Quote:
Originally Posted by NooooBingo
The general sentiment ITT and on 2p2 in general is that the VIP changes are just a money grab, this article says the changes are necessary due to the different landscape.
Yes that is true, however it is pointless arguing about these changes as Amaya are well within their rights to make them. Time will tell if it was a good business decision or not but if they have miscalculated, they will be the ones that pay the price.
They have crossed the line before into clear misrepresentation when they advertised that if you made SNE in 2015 you would get specific rewards in 2016. SNE cost a lot to achieve in rake paid and I believe that it is illegal, at least in the UK, to clearly advertise "If you pay x to us over the year you get y next year" then refuse to give y once x has been paid. Whoever came up with that blatant theft and signed off on it should hang their heads in shame. They could easily have cut SNE completely after giving the rewards to the final players who made it plus every other cut they made was fair game.
They have done other dubious things such as paint every change which is negative for all players, like removal of rewards, as positive for recs. They also have falsely painted their motivation be to protect recs. The vast majority of changes they have made are negative for all players to some degree and their motivation is simply to rip more money from every person on the site. If they really wanted to make positive rec changes they would ban all software aids, ban all staking groups, introduce table caps and so on. They don't do these things as they would be expensive and difficult to police. Some would affect their bottom line - so instead they simply take more money and misrepresent their intentions by claiming to be rec friendly. This is nothing unusual. Almost every publically listed company loves spouting PR lies.
When it comes to informing customers about rake rises and reward cuts their is also nothing rec friendly about them as they selectively choose who to inform. Sure everyone with emails set to on gets blasted endlessly with adverts for BetStars but rake increases or reward cuts? You don't tell the recs about these things if you are PokerStars..
Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars Dylan
To clarify, the email in question was sent to GoldStar+ VIPs who haven't opted-out of receiving email communications.
Regards,
Dylan
Amaya have always been looking to turn anything they buy into a carcass at the expense of players and the site itself, a fact which was pointed out when they bought PokerStars but the lies started straight away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AmayaCEO
Dear 2+2 posters,
PokerStars has been an industry leader in providing the best game experience, protection of players balances, customer service, and online security for the past 14 years. For that reason, it is the most beloved poker brand in the world.
Amaya plans for PokerStars to continue providing an unmatched poker experience that loyal players have grown to expect. And we expect it to continue to grow by offering world class customer service and VIP program, increasing investment in customer acquisition, and entering new markets.
The company always operates with the utmost integrity and respect for its customer base and PokerStars will continue that approach, led by its experienced executive management team and dedicated employees.
Let me be clear in saying that our most important relationship will be with you, the players, and we look forward to building on the trust PokerStars has established with the poker community over the past 14 years.
Personally and sincerely,
David Baazov
Steve Day also, at the time Operations manager from Stars claiming positive customer focus will continue for years
Quote:
Originally Posted by PokerStars Steve
We will certainly miss Mark and Isai. As some of you have surmised, our founders established the culture and values that permeate every decision and every customer interaction. Though Mark and Isai are leaving, the culture and values remain, along with the nearly 2,000 staff who continue to turn our culture and values into action on a daily basis. Our entire leadership team is still in place, and I can assure you that we embrace these values whole heartedly.
PokerStars was more than just my favorite online poker room, it was my favorite company. This is a feeling shared amongst many of our staff here, especially our poker room management team. We come to work with the mission of trying to maintain and improve the experience we had ourselves as customers. I have full confidence that this will continue to be the case for years to come, with full support from Amaya.
Steve Day
Director of Poker Room Operations
PokerStars
We were all lucky the Scheinbergs owned PokerStars for so long but without them and with Amaya in charge this was always destined to happen.
Online poker is completely dead anyway, pretty much all due to the world being a lot better at the game than on Sept 11, 2001 when PokerStars launched (yes really that date). Government regulation was a huge blow in lots of countries but software has ensured it will never be the same again online no matter what ridiculous dream regs might cling to. It cannot be policed so unless you like playing against a GTO bot you might as well withdraw now. Amaya are massively in debt, fudging their figures and relying on a dying game to bring customers in to the casino. It's not working and they are heading for the end as all the recent cuts are showing.