My analysis of the current situation and the potential solutions is somewhat different to Melea's, but...
^ This rings true.

EDIT: If Negreanu was forced to play 50,000 hands of PLO50, he'd soon realise why regs and recs are completely pissed off.

Wait, so Stars changes formats from 12-tables max to 24-tables max and it's the 24-tablers who are at fault and not Stars?

Also, how anyone can argue that raising rake is fine is baffling to the mind (well, sort of, there are trolls and then even Isai used to post on 2+2 incognito).

If the game becomes unbeatable due to vig, then many recs will follow suit and leave. Poker recs are not quite the same as roulette recs.

Finally, it's great that you met someone from Stars and he impressed you with his intelligence, but there have been many extremely intelligent people who have run companies into the ground before. Many times employees and/or customers do not know which ideas are the best ideas for a company but usually they are the best judge if an idea is being implemented in the best way for the company.

^^^
At no time did I argue in favor of raising rake -- in fact, the only comment I make on the topic calls for just the opposite (and that -- if "necessary" -- such a reduction should be done by lowering rakeback rewards at the high end).

As for the Exec I had an opportunity to socialize with, my point was that he came across as far more intelligent and far more knowledgeable about the operation of his site and the workings of the online poker "ecosystem" than most of this Board would credit to anyone from Amaya (I know I came in with that bias).

Yes, very smart people make decisions that do not work out. That's life, my interaction convinces me that if things do not work out it is not because Amaya does not want them to or does not intend to make decisions for the long-term health and profitability of its recently acquired asset.

Bet with your head and not above it.

Hopefully this is what you told your new social buddy.

I hope no one is holding their breath that DN is going to be PLO's saviour. DN is a company man and the only difference between him and any executive at Amaya is he doesn't like being branded as such.

when will stars announce their changes? heard october somewhere but not sure

uh huh.

Very true.

DN may be the face of the company but the end decision isn't his to make. What's not to get here? lol

Daniel is so rich, we are all ants

So PLO is the new NLHE for online cash games, a potential new golden goose ? Did I miss something ? Since when ? And what does it even mean ? more trafic at plo then nlhe this days ?

WOW

Not all winning players mass table. That might be mostly true on Stars due to the reward model but it's certainly not true industry-wide. I don't mean just due to table caps either, for example not everyone has the mental capacity to 6+ table PLO, even some winning players. I'm sure there are also winning players who play an exploitative read-based style that prefer not to mass table.

...while he whole-heartedly supports the VIP changes. Not sure where his heart lies at.

guess who saw this one comming?

GOAT

LOL the dude needs to stop acting like he has any sway. Go play your ****ing card Dnegs and stop acting like you give a **** about online poker....

Honestly guys, DN isn't the stupid one here -


He plays <10k hands on stars/year
He gets millions from stars.


Why the F** does he care about us?? He doesn't, his goal is just to flash on TV and promote pokerstars or whatever until they run out of money or cancel his contract.




Instead of bashing on him, put yourself in his shoes and ask this - Would you complain to your employer about paying <$1000 in fees/year for your job when they give you a yearly salary that is 7 figures?


If you seriously think you'd whine about a couple bucks to your employer from getting a 7fig payday, then go ahead bash on him - but seriously, every poker pro looks out for himself and has to do what needs to be done to put food on the table. Don't expect someone to do that for you.


If there is a legitimate problem, all the regulars need to unite and create a strike or some suit, and NOT think that a top sponsor is going to be on your side.

Double

seriously, all the people bashing on DN should think twice about where to put the blame. I think it is very unfair, he clearly stated he will be dealing with the issue and putting out a statement. Ho about keeping the vitriol to yourself and waiting for his final statement before grabbing the pitchfork? I almost feel like those of you doing the bashing ****ing deserve all this crap and Im fairly certain mst of you would be very quiet if you were in his position...he does not owe you squad douche and I would think very hard if its worth helping lynching degen hypocrits

Quick take his HUD away! Phew thats was close.

He's not being quiet at all tho, if he was quiet like Ike or other Stars pros he wouldn't have gotten nearly as bashed the last few years. Instead he's says things like upcoming changes are good for 98% of players when basically all players are getting shafted. Meanwhile there are other stars pros and you don't see them getting bashed left and right cuz they don't say silly things like I could be 5knl with 2 weeks of study or defended rake hikes and VIP reductions when rake is already killing games like PLO which has proven to be a rake trap. The dude does it to himself.... over and over.

another difference is that dnegs is uppity self-proclaimed tell it like it is guy - "i am better than you because vegan choice center". ike kinda just keeps his head down and grinds, sometimes while ignoring stinger multi accounting, but whatevs

At least he made sure we got 4million in freerolls that did not exist before.

Please tell me that's sarcastic