Hi folks –
I’m going to be posting here on a regular basis to tell you what’s going on at PokerStars, and to answer questions you have about us. I’ll be posting a selection of Q/A’s about twice a month, picking the most interesting or popular questions.
To get things started, I’ll just make up some questions you might ask and answer them.
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Lee Jones; I’ve been working for PokerStars for about a year. I’ve actually returned to PokerStars after a three-year hiatus; I was the poker room manager here for four years and then did a year with the European Poker Tour. I’ve been involved in the poker world since the mid-1980’s and professionally employed in the online poker business since 2003.
Q: Are you a real person?
A: Yes, I’m one real person. You have my word that if you see “Lee Jones” next to a PokerStrategy post, I made it.
Q: Okay, let’s get down to serious business. What’s the status with “Zoom” – the fast-paced ring game product?
A: Zoom is up and running! We have stakes from $.01/$.02 up to $.05/$.10 and the games are buzzing. The $.05/$.10 pool has 1800 players in it as I type this. We've also got Zoom PLO at $.01/$.02 and $.05/$.10. Both of them have healthy player pools too.
There are a couple of minor bugs that people have pointed out, but nothing serious; we're delighted with the initial launch. I think the players are delighted too 
And even though you didn’t ask, yes, it’s killing me that I can’t participate in the Zoom PLO games.
Q: PokerStars is on mobile devices now?
A: Yes, it’s available for players in the UK and Italy now for iOS and Android devices. We will obviously roll it out further as testing and regulation permit. You can read more about it (and download it) here.
I’ve been playing this on an iPad and it is pretty cool. You can get up to five tables going simultaneously.
Q: What about the Zoom on mobile?
A: Now there’s an idea…
Q: What other features are you adding to your software?
A: There are new features coming out monthly. I will definitely be here to tell you about the most interesting ones and will also answer any questions you have about current or future features.
Q: What interesting things are coming up on the PokerStars calendar?
A: Glad you asked. Bryan and his team of tournament wizards rolled out MicroMillions March 15th; it’s a new tournament series for the low-roller. The highest buy-in is just $20+2; it goes down from there. The first event had over 70,000 people in it, awarding a $4,600 first prize on an $.11 buy-in (though there were rebuys). So we're having a big time with our low-rollers and getting them in on the big tournament festival action. That's running through the 25th, so jump in right now. The details are here.
Obviously there’s much more coming up – I’ll be sure to alert you as it happens.
Q: What cool live events are coming up?
A: We have events coming up all over the world. Within the next 60 days, PokerStars is hosting tournaments in Vina del Mar (Chile), Campione (Italy), Berlin, Monte Carlo, Nottingham (England), Cebu (Philippines), and Sydney. In general, you can throw a dart at the calendar and hit the run-up to a handful of our live tournaments.
You can read more about our live events here, but I will definitely announce here when we have something exciting going on.
Q: Does PokerStars see a future in a marriage of social media and poker?
A: Absolutely. By far, most people who play poker do it not for profit but for the challenge and particularly for the community it brings. Social media has enabled people to gather and catch up with each other even when they’re miles (or continents) apart. We think that poker is the perfect activity for social gatherings and modern social media tools make those gatherings trivially easy.
We have a number of social media projects in the works and they’ll be rolling out over later this year. It’s all part of our view that poker is a big tent, in which there’s room for everybody. Casual players who want to play with their friends, serious amateur students of the game, and dedicated professional players – they’re all welcome.
Q: What can you say about the recent changes to the rake structure and VIP program?
A: Well, we’ve reduced the rake, particularly in the “micro-stakes” games. And we’ve gone to a “contributed” rather than “dealt” model for people to get Frequent Player Points (FPPs). “Contributed” simply means that you have to put money into a pot to get FPP credit for it.
Q: On that subject, you had some “player representatives” come out to your headquarters to discuss those changes. Don’t you just adjust rake and the VIP program as you wish?
A: PokerStars has a symbiotic relationship with its customers. Properly managed, our customers (the players) get a service they want; we make a fair profit. But there’s obviously a tug that goes on between our desire to make a profit and the customer’s desire to get the best possible value. It makes all the sense in the world for both parties to listen to the other’s side of the issue; that helps ensure the health of the symbiosis.
Q: Can you comment about the status of online poker in the U.S.?
A: No. Look, I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you we’re not paying close attention to the situation in the U.S. But we’re not going to speculate about what will or won’t happen when.
Q: What do you think about the Full Tilt situation?
A: I think I’m not going to discuss that either. We have our own business to run.
Q: I was in a SNG and got disconnected. Can I get my $11 back please?
Q: I am trying to use SuperQuickEuro [1] to deposit and it’s not working. What’s wrong?
Q: I think two guys at my table are colluding. Their user IDs are…
A: All of these questions (and ones like them) are better answered by our support team. Please email support@pokerstars.com – they will take exceptionally good care of you.
Thank you for your time – I’ll be back in two weeks with more. If you have general questions about PokerStars, please feel free to leave them here.
Best regards,
Lee Jones
[1] There’s not really a deposit method called “SuperQuickEuro” (of which I’m aware)
AMaA: The Good Life
