- Twenty stories published first on PRO covering exclusive poker content in 2021.
More 2021 Departures: Gruissem, Filatov Among Partypoker Exits; Lin Leaves PokerStars (January 2021)
Top line: “2020 ended with the announcement of Chris Moneymaker bidding farewell to PokerStars after serving as their ambassador for nearly two decades. Five more pros left the company on the same day.”
Key takeaways:
- Another long-serving PokerStars Pro, Celina Lin, recently said goodbye to the company.
- The list of PokerStars’ international Team Pros is down to just ten members, following the recent slew of departures.
- partypoker’s roster of ambassadors also shrunk at the dawn of the new year.
- Seven of the Team partypoker members under the “Sponsored Pros” category have recently separated from the company.
ClubGG: GGPoker Develops Standalone Free-Play Mobile App for Private Poker Games (January 2021)
Top line: “GGPoker has quietly released a new mobile app, ClubGG, allowing players to set up their own poker clubs and play with friends.”
Key takeaways:
- GGPoker has quietly released a new mobile app, ClubGG, allowing players to set up their own poker clubs.
- It puts an end to the major need for a home game feature that GGPoker had previously lacked.
- ClubGG works under the same agent-based model and is inspired by popular private social apps.
Exclusive: One Week After Launch, PokerStars Michigan Leads US Regulated Market in Cash Game Traffic (February 2021)
Top line: “The first legal online poker room in Michigan, PokerStars MI, has jumped to the top of the pack of regulated US online poker rooms, the latest cash game traffic data has revealed.”
Key takeaways:
- Saturday, February 6 registered an average of over 500 concurrent cash game seats during the 24-hour period.
- It can be expected that PokerStars Michigan traffic will enjoy something of a honeymoon period in the first weeks.
- Given that PA is some 30% larger in terms of population, it would be surprising if Michigan were to stay on top long term.
- A PokerStars USA network that combined PA, MI, and NJ would connect close to 1000 concurrent cash game players.
For the First Time in Four Years, Resurgent Online Poker Network iPoker Overtakes Partypoker (March 2021)
Top line: “Online poker network iPoker has taken third place in the global dot-com cash game rankings, overtaking long-time rival partypoker, PRO can reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- Total revenue fell 25% for partypoker parent company Playtech, while profit fell a precipitous 80%, as covid-19 battered the retail sector of the company.
- While all operators saw gains in traffic during the first coronavirus boom, iPoker fared better than others.
- In 2020 iPoker enjoyed a string of successes — starting, of course, with the closure of rival MPN and the migration of most of its skins.
- Q1 2021 is set to be its best quarter in the last three years, exceeding even that of the covid-19-fueled mini-boom.
Ukrainian Online Poker Room PokerMatch Launches All-in Cash Game, Miner’s Jackpot (March 2021)
Top line: “PokerMatch, an independent online poker room with a focus on the Ukrainian online poker market, has launched a new online poker game that has managed to upend the global online poker market.”
Key takeaways:
- Miner’s Jackpot is a pure chance game, though on its face the game looks like a standard poker cash game.
- Thousands of players are playing these games around the clock, pushing its cash game traffic to the top of the rankings.
- This allows them to be entirely free of engagement — players can keep them running in the background with zero input.
- The buyin is UAH 0.01 — approximately 0.036 cents — which pushes the limit of what one might define real money cash game tables.
- The game also has an innovative Bad Beat Jackpot, which has a relatively low trigger to award the prize.
- Indeed, the site is promoting the game as “mining” — akin to bitcoin mining.
Built-In HUDs Proliferate as iPoker Becomes Fourth Online Poker Network to Release Heads Up Display (May 2021)
Top line: “iPoker has quietly added a built-in Heads-Up Display feature, dubbed Player HUD, to its poker client following its latest software upgrade.”
Key takeaways:
- iPoker has quietly added a built-in Heads-Up Display feature, dubbed Player HUD, to its poker client following its latest software upgrade.
- The HUD on iPoker is based on three key gameplay statistics: The number of flops seen, how good a player is running, and how aggressive the player is.
- These stats are color-coded with a simple heat-map ranging from green to red.
- It becomes the fourth major online poker network — after GGPoker, Run It Once, and Winamax — to release its own built-in HUD.
