It has been just over two weeks since a few thousand players of PokerStars decided to boycott the online poker site due to changes to the VIP player program. Dani Stern was so upset due to the changes to the VIP program at PokerStars that he organized a plan to boycott the site. The plan was not to boycott the site for monetary losses but to prove a point.
As many as 2,500 players boycotted the site from December 1st to the 3rd, yet PokerStars did not see a major decrease in poker player traffic. PokerStars responded to the boycott, days after, stating that the site was not affected per say but they did hear player’s thoughts and concerns.
PokerStars has always been a major supporter of their players, providing changes to the site to better the gaming experience for their members. PokerStars continues to listen to players and makes changes that will meet the needs of their players. This time around, players were not happy with the changes PokerStars made to try and better the site. PokerStars is setting a new goal to move towards a recreational experience, which is not beneficial to players who play the game as their career.
Currently, it seems the boycott has spurred a resurgence to the online poker site. PokerStars had a traffic figure of 14,500 during the strike at PokerScout and seemed to see an increase of just over 17% this week, with ring game tables seeing as many as 17,000 players at the tables.
When the VIP program was changed, reducing the high stakes and high volume player rewards, with plans named that day in the PokerStars blog, the traffic was around 15,000 cash players. Once the strike began, the drop was around 500 players. The strike did not take place at the best time, since PokerStars was offering the Christmas Calendar promotion with $2 million in prizes up for grabs. Players may have found it difficult to give up on this promotion to try and prove a point for the rewards changes.
It is believed that this promotion is most likely the reason behind the traffic increase but the numbers are still short of the beginning of this year, when the site had around 19,000 players at the cash gaming tables.
Players who were upset with the changes are those who were trying to earn Supernova or Supernova Elite status. Players work all year, investing money and time, to earn enough points to make the elite status. Once reached, players would have major benefits the next year. Now with these levels eliminated, players work was for nothing in 2015.
Players of the site were not the only ones to be upset with the changes. A pro of PokerStars has decided to not resign with the brand due to the changes. Alex Millar, known as Kanu7 online, will not be signing again with the brand. Speaking with CardPlayer, Millar stated:
For now, PokerStars does not seem to be majorly affected by the changes. However, as time progresses, we may see players leave the site, including the pros who help to bring in players to the site. It will be interesting to watch as time moves on and to see how PokerStars will be affected by the changes.