In an article written earlier in the week found here, PokerUpdate explained a lot of the issues that players have in regards to bwin.party. One of those concerns has been answered in a very long post on 2+2 by Jeffery Haas. He tried to stay on the topic of segregated tables for most of the post, as that was the main concern that players had raised. Of course, with any post that long, a few different points that were a bit off topic were also mentioned. I will break down what was important from the post, as it is a really long wall of text otherwise.
Highlights from the post:
- We are only going to talk about segregated tables currently, because all of the issues are complex and trying to tackle everything will cause major derails.
- PartyPoker stands behind the segregation of tables on the basis that it is good for the game. They didn’t foresee people exploiting them.
- PartyPoker has no intention of being a grinder-hostile site, as many have accused them of being recentl. But they do think that the poker world was inefficient previously. This needs to be corrected and has led to many of the decisions in recent weeks and months.
- Protected or segregated tables were introduced on February 24, 2013 and are no longer going to be offered as of October 30, 2013.
- There will be something to replace these tables in due time. As mentioned earlier, PartyPoker thinks that having something to separate novice players from grinders is needed for the poker ecology. When this does happen, PartyPoker will be more open about the decision and what it means. They are no longer going to be silent about major decisions like this.
- Someone from PartyPoker will post in the thread at least weekly from this point forward to help address issues that players have with the software, rewards or other problems. The best way to contact them is through direct support.
The long post, and those points, were met with a lot of different reactions. Some players thought that it was a good response and really appreciated it, while others thought that it didn’t answer anything and hoped that PartyPoker would fail. Yet others were more moderate and said that Party has done a lot to lose the trust of players recently, but this was a good first step in trying to mend those fences. As more players read the post and respond, it will be interesting to see how they feel, as there is not a clear consensus.
PartyPoker was thrilled that players put the pressure on them to change. They said that it helped them realize what the really important issues to players are and encouraged players to continue doing this. With this prompt and drastic change, PartyPoker did its part to ensure players will voice their opinions in the future and not just rail against the company carte blanche. As more of the issues are addressed, PokerUpdate will keep you updated.