GGPoker’s Battle Royale Attracts Almost 100,000 Entries Over First Three Days (June 2021)
Top line: “GGPoker’s new tournament format, the 100-man Battle Royale, ran 992 times from its launch on Thursday through the weekend, data from GGPoker provided to PRO reveals.”
Key takeaways:
- The game blends various concepts from existing formats and smartly packages it into a “last one standing” brand.
- On opening day, thousands flocked to the game, with tournaments popping off almost immediately.
- “We’ve been particularly pleased with the high percentage playing multiple games.”
GGPoker Launches Their Own Online Shop, GGStore (June 2021)
Top line: “GGPoker has entered the e-commerce world with the launch of its merchandise online shop called GGStore, PRO can exclusively reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- GGPoker has entered the e-commerce world, with the launch of its merchandise online shop, called GGStore, PRO can exclusively reveal.
- GGStore went live this week without any fanfare and is fully functioning.
- It marks the first time GGPoker merchandise is being sold online via an online merch store.
Exclusive: PokerStars Will Finally Launch Online Poker in Switzerland Next Month (June 2021)
Top line: “It has taken two years, but online poker giant PokerStars will launch its platform in Switzerland through a deal with Casino Davos next month, PRO can reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- It will mark only the second regulated online poker room to go live in Switzerland since the country’s law was enacted.
- Players will use the 777 account system and cashier, but can seamlessly move money to and from the poker room.
- The timeline to market is extreme, even for an industry littered with examples of lengthy regulatory approval processes.
PokerStars Launches New Portrait Tables on Mobile App in Select Markets (July 2021)
Top line: “Online poker giant PokerStars has implemented portrait layout into its poker tables on its mobile app, becoming the last major operator to do so.”
Key takeaways:
- Online poker giant PokerStars has finally implemented portrait layout into its poker tables on its mobile app, becoming the last major operator to do so.
- The portrait view is currently available on a variety of games including Spin & Go, No Limit Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha Cash Games, SNGs, and some of the MTTs.
- Compared to the traditional landscape view, which requires users to hold the phone horizontally, the portrait layout is much more natural as all the actions can be made while playing one-handed.
- The new portrait tables are currently available to mobile users in the UK and Belgian markets, with other markets expected to follow soon.
PokerStars Dominates PA Online Poker Despite Fresh Competition (July 2021)
Top line: “PokerStars PA remains the dominant provider for online poker in Pennsylvania, despite the recent and highly-anticipated entry of WSOP into the market, the latest cash game traffic reveals.”
Key takeaways:
- WSOP PA fully launched one week ago after a successful three-day soft-launch period.
- The new software is a complete overhaul of the online poker experience.
- The lack of an impact that WSOP has made in the PA online poker landscape upon launch is something of a surprise.
- Eyes will certainly be on turnouts to the WSOP PA online bracelet events.
Sky Poker Migration to PokerStars Platform “De-prioritized” (August 2021)
Top line: “Almost three years since PokerStars’ parent company acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the two brands remain on separate platforms with split liquidity.”
Key takeaways:
- Sky Poker has revealed on its community forum that the planned migration onto PokerStars, as touted since 2018, has been put on “hold.”
- PokerStars’ parent company at the time, The Stars Group, acquired Sky Betting and Gaming (SBG) back in late 2018.
- Part of the reasoning of why the project has been delayed was due to the surprise merger of Paddy Power Betfair, and The Stars Group back in 2019.
PokerStars’ New Rewards Trial Also Means More Rewards for All MTT and High Stakes Players (August 2021)
Top line: “A new loyalty program at PokerStars, currently halfway through a three-month beta test for a subset of players, has also led to increasing all rewards for tournament players — whether that player is in the trial or not.”
Key takeaways:
- This means a rakeback increase of more than double for tournament players, reversing a change made two and a half years ago.
- For years, PokerStars has removed all rewards for play at its highest stakes.
- The trial run of the new PokerStars rewards program started in July and runs through to September 30.
- The operator has decided to reward a blanket 100 rewards points for every dollar or euro in rake paid. This applies to all players, whether they have been picked for the trial or not.
