The Cash Game Landscape at Partypoker: An Interview with Tom Waters and Rob Yong The Cash Game Landscape at Partypoker: An Interview with Tom Waters and Rob Yong
Key Takeaways
  • Partypoker continues investment into making its online poker platform the safest in the world.
  • Last year partypoker started to implement changes on the platform that would level the playing fields.
  • In an interview with Waters and Yong, the pair reveal more behind their cash game plans for the site into 2020.

Last year, partypoker implemented a raft of changes in a bid to level the playing field and create a fairer site for all players.

In June, it officially adopted a ban on all HUDs, implemented a fixed buy-ins of 100 big blinds, and ended hand histories. In July, it launched a program to reward players that started and kept games running. It also sped up tables with a time-to-act reduction.

In August, it announced real names-only tables. In October, it floated the idea of adding antes to all cash game tables to encourage more action, and it reintroduced anonymous tables.

The operator also spent the whole year reporting on its efforts to close the accounts of bots and cheaters on its sites. The program was so effective it had a material impact on online poker revenues.

In 2020, these efforts have only ramped up. In February, partypoker launched a slate of new policies to further improve the ecology of its player pool, from the introduction of the King Of The Hill system, to a ban on all third-party “queuing” tools and a further roll-out to its real names concept.

But perhaps the boldest move of them all came in March: A lucrative new leaderboard promotion for players at all stakes across Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha tables. In March, this gave away an unprecedented $1 million to players who put in high volume at the tables.

It is promising to pay out even more in April. On top of the seven figures earmarked for the leaderboard, another $12,000 each day is given out through its Daily Boom promotion and $12,500 in Spins leaderboards. That’s over $1.75 million to be given out through these three promotions alone.

In light of these developments, PRO recently conducted an interview partypoker Managing Director Tom Waters and GVC spokesman Rob Yong to find out how these latest promotions fit into their grand scheme for cash game investment, and what else they have lined up for 2020. The operator’s strategies with MTTs, and whether its approach is changing, is also explored.