Outrage over changes in the online poker industry continues

For a long time the online poker industry has catered to the high-volume, winning players of the poker world (in political terms this would be something akin to the 1%) but recently this seems to be changing.  While this model, rewarding the best and most prolific players for their loyalty, was an unbridled success during the poker boom (when new players were signing up all the time), since the US government has cracked-down on online poker (beginning in 2006) the idea of rewarding the very best has proven to be more of a liability than a boon for most poker sites.

 With fewer and fewer new signups and fewer recreational players participating in the online poker world, as well as an across the board increase in the overall skill level of the players at the sites, many sites have started to rethink the way they cater to players, and precisely who should be receiving the benefits.

Bodog for instance has turned to completely anonymous tables in an effort to entice casual players to their site, while PokerStars took a less drastic approach, announcing they would be moving from the “dealt” method of rake calculation to the “weighted” method (which benefits looser players).

The backlash sites like Bodog and PokerStars are receiving on poker forums like 2+2 shows just how out of touch with reality the poker community has become, and just how spoiled they have been over the years.

Players are furious that some of the tools that have exponentially increased their edge over recreational players are being taken away at sites like Bodog, and are even more up in arms that PokerStars might make their lives a little more difficult at the tables, by making it harder to climb the PokerStars VIP Rewards ladder thus resulting in fewer bonuses and rewards.

While I feel for these players, some of whom are break-even types who need these reward dollars for their income, I also feel they need to stop thinking about their bottom line and examine the long-term solvency of the online industry. The Online industry is not going to survive in its current incarnation if they continue to reward the top 1% of the players (more likely 5%-10% but I like the 1% vs. 99% analogy) while treating the rest of their customers as simply an online player id#.

Walk into any Brick & Mortar casino and see if your comps as a poker player add up to $50,000 a year –you’ll be lucky if its $5,000! Honestly, the online poker sites owe you absolutely nothing! If you are so outraged by the decision PokerStars has made than my advice is to switch to another site.

Personally, I think the decision is good for the game, considering I’ve been scratching my head since 2005’ish trying to figure out why break-even players are able to make $100,000/year simply by opening up 24 tables at a time. The idea that online poker sites have been rewarding volume makes sense, but the inexplicable emphasis they have put on the small percentage of high-volume players is mind-boggling. Between rakeback and Loyalty Programs these players need be little more than poker bots, capable of playing numerous tables at a mediocre level.

I know it will be hard for some players to come to grips with, but imagine a poker world where a player’s knowledge, skill, emotional stability, and ability to adapt are the primary tools for success, instead of their ability to open multiple tables, use a piece of software to determine their opponents skills and style of play, and use a strange loophole in the system that allows them to be break-even and even losing players but still make a comfortable living.