PokerStars Withdraws Lottery Sit and Go from Swiss Online Poker Market (August 2021)
Top line: “Flutter’s global online poker room, PokerStars, has pulled its popular Spin and Go game from the Swiss online poker market, likely over a regulatory issue.”
Key takeaways:
- The online poker operator abruptly pulled the popular Lottery Sit and Go (LSNG) game earlier this month.
- When the site first launched in early July, PRO noted at the time that it was surprising that the game was made available in the first place.
- 888 made a similar mistake when launching in Portugal in 2019.
- In what appeared to be the situation in reverse, when PokerStars went live in Pennsylvania, Spin and Gos were not part of the launch.
PokerStars Launches Community Forum for Players (August 2021)
Top line: “Global online poker giant gives players another conduit to communicate with the company.”
Key takeaways:
- Online poker giant PokerStars has launched PokerStars Community, an interactive online community forum where players can come together to get help, interact, and discuss topics related to products offered by the operator.
- Members can talk about several topics including PokerStars School, Home Games, and Responsible Gambling.
- PokerStars Community is currently in beta mode and available to players that have access to the site’s global dot-com and EU rooms.
Half of All Countries in the World Now Prohibited on PokerStars as Compliance Efforts Intensify (September 2021)
Top line: “PokerStars has updated its list of restricted jurisdictions once again, with prohibitions now extended to more than 100 countries.”
Key takeaways:
- While it is not clear exactly which new countries have been placed on the list, it is thought to focus on African nations.
- In September last year, the company confirmed to PRO its withdrawal from China, Taiwan, and Macau.
- Flutter is certainly not the only public company to shift its focus to fully-licensed markets in the last couple of years.
PokerStars Learn Replaces PokerStars School as Operator’s Training and Educational Platform (October 2021)
Top line: “Online poker giant PokerStars has quietly rebranded PokerStars School, its long-standing coaching platform, under a new name: PokerStars Learn.”
Key takeaways:
- The new coaching platform went live on Wednesday and is available in multiple jurisdictions.
- Other than cosmetic changes and a new name, the experience for players remains the same.
- The look and feel of PokerStars Learn fits the new stylish lifestyle PokerStars brand image.
The Third Largest Poker Tournament Series in History: WSOP 2021, By the Numbers (November 2021)
Top line: “After 54 days and nearly 100 gold bracelets winners, thousands of players and hundreds of millions in prize money awarded, the first World Series of Poker in a post-covid world is finally in the books.”
Key takeaways:
- The 52nd Annual World Series of Poker paid out $237,986,230 million in prize money and collected 127,245 entrants over 99 gold bracelet events.
- Compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 year, overall participation, as anticipated, was down, with many of the events seeing a drop of 20-40% in the field size
- Despite the challenging times, this year’s WSOP is the third-largest series in absolute prize money awarded and the second-biggest in terms of turnout.
- For its efforts, the WSOP officials pocketed $21.2 million across the entire 88 live bracelet events.
GGPoker Teases “Ask Fedor” Coaching Feature as it Announces High-Stakes Super MILLION$ Week Festival (November 2021)
Top line: “Innovative online poker operator GGPoker has teased a new feature, “Ask Fedor,” while unveiling its newest online tournament series.”
Key takeaways:
- GGPoker has teased a new feature, “Ask Fedor,” while unveiling its newest online tournament series.
- The new feature appears to be a personalized built-in coaching tool where the GGPoker’s eponymous ambassador will be analyzing players’ hand history and rate their play.
- The feature is expected to make its debut in the operator’s upcoming high-stakes Super MILLION$ Week running from December 5.
- The festival guarantees over $17 million across 38 events.
Exclusive: PokerStars Trials Video Chat at the Home Game Tables (December 2021)
Top line: “Online poker giant PokerStars has tapped into the resurgent webcam poker market as it trials “Video Chat” tables on its Home Games product, PRO can reveal.”
Key takeaways:
- PokerStars has tapped into the resurgent webcam poker market as it trials “Video Chat” tables onto its Home Games product.
- It seeks to replicate the experience of a live home game as closely as possible by allowing players to see and interact with each other while playing.
- The new Video Chat functionality comes as part of a new and revamped Home Games platform.
- The new layout is not yet available on the desktop and mobile platforms but is expected to roll out in early 2022, the operator says.
