2016 PokerStars VIP Club changes rile up high stakes pros

This is from Daniel on 2+2:

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Originally Posted by DNegs

But it was a massive communications blunder. Oct 2014 the newsletter said "PokerStars is considering substantial changes to the VIP Program in 2016." That's wishy washy, and not clear, but did any of you who read that think, "This must mean we are getting even more rakeback in 2016!!!"

That doesn't excuse the error, but it clearly shows that they had this planned over a year ago. They just didn't know in what form the changes would take place. I didn't lie, and I am not lying when I say this could all have been avoided with better communication. If the statement instead said, "There will be substantial cuts to the VIP program in 2016" as well as the website, instead of showing precise 2016 numbers for SNE players, simply said, "TBD."

If those two things happened correctly, then this wouldn't even be an issue at all. So yes, that is a communications blunder. A very big one and a lot of players got screwed as a result. A lot of players are rightfully pissed as a result.

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Also, he had this exchange with active 2+2er "ChoakMyDee":

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Originally Posted by ChoakMyDee

I'm glad you brought this up. Let me help you....

1. You lied when you said your integrity is not for sale.

2. You lied when you wrote in your blog that it was Baazov's idea to delay the VIP changes for 1 year. It is very obvious that you rewrote history when you said that. You were told that. You know it isn't true, yet you parroted it.

Amaya has deceived and stolen from the players. They will not budge and will not change their mind. Yet, you want us to try to work together with them and have meetings in the future? FFS Daniel, why?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DNegs"

1. That is not a lie. It isn't for sale. I have plenty of money already and my reasoning for staying with the company has absolutely nothing to do with a paycheck.

2. How is that a lie? It was confirmed by several sources that it happened just like that. Sure, it's possible that they are all lying to me, but how does that make me writing that a lie?

As for your last point, because the site is going forward and you are probably going to be playing on it. The games will continue to run, and if you plan on continuing to give action to the site than you might as well have added communication, no?

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Honestly, Negreanu is just making himself look like a fool at this point.

I respect that he tried to help the players here (he didn't have to), but he needs to quit with the backpedaling and story-changing.

He stupidly told people that his resignation was on the table if things didn't change, and then he didn't resign when the changes didn't happen. I don't blame him for not resigning, but he put himself in this spot now where he looks like a phony.

Instead of defending Stars' actions, he should have just left it with, "I'm sorry, guys. I agree with you fully, but I tried my best, and Stars management saw it a different way. As Stars has a very good track record with how they treat their players, I have decided to stay with them despite this, provided that they improve their communication going forward."

Still would have left a lot of people angry, but a lot LESS angry than his recent claims that the whole thing was a "miscommunication" and that he's not staying for money.

OF COURSE he's staying for money. Why else would he be a Pokerstars site pro? Money is the reason anyone signs on to a position like that, so his refusal to leave is obviously tied to money. I guarantee he would have resigned if it was a voluntary, unpaid position.

Again, I like Daniel, and I think he believed what he wrote when he messaged people in early November that he might quit if this doesn't get resolved, but he put himself in a bad spot saying something like that, and now he's handling the fallout poorly.

It is his reversal in going from resigning to defending the situation as miscommunication that has people riled up. Should have said did his best, sorry he couldn't lead pokerstars to make it right for the player he did everything he could. Pokerstars probably told him to take company line if he wanted to stay with the company so he reversed himself and by doing so lost any credibility he had with the public. Quite the reversal from fake resigning to his new stance. He is no better then primordial of lock. Daniel n has said he can do better by staying so that way he can protect players lol , like he did in this monumental player issue? Vegan please!!!!!

Even funnier was he said he didn't see people calling for other pokerstars like selbst and company to resign. Well duh, they never said they would quit if pokerstars didn't make it right like daniel n. He really showed his true colors here.

Also... lol ZeeJustin:

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Originally Posted by ZeeJustin

A lot of the terminology being used is too soft. This is theft/fraud, plain and simple.

In a recent interview with Sarah Herring, Lee Jones said

This isn't about the hard work I put in to achieve SNE this year. This is about the $181,800 in rake I gave your company to earn it. I was promised benefits for next year. If you don't want to honor them, then you owe me the money I gave you. Cutting over $42,000 from your promise/our exchange is not a failure in communication, IT IS THEFT. How can you honestly argue that it is anything else?

We don't want your apologies. We want our money.

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Bonomo is lucky he's even able to play on Pokerstars at all, after being caught in 2006 blatantly multi-accounting in the SAME TOURNAMENTS.

But his past aside, he's also being a bit histrionic here. This isn't theft. It's bad business practice, but it's not theft.

Why? Because Supernova Elite benefits were never explicitly promised for the following year. There was no guarantee to lock in the benefits. At the end of the day, it's a reward program, and a reward program can always be immediately rescinded going forward. The airlines do this all the time with their mileage rewards programs.

Now, I fully agree with the players that it was IMPLIED that this was a 2-year deal, and that earning benefits now allows you to keep those same benefits the following year with less play. But it was never promised nor guaranteed, so it is not theft. It was simply unethical.

