PokerStars increases tournament and cash game rake
Online poker giant confirms rake changes while also cancelling its Battle of the Planets tournament
PokerStars has confirmed a number of changes to the rake it collects from players across tournament and cash games, and has also cancelled its Battle of the Planets tournament in which it gives away more than $2.5m in prize money each year.
Changes include a rake increase at all heads up hyper-turbo Sit & Go tournaments and while buy-in amounts have remain the same, the prize pool has diminished.
“We are investing heavily in the growth of poker globally and bringing more and more players to the game,” PokerStars spokesman Eric Hollreiser, said. “That is imperative for the continued vitality of the industry. As many players are noting, our rake is highly competitive,” he added.
Alexander Dreyfus, Zokay CEO and owner of the Global Poker Index said he believed the changes were a move to shift resources to a new acquisition drive.
“PokerStars is trying to expand the poker market, meaning to drive new players to the poker industry,” Dreyfus said.
“To do that they need to be less focused on core online grinders, and more on the mainstream player. So they need to invest, and from what I understand they want to shift part of the profit from core players and use the money to attract new players.
“The only way to sustain that investment is to shift and adjust rakes to allocate the money to do that,” he added.
The move has caused debate among players on poker forums including TwoPlusTwo, with some suggesting PokerStars’ new owners Amaya might have been responsible for the changes.
But Dreyfus believes the shift in strategy would have been decided before the acquisition. “I don’t think this was related to Amaya. The management people that are in place at PokerStars today are enforcing a strategy that has probably been decided during the year, even before Amaya acquired the company,” he added.
The move comes after PokerStars announced that it had withdrawn from more than 30 grey markets, including the likes of Malaysia, Turkey, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Iran, after identifying an associated “business risk”.
The withdrawals come as Great Britain prepares for the start of its new licensing regime, scheduled for 1 December, under which the Gambling Commission requires licensees to justify continuing operations in markets where they are not licensed.
PokerStars and Full Tilt are also going through the licensing process with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, with a return to the US market imminent.