The Pokerstars brand has been putting time in on the player communications front following the buzz around the deal between its parent the Rational Group and Amaya Gaming, with director of poker room operations, Steve Day, doing sterling work on major forums like twoplustwo.
The central message is that there will be little change for players, Day posted, writing:
“The short version is that there will be no significant impact on the player experience. We still plan to serve all current markets, including Canada, and to work to grow the game of poker globally.
“We are also excited about the potential to be licensed in New Jersey and then begin serving players there quickly thereafter. I do not have a timeline to share, but can say that we believe that this purchase has a significant positive impact,” the Pokerstars exec wrote.
Day also addressed fears that the change in ownership, and the departure of founders Mark and Isai Scheinberg, would impact Pokerstars’ renowned customer service capability.
“We will certainly miss Mark and Isai,” Day observed. “As some of you have surmised, our founders established the culture and values that permeate every decision and every customer interaction. Though Mark and Isai are leaving, the culture and values remain, along with the nearly 2,000 staff who continue to turn our culture and values into action on a daily basis. Our entire leadership team is still in place, and I can assure you that we embrace these values whole heartedly.”
Day also promised continued innovation in pursuit of improving the player experience:
“We have several projects already in progress and others that we are already in the process of completing, such as PokerStars 7. The people and values behind these two projects will also be behind our next improvements. A big part of our success over the years has been constant improvement of our product, and we plan to continue this tradition.”
Comments in the Amaya statement announcing the acquisition agreement also generated questions, especially on Amaya’s intentions to grow its online sportsbook, casino and social gaming range, were also addressed by Day:
“I do see some references here to casino and sportsbook. I can see why certain slides in the Amaya presentation linked earlier in the thread raise questions about our future plans relating to these products. Full Tilt has recently rolled out a wide variety of casino games, so it is not surprising to see such products referenced as areas of potential growth compared to the 2013 financial results,” he said.