Phil Galfond, Ola "Odd_Oddsen" Amundsgard and other pros give their opinion on PokerStars rake increase

As we have reported, the changes in the PokerStars rake system have caused a massive outrage in the online poker community, with many games becoming pretty much unbeatable because of the rake increases, which in certain cases are as big as 400%. Now several high stakes professionals have shared their opinion with PokerNews regarding the matter, including Phil Galfond, Ola "Odd_Oddsen" Amundsgard and Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald.

Phil Galfond first talks about the Amaya monopoly and it's effects:

"It’s important to understand that PokerStars is a business, and that they can charge whatever they please for their service. I don’t like the changes thus far and more than that, I fear for what’s yet to come if this is an indication of Amaya’s business strategy. They have a monopoly and if they want to press it, they don’t have any obvious incentive not to at the moment. The lack of a legitimate competitor is the major issue here."

Then he touches on the subject of the "poker dream" dying with the changes:

"If it gets to the point that a gifted college kid depositing $100 has no chance to grind cash all the way up to $50/$100, we all have a problem. If the dream of becoming a high-stakes poker pro dies, business will eventually follow."

Lastly he encourages another site to step in for the players who want to leave "AmayaStars".

"Most importantly, I know if I had a company with a viable piece of poker software, I’d be celebrating right now... that, and working my ass off to become a competitor. Hopefully someone out there will finally get their act together in case this is just the first of many changes. The biggest reason I think this could be a misstep is that Pokerstars has cracked open a door for other sites that had previously been dead bolted."

Ola "Odd_Oddsen" Amundsgard, a Norwegian player who is an avid supporter of the game (not long ago he proposed a challenge to the Norwegian parliament for heads-up PLO battles to prove poker was a game of skill) agrees with Galfond:

"The thing with today’s online poker market is that PokerStars/FTP does not have any competition. They have basically monopoly and can do whatever they want. So I can totally understand why Pokerstars is doing this both with exchange fees, casino games, and now adding more rake. They are interested in earning as much money as possible. Let's hope they know what they are doing and not pushing things to far.

"I feel like there have been a lot of drastic changes at the cost of the players in a very short period of time, so I am a bit worried that Amaya is going to kill online poker. They for sure have the power to do it. I really hope PokerStars will get competition in the near future, and I for sure wouldn't mind seeing a poker client/company for the players, by the players.

Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald is an online tournament wizard with more than $3 million in winnings, and he also agrees with Amundsgard and Galfond, and states that he will take most of his action to other sites to counter PokerStars' mindset of "we have the games, so you have to adjust":

"They are banking on the fact they are the only company to offer their range of services and their caliber of software. It is up to us to enable other companies to give us better terms. I, for one, will no longer play a regular schedule there. The smaller sites have always had weaker competition, and now they will have better rake rates. It's our job as professionals to pay less in fees and make more when we do play. Everybody needs to stop caring about point leaderboards and pick up the gauntlet."

Fitzgerald also brings up Joe Cada's release from PokerStars, which generated a lot of discussion when it turned out that Cada, a WSOP Main Event winner sponsored by PokerStars, wanted rake-free play on PokerStars as part of his contract, but his request was shut down.

"I do think this diminishes the PokerStars brand. When I heard they weren't willing to give Main Event winners something as simple as 100-percent rakeback, I knew we were going to see more of these shortsighted decisions. They really expect sponsored pros to pay for their service? Could you imagine even the smallest time pool professional having to pay for his pool cues when he was sponsored by the company?"

Andrew "BalugaWhale" Seidman:

Essentially everything Amaya has done since purchasing PokerStars has diminished their brand — robbing their players via foreign exchange fees especially — but this is a pretty big statement that says, 'We're no longer the world's best player-first site. We're now like many other sites — shortsighted, money hungry, and not overly concerned with customer service.'"

Many accomplished players besides these have also expressed their disappointment in the "Amaya$tars" management and players continue to organize sit-out strikes, mass withdrawals in hope of changing Amaya's attitude regarding their business.