I got a chance to listen to last weeks radio last night and just wanted to comment on the editorial druff gave regarding pokerstars. Wasn't sure if I should post this in the other section but decided here even though less people will see it. Just a minor note you made regarding the software at the beginning, you stated that pokerstars 2003 software is better than all current software with the exception of maybe party poker. That made me laugh as party poker is literally the 2nd worst software behind ultimate poker. But that's a minor non important point.

I can't disagree with your assessments of how pokerstars handled both the fpp situation and barcelona as I agree that both were wrong in both instances. However I think you are severely nitpicking with regards to pokerstars.

To play devils advocate however on the fpp issue, as a high volume player like myself I have to say that pokerstars took care of me with the milestone bonuses they offered. for every 100k vpps you earned you were given a a cash bonus. On black friday I was at around 250k vpps for the year. the 300k milestone would have earned me $3,000. Now they could have came to the same solution that they did regarding fpps and given me nothing for my progress. However since I was about 50% clared of the milestone, they gave me 50% of the $3,000. I felt this was great on their part and something they didn't have to do. I'm not sure if you add up how much they gave out with this aspect and compare how much they saved by not giving full fpp rates whether one outweighs the other. But I just think it's wrong to say that they cut all corners.

Second point regarding software advantage they have, you made it seem as though all the US sites were started from scratch. With the exception of ultimate poker, all other software being used has existed for a long time beforehand and isn't starting from scratch. Therefore pokerstars doesn't have some competitive advantage with regards to their software.

You made a statement that other sites in particular party poker haven't conducted themselves in the shady manner that pokerstars has. I don't fault you for not being informed but party poker did something far worse than the fpp thing in regards to their vip program. I never played much on party but did for a few months when I moved out of the us. They had a vip program setup and their top level was palladium elite. They decided to remove this level and it's perks basically overnight and not give players that were close enough time to use all the points they saved up. They offered $20k and $75k poker bonuses and a $50k instant cash offer. You had to save up your points from the start to get to these, so people who had been saving up their points for a year were screwed.

They also had the whole table segregation plot to prevent winning players from playing fish. That isn't shady?

I just really think you are nitpicking regarding pokerstars. And if you look at all the other companies that have licenses you can find issues as bad if not worse than pokerstars has committed. So basically by your logic nobody should be granted a license. Which by that logic everyone should be like ultimate poker and start from scratch. This will provide you with your "fair" "level playing field" but inconveniences the players. Which by far should be the number one concern. The player experience and satisfaction should be the number one criteria. Which is why pokerstars should be allowed to get a license. They are simply the best, and the market should be offered the best. That simple.