PokerStars Rescues Beleaguered PKR Players

On May 3rd, PKR players were faced with the prospect of losing all the money held in their accounts after waking up to the news that their poker site of choice had run into financial difficulties. According to a brief statement at the time, the company behind the PKR website had filed an administration applications in court, and while the UK Gambling Commission requires companies to keep their player funds in segregated accounts, even this was not enough to save PKR’s beleaguered customers. As is stated on the PKR Terms & Conditions:
“In the case of UK customers, PKR retains all player funds in a segregated client funds account, separately from all other operating and corporate funds. This is in accordance with the Basic level of protection and as set out on the Gambling Commission’s website. In the case of insolvency, these funds would not be protected.”
Therefore, PKR customers were almost resigned to becoming a likely casuality of yet another failed poker site until an unexpected gesture by the world’s biggest online poker room, PokerStars, had the aggrieved poker players breathing a sigh of relief, once more. In an unprecedented move, PokerStars subsequently announced that it would refund all the money that was owned to PKR customers in a no strings attached deal, and furthermore with no intention of ever reviving the site.
While a benevolent gesture, PokerStars still stands to gain from the move as it will now have access to 60,000 affected PKR players, who will not only be grateful to it for bailing them out, but will also be looking for an alternative site to play their favorite card game. Furthermore, those PKR players already with accounts at PokerStars will find the refund process even more straightforward, and as Eric Hollreiser, Amaya VP of Corporate Communications, explained in a statement:
“For the majority of PKR players that have an existing PokerStars account, it should take just a few clicks from receiving our email to seeing their PKR funds appear in their PokerStars account. There will be some further steps for the minority that need to open a new PokerStars account, but our aim and intention is to make funds available for withdrawal as quickly as possible. There will be no further obligation or play-through required.”
Therefore, PokerStars can soon expect a new influx of players to start using the site, and considering the vast majority of PKR players fall into the recreational category, the move is sure to satisfy its policy of attracting the right type of player to create a fun playing environment for all its customers.