PokerStars has resolved the issues leading to the four-day downtime that started on Friday, Feb. 4. Now, players in Michigan and Pennsylvania can play real money cash games and Sit and Gos, Spins and Gos.
Unfortunately, PokerStars New Jersey is still down at the time of this writing.
Scheduled tournaments are yet to be listed back in the client. Moreover, the parent brand is yet to enroll its plan for the complete resumption of its PokerStars services.
The problem was first noticed on Friday when customers complained about the unavailability of various games. PokerStars responded on its social media account, claiming it was undergoing unscheduled maintenance. FOX Bet, PokerStars sister and online sportsbook operating in the U.S., also experienced the same problem.
PokerStars decided to halt all MTTs scheduled for the weekend on Friday. It also announced that it planned to return all operations to normalcy by Monday, 10 am EST. This was the first hint that the poker room problem was severe and could not be solved by a quick fix.
But, the poker brand quickly assured its players that their personal information and account balances were safe. On Monday, FOX Bet released a statement confirming the downtime and assured media outlets that a qualified team was working to solve the issue.
Although the sites were down, players could log in and go to their wallets.
The Monday statement also noted that the downtime did not affect customer account balances, confirming it was not a data breach. FOX Bet also apologized for the inconvenience and thanked its clients for their patience.
PokerStars Is Carefully Approaching the Issue
PokerStars is careful about reinstating its services online. It started by returning to Michigan and Pennsylvania but is yet to come online in New Jersey.
Unfortunately, the brand has not followed up with another update. Meanwhile, the full list of cash games is available. Today, players can access PokerStars Casino and FOX Bet sportsbook without an issue.
On Monday, the brand also offered two freerolls to test the site’s server.
The test was a success and still is even today. PokerStars is likely to offer more rewards to its players as a form of appreciation.
During the previously unplanned maintenance, the poker room offered freerolls. In August last year, PokerStars experienced a similar downtime in the middle of the week. It offered a freeroll in NJ, MI, and Penn, giving away $10 to 100 seats to the Sunday Storm.
WSOP and BetMGM Benefited From the Downtime
Unplanned downtime is common in online gambling platforms. But, a downtime lasting over four days is uncommon and unlucky for a site.
Fortunately, it was not a busy weekend for sports. If it happened the coming weekend, with the Super Bowl scheduled during that time, it would be a major blowback on FOX Bet.
Unfortunately, PokerStars cannot say it was not affected. Being a busy weekend in online poker, PokerStars definitely was affected. Traffic data shows that players signed up with other poker sites, including WSOP USA and BetMGM USA, to continue playing.
PRO reported that online poker rooms in Pennsylvania recorded high traffic. For example, the traffic at WSOP PA was 30 percent more while that of BetMGM Poker PA was 38 percent. In Michigan, the traffic went up by 27 percent.
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