure if that is still the case)

Well the other sites are on it now one offering 20% instant cashback on all points earned this month plus stating biggest ever software update and cash bonus on deposit.
That's one of 3 emails from competition have not even opened the others.
Also noticed other sites pushing their poker in ads on tv in the 20 mins I have been watching.
Could be the best move for poker after all, loads of offers from every one else and software improvement getting some extra cash injection as they fight to take all leaving players.
Come on one of you guys offer same rake back as current status on stars as well as a few more improvements we wont need to set up a protest.
Oh and stars you want to start throwing free money at me like fulltilt did when I decided they were not worth the time it takes to login I might keep playing your MTT's series and the occasional side game which is all they get.

lol classic

ITT and others, people think that they are owed a living playing at an online poker site.



http://www.pocketfives.com/f13/first...oblems-670746/

Isn't that how SEO works?

"Remember remember the fifth of november"

stars flaunted US banking law and remained in the market after actors such as industry leader party pulled out in accordance with US wishes at the time

stars was rewarded with a dominant market share and unmatched name recognition as a result of that violation of US law

stars has determined that given no credible market rival poisted as an alternative for cusomers to choose should they feel mistreated, stars has licence to take actions which reduce the maximum edge achievable by its successful players. this harms consumers and benefits the company's bottom line and with no valid competition to fear stars has made changes to pricing and structuring that lead to losers losing faster and winners winning slower while not publicizing their changes or the motivations for them

AMAYAstars since a recent aquisition has has leapt out ahead of the curve of pokerstars diminishing service and gone much farther faster than the old ownership had and has sought to divert the flow of funds on its site through forms which though technically poker are not in keeping with the idea that poker is a skill game and if you work harder/play better than your opponent you will profit more than they do

AMAYAstars has already changed some variants of poker from skill games to gambling games, as with new rake and structures, the correct decision an informed rational actor would take, would be to not participate in order to minimize losses to rake which cannot be overcome by expected profits off opponents mistakes

AMAYAstars hostility towards players who seek to excell at poker by creating and realizing a longterm edge through superior decision making combined with the pokerstars brand name with its no longer accurate but extremely widespread reputation for outstanding customer service, fair and secure games, and trustworthiness with player funds, is a combination that will ultimately be devastating to US consumers if they are allowed to reintroduce their current product and logo into the US market

AMAYAstars should not be allowed to reenter the US market for a period of no less than 10 years so as to allow new and existing operators who have not violated US law in the past the opportunity to adapt and grow without the obstruction of essentially a monopoly based on outdated brand recognition which will cap potential returns of all rivals if it is allowed back into the US without a penalty waiting period imposed

I can just see lots of twitchy multi-tablers lacking their fix... must... must... play something...

Pong