Originally Posted by
Steve-O
First off, great analysis by Druff. If this site gains traction and has these types of articles on the different poker rooms it will force poker sites to do the right thing, and not simply think of their bottom line. Keep it up.
Ok, with that out of the way: I agree that it revolves around two things, the company's perspective and the fact that PokerStars and US players were involved in an illegal partnership of sorts. So what obligation did Stars have to US players?
Honestly PokerStars was under no obligation to make good on any FPP's (would a casino that went out of business, or moved to another locale, let you cash in your comp points) but from a business standpoint I think they understood that they had to make some gesture to honor FPP's to appease US players, and keep the confidence levels of the rest of the world high during a very contentious period.
The chances of PokerStars reentering the US market are less than 1%, so the company really had nothing to gain by "making things right" by US players; these are cutomers they will never have access to again. The FPP conversion was done solely to put the rest of the world's mind at ease, and if this wasn't a concern I guarantee US players would have gotten a middle finger from PokerStars regarding their FPP's.
Did PokerStars shortchange US players? Yes. But this is normal business behavior, especially when there is little to no oversight; get the most by spending the least. Only a few players are pointing out what they did, and as far as I can tell only one is really making a big stink of it (and rightly so). So PokerStars probably overpaid US players when it comes to FPP's, since so few people seem to care about it.
There was a poll on 2p2 asking how the situation was handled:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28...nfair-1034624/
Around 38% said "Bad". That's a big enough discrepancy to say that it wasn't handled the best (granted it IS better than nothing).
I'd be one to side with the consumer, but that doesn't work today, especially in a business where choices are few and far between.
I forwarded this thread to Negreanu on Twitter, and again:
@Seanismoney couldn't be more wrong. Seriously. They paid 100% of what they were legally allowed to pay, also you could always move+play.
@Seanismoney you guys are completely missing the fact that they paid out 100% of what they were legally allowed to pay.
Yes, I could always move and play. Let me just withdraw the cash that FTP owes me and just move to Canada.
Sometimes, I even think the big name players forget where they came from. Not all of us are big ballin' and can just leave. Some grinded out a living barely. Some grinded out enough as a second suppliment to income (which is dwindling in the private sector; hence why gambling is up). Not all of us run like Jason Mercier.
In the end, I agree with Steve-O. What we got back really, is a blessing, and if anything, just be grateful. Although it doesn't mean Todd can't say what he feels is unfair, and the poker community agrees in most part with him.
But considering FTP didn't cashout our rolls, and Pokerstars did......well, that's good "enough" for the community, and "good enough" is just "good enough" for 99% of corporations today, who are more about the bottom line than making things whole.
I'm also suprised they confronted you on this, Druff. If I worked PR for Stars, I'd just de-foo myself from the US situation all together after they paid out rolls/percentage of FPPs; and only comment on the legal situation and not even acknowledge the existence of US players (minus the ones I paid for representation).
Also mentioned the >1% chance PStars re-enters US Market. DN's response?
@Seanismoney If you want to lay me 20-1 they re-enter, let me know how much I can bet.
Anyone care to back up the truck?