However, Amaya doesn't give a shit, and in fact WANTS the affected players to leave, so that's why they are digging their heels in.

All Daniel should say is "I did what I could to fight for the players benefits but it was out of my hands".

Anyone who isn't a blind idiot can tell he did try and anyone who blames him for this is wrong in doing so.

The biggest mistake that Daniel made was saying how he would leave Pokerstars if they don't fix this if he had no intentions to do so. If he never said this then people might not come at him with the "I've lost respect for you and you just drove your integrity through the mud" type of angle.

People can't come at him with that if he didn't even entertain the idea of leaving Pokerstars but even doing so just a little bit is something a lot of people are going to hold him to.

In ways I feel bad for Daniel having to take all of this shit that was out of his hands in a situation he couldn't really improve because Amaya had their minds already set in stone for this but Daniel didn't do himself any favors.

With all of that said the people should stop blaming Negreanu so much and instead continue to vent their frustrations where they should in Pokerstars cuts/changes, poor communication with short notice,etc...

Daniel should make one statement and be done with it. He don't need to bury himself in silly remarks on a forum of clowns, grinders, etc... Nothing good is going to come out of continuing to discuss these issues now. I understand maybe he feels he owes it to the poker community and also big time to saving his own reputation since he wants to look good to the public but it's not like Daniel didn't try at all or is accepting shady money.

Perks get cut all over the place at casinos, airline rewards, credit cards,etc... It sucks when it happens but don't blame a single guy for try to help and blame the company behind it.

Just like other companies that cut perks what are the flight attendants, pilots, and all other airline workers supposed to do when their airline cuts perks in a way that people hate?

Quit their job?

No, and people shouldn't expect them to either.

People should be pissed at Daniel l as he completly reversed his original stance after pokerstars brought the hammer down on him and told him to toe the line or else. He did just that with the miscommunication reversal.

A gap down day for our pal PokerStars

Delayed reaction to Kentucky decision? Who knows. There are so many other interesting things going on but I am getting tempted on a long. Will watch for a couple of days.

No, I've been on a hot streak lately. Going to Heeb it up

Haxton now leaves Pokerstars, being the second pro who has done so since "Supernovagate"

http://www.pocketfives.com/articles/...online-591842/

Now that the new year is here I'm sure information will come out in the next month or so how much the games have changed as far as traffic goes,etc...

I'm sure Haxton will still play on Pokerstars just like any other pro that leaves because it's still the best option or only option for nose bleed players.

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Originally Posted by Shizzmoney

Haxton now leaves Pokerstars, being the second pro who has done so since "Supernovagate"

http://www.pocketfives.com/articles/...online-591842/

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Until haxton gives a really good reason why he never spoke up to poker stars about Brian Hastings cheating using the NoelHayes account and VPNing from the United States I don't want to hear him talking about the integrity of Poker Stars in any matter

Same can be said for Doug Polk

Embedded Tweet

Interview with Negreanu regarding various Pokerstars issues, including the LOL meeting which took place on the 18th where Dani Stern, Ike Haxton, and one other guy flew to Amaya headquarters for a propaganda session.

http://calvinayre.com/2016/01/21/pok...dio-interview/

I haven't watched much of this yet and it's nearly a few weeks old now but Ike Haxton discusses the Stars changes, Brian Hastings scandal,etc...

He said before he entered the shit storm thread on 2+2 he talked with Pokerstars and they had to review what he was going to say first which they took a few weeks to do it and that was while the thread was blowing up. This part starts somewhere around the 27 or 28min mark. He admits he handled certain things wrong and regrets them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyUpHHAzRlc

BUMP for new rake increases as of 03/28/16

https://www.pokerstars.com/en/blog/c...g-161006.shtml

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Following a review of the current business environment and the pricing policies employed across the competitive landscape for online gaming, PokerStars will change its pricing for a select number of games in its shared liquidity market, effective March 28, 2016.

Even after these changes, PokerStars will still have the lowest overall pricing (known as "rake") of any major online poker operator.

The pricing changes apply to certain games while others will remain unchanged. In Cash Games and Sit & Go competitions, PokerStars still has significantly lower rake than competitors.

Key pricing changes include:
• Spin & Go rake will be increased by one percentage point for buy-ins from $1 to $30 (two percentage points in $3 buy-in). $0.25, $60 and $100 buy-ins will not change.
• In multi-table tournaments, PokerStars will match the practices deployed in our closed liquidity markets where rebuys and add-ons incur fees similar to the original entry. These tournaments represent approximately 12% of the current main schedule.
• MTT hyper-turbo rake will be increased to 5%.
• Cap and percentage of rake will be increased in some no limit and pot limit ring games, mainly heads-up. Some rake caps will be lowered. Limit games will not be affected.

As a result of these changes, PokerStars expects that the overall impact will be a rake increase of 4%. PokerStars will continue to monitor its games and make regular adjustments to pricing whenever necessary.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVxYOQS6ggk