Over the past few weeks, PokerStars has announced several changes to the rewards programs and features of the site. The changes have not been very welcome and has left the site with less than stellar traffic numbers. In most cases, when an online poker room makes changes, they do so to give players a boost in gaming options. However, sometimes the changes are more in favor of the site and can have a negative effect. PokerStars seems to be suffering currently from a negative side effect of changing the site in a variety of ways.
The VIP program has been remade with changes not coming into effect until the 1st of January 2016. With the announcement of the changes on November 1st, the site has seen a 3.3% decrease in player traffic, just over a ten day time frame. Online pros have highly criticized the site for lowering the VIP program which will see a dramatic decrease in their income beginning in 2016.
As a recap, PokerStars will be changing the VIP rewards scheme by changing FPPs to become StarCoin and have a worth of $0.01. PlatinumStar members will see a decrease of 10% on an average with as much as 27% decrease for Supernova members. Supernova Elite members will see a decrease of as much as 60%. Rewards will be capped for the highest VIP levels with no VPPs earned at particular high stakes games starting with the $5-$10 range and up. Third-party software restrictions will also be put in place.
On November 1st, PokerStars had an average of 15,000 players on a seven-day period based on info from PokerScout. This was the day the changes were announced by the online poker room. This number dropped at about 500 less than 2 weeks after the announcement. Partypoker actually saw a boost in traffic during this time frame, so it is possible the players from PokerStars decided to find a new poker home instead of having to deal with gaming changes at the site.
Poker pros may do more harm to PokerStars if they continue to speak out on the changes. PokerStars has decided to go forward with becoming a more recreational site rather than cater to the professional player. The new changes to the loyalty program of PokerStars have been named as a way that the site is killing poker. If players continue to speak in a negative manner, it may cause even more players to stop accessing the site for their online poker gaming needs.
A new website has even been created to try and stop players from visiting PokerStars, throwing Full Tilt into the mix. The site is called TheyKillPoker.com and encourages poker players to cashout their accounts at Full Tilt and PokerStars by the 1st of January, when the changes are set to take place. They want players to not go back to the sites until Amaya Gaming does away with the new changes. Players who want to take part in the strike have been encouraged to contact PokerStars support by email to state their concerns.
What could be of even more concern is the impact of the negative talk moving into the United States. PokerStars has been given approval to operate in the US in the state of New Jersey, though it seems they will not be operational until the first of the year. It would be highly unlikely that that PokerStars would be affected as they enter New Jersey as players in the United States have been patiently awaiting the reentry of the brand. Only time will tell if PokerStars will be greatly affected by the changes to the site or if players will continue to visit the site to enjoy online poker gaming.