Pokerstars Partners Criticised By Former Affiliates
October 14, 2014 1:57 pmPokerstars Partners has recently attracted harsh criticism from some of its former affiliates who have now found themselves cast aside following a change in the company’s policy.
The controversy started just a few weeks ago when a number of PokerStars affiliates received letters informing them that their affiliate contracts had been ended, and that they would no longer receive payment even for those players they had introduced to PokerStars in the past. According to PokerStars, the move was necessary to trim away those affiliates whose “overall low-level of monthly acquisitions” did “not justify the high monthly payment.” The former affiliates, however, had an altogether different take on the issue and labeled it a “greedy financial decision” designed to kill off its super affiliate accounts.
On August 1st, Amaya Gaming purchased PokerStars’ parent company the Rational Group for $4.9 billion, and since then the company has been implementing a number of policy changes, including reducing its team of sponsored pros, introducing Spin and Go gambling games, and now ending its relationship with some of its long-standing affiliates.
One such disgruntled former affiliate is Best Odds Corp, which had been sending new players to PokerStars for more than 10 years, and Poker.org, whose owner Markus Sonermo recently wrote:
“I congratulate you [PokerStars] on your short-term gain. But know one thing, me and the people like me we will never forget. And we will never go away because this business is what we do and know and love. And we don’t do business with people who steal from us no matter who owns it.”
However, it’s not just a number of affiliates who have been given short shrift by PokerStars, but also a number of regular players who have been complaining about the new Spin and Go’s eating into their bottom line. These regular players seem to resent the introduction of gambling type games which narrow the skill gap between recreational and regular players, but PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu had the following harsh message to give them:
“Do you know what kills games and destroy the poker ecosystem above and beyond all the things mentioned? Winning players. Yup, you guys lol. The winning players as a whole win a lot more money than the company makes each and every year. Yet, oddly, they still offer VIP programs to the very people who are essentially ‘killing the games.”