Party Poker has added a $1 million guaranteed tournament to tonight´s MTT schedule is response to a proposed boycott of PokerStars by more than 200 players.
Party Poker Responds to PokerStars Boycott with $1 Million Event
Party Poker has added a $1 million guaranteed tournament to tonight´s MTT schedule is response to a proposed boycott of PokerStars by more than 200 players.
Late last week, PokerStars announced it was reducing the number of reward points players earn for entering Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs) by 55%. The site claimed it was helping the rewards system evolve by adjusting it where there would be “the least impact”, but the site possibly underestimated how MTT players valued their reward points.
Belgian player “girafganger7”, reached out to PokerStars´ high stakes community and got a tremendous response. According to a post on the 2+2 forum, at least two hundred players (to date) have committed to boycott PokerStars´ $750,000 Turbo Series High Roller Progressive KO tournament tonight by either not buying in directly or supporting satellites feeding into the event.
Players Given an Alternative to Sitting Out
Several previously proposed boycotts of PokerStars have failed to work because players have not had an alternative to the game(s) they would normally play. Consequently “girafganger7” reached out to Party Poker, who responded by adding a $1 million guaranteed PKO tournament to its schedule at the same time as the PokerStars event is due to be played (7:00pm CET) with the same $5,200 buy-in.
Oh, and I also reached out to their direct competitor and see if they could offer something similar. So now @partypoker is offering a 5k with half the rake (+actual rakeback) with a nonshit structure at exactly the same time with a 1million GTD. Is this how capitalism works???
— giraf ganger (@Girafganger7) February 15, 2019
Party Poker has also added a twenty seat Mega-Satellite feeding into the million dollar event at 4:00pm CET. The Mega-Satellite has a direct buy-in of $530, or players can try to win their seats in a $55 buy-in Mega-Feeder at 2:00pm CET, which guarantees ten seats into the Mega-Satellite. In this way, Party Poker´s “alternative to sitting out” will appeal to the low and mid-stakes MTT community who also want to support the PokerStars boycott.
PokerStars Boycott Not Just about Rewards System
The change to the way in which PokerStars´ MTT players earn reward points seems to have been the straw that broke the camel´s back according to a post by “girafganger7” on Medium. The organiser of the PokerStars boycott complains that not only are the rewards decreasing, but the rake is increasing and often hidden away in the structure pages of the tournament info so it is not clearly visible.
On behalf of the PokerStars high stakes MTT community, “girafganger7” asks for more open communication, a reassessment of the rake, and a reduction in the length of late registration and number of re-entries allowed. Unfortunately these are issues that affect all online poker sites (as we discussed last month), but if the boycott can get PokerStars to change some of its player-unfriendly structures, then maybe some other online poker sites will follow suit.
Will You be Joining the PokerStars Boycott Tonight?
If you were intending to play in, or qualify for, the $750,000 Turbo Series High Roller Progressive KO tournament on PokerStars tonight, it could be in your best interests to support the PokerStars boycott by playing in Party Poker´s event instead. Not only is there an extra $250,000 in prize money available, but – because Party Poker doesn´t rake the bounty element of the buy-in – knockouts will be worth more as well.
Furthermore, by supporting the PokerStars boycott, you will be sending a message to the world´s largest poker site that it cannot keep squeezing players to support its corporate stakeholders. If the boycott is successful, the financial blow will be substantial. PokerStars will lose $200 in tournament entry fees for each player that doesn´t buy into the tournament, plus likely face a substantial overlay – not quite “the least impact” PokerStars had hoped for.
Remember, it is only one tournament players are being asked not to take part in – not the whole evening´s action. So, if you would like to get a little more value from your action, visit Party Poker today.
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