Technical difficulties are an unavoidable part of any online operation, and as we are painfully aware, online poker sites aren’t immune to them. Sometimes, these things happen through no fault of the operator, as outside factors can influence the regular operation, and the best a site can do during such times is stay level-headed, keep the players in the loop, and wait for the storm to pass.
This exact scenario happened over the recent 48 hours, which saw BetRivers Poker experience unexpected downtime due to the AWS global outage. Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud services malfunction brought down thousands of sites and apps worldwide, creating issues that go well beyond the virtual felt and causing potential costs in the billions of dollars.
BetRivers Poker was one of the sites affected by the issue, with numerous players unable to log into their accounts and experiencing connectivity issues. While there was very little the operator could do to resolve these problems, they took a proactive approach and were quick to come out with an explanation, preventing panic and limiting financial harm for the players.
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Lemons & Lemonade
There are very few things worse for a poker site than having to deal with heavy-duty technical difficulties that make it impossible for players to log in and join the games. In addition to direct financial losses, these types of issues can often shake the trust in the operator, even when the said issues aren’t their fault.
Different operators handle these types of situations differently, with many of them trying to “push through” the difficulties, which usually creates a scenario where some players get the short end of the stick. These players then have to go through the ordeal of proving they were a victim of technical difficulties and asking for refunds, and it is rare to see a solution that everybody finds fair and equitable.
During the AWS crisis, BetRivers Poker opted for a different approach altogether. Realizing what was happening and that it was impossible to gauge correctly how many players were affected (and to what extent), they decided to run a preemptive maintenance update, making the site largely unavailable.
In the grand scheme of things, this was probably the best resolution available at the time. As long as the site remained available, it was 100% certain that some players would try to log in and play, creating a slew of problems mentioned above. So, BetRivers Poker bit the proverbial bullet and went offline.
The Player-First Approach Shines Through Again
It’s not common for poker sites to shut down completely unless they absolutely have to, so it’s commendable to see BetRivers doing the right thing for its players and going for the unpopular option right off the bat instead of closing its eyes and dealing with the aftermath.
In doing so, the operator has once again proven its player-first approach that’s at the very foundation of the company. While the line of reasoning was probably not linear, making sure players are protected during this period probably played an important role in the decision.
Through the turmoil, the operator’s technical team stayed on the task, allowing limited access to the player information and monitoring the situation. The site eventually went back online on October 21, once they were happy that cloud services were stable enough once again.
One thing is for certain — this won’t be the last time online poker has to deal with a major problem on a global scale. There is no way to avoid these things, but there are different ways to tackle the situation, and staying proactive and keeping your players in the loop along the way seems like the right one.
