Making it to the money in tournaments on PokerStars is about to get a little easier. PokerStars officials announced this week that they are changing the payout structure for many of their online tournaments and increasing the number of players in the money.
This is far from the first time that PokerStars has decided to change the payout structure of their tournament to increase the number of in-the-money players. Back when PokerStars first launched, the majority of their tournaments paid 10 per cent of players. That of course meant 90 per cent of the tournament busted out with nothing to show for their time at the tables.
Over time, the payout structure slowly changed, first to 11.1 per cent of players getting paid, then to 12.5 per cent of players making the money. In terms of player numbers, 11.1 percent was roughly one in nine players, while 12.5 per cent was one in eight players. Earlier this year, another change was made bumping it up to 18 per cent of players, or one in 5.5 players being paid.
Changes across the board in PokerStars tournaments
The latest round of changes announced this week will see a majority of tournaments at PokerStars increase their payouts. Tournaments that previously paid 12 per cent of players will now pay 14 per cent. Tourneys that were already paying 14 per cent of players are being bumped up to 16 per cent. The tournaments with a 16 per cent pay rate are going up to 18 per cent and tournaments with an 18 per cent pay rate will now be paying out 20 per cent of players.
There are some tournaments that won’t be included in the payout structure change. These include any tournaments already paying 20 percent of players, high buy-in level tournaments, and progressive knockout tournaments where a portion of the buy-in is already divided among bounties. According to PokerStars the tournaments that will not see any changes to their payout structure make up around 30 per cent of their tournament offerings.
The result of this change is that more players will end up in the money, but it also means payouts going to players will be slightly smaller.