Protest Organizers Report PokerStars Loses Over $1 Million in Rake After January Boycott

When the month of January began, we reported that poker players had organized yet again to boycott online poker room PokerStars. This was to be the second boycott against PokerStars within a one month time frame to show displeasure in the changes announced by the brand in regards to the VIP program. The most recent strike took place from the 1^st to the 7^th of January, with organizers now stating that the boycott hit PokerStars with a loss of over $1 million in rake.

Organizers of the boycott include the group WeArePokerPlayers, who state that the strike, which took place over 7 days, resulted in PokerStars losing out on $1.3 million in rake. The group released a report yesterday which showed an analyzation of traffic during the time frame, going back for comparisons to October of last year.

The report states that PokerStars saw a decrease of player traffic by just over 13 percent. MTT traffic of stakes over $100 reportedly dropped by 5% with SNG traffic falling by 1/3. The largest reductions in traffic were seen in Costa Rica, Malta, Uruguay and Russia. Traffic increased in other areas including Sweden, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Denmark.

The report also showed that the Spin & Gos of PokerStars dropped with traffic ranging from just over 7 percent to over 22 percent. WeArePokerPlayers reports that the majority of the damage was done at the six-max SNGs. Low to mid-stakes SNGs reported dropped by 1/3 while turbo and hyper-turbo dropped by 80% with stakes of over $100.

PokerScout is a resource site that covers the traffic at online poker rooms, including PokerStars. If you take a look at the 24 Hour Peak numbers from the time period of the strike, there is lower numbers starting on the 1^st, but going higher as the week progressed. On the 1^st, the site had 23081 with the next day increasing to 25235, then the 3^rd increasing to 27222.

So, WeArePokerPlayers are saying on their findings that SNGs saw $665,000 in rake loss while Spin & Gos lost $318,000. Cash games reportedly lost $1.15 million. Once the benefits of PokerStars high stakes players are removed, WeArePokerPlayers states that the site lost $1.3 million during the seven day time frame.

The full report by WeArePokerPlayers can be read here.

It will be interesting to see if PokerStars responds to these findings and what they have to say on the matter.

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