French PokerStars players certainly made themselves heard all the way to the Isle of Man.
PokerStars changed their VIP, Stellar rewards and rake calculation programme and the French were having none of that. They staged "sit outs" at tournaments, stopped playing at the site and let their feelings be known to the largest poker site in the industry.
It got to the point where PokerStars started retaliating against the players by locking some accounts and reducing table limits for those participating. Independent stats from the site showed that player numbers had dropped significantly since all the trouble began.
The problems for PokerStars were not restricted to the French site and also had a knock on effect throughout the world where representatives had been elected from other countries to speak up about the rewards programme.
Eventually, talks were started between PokerStars and a representative of the French players at the Isle of Man headquarters where a compromise was reached. The result of the talks means there is an increase in the VPP multiplier from 5.5 to 6 and the tournament multiplier to 6.5. Milestone Cash Credits have been increased as has the Stellar Rewards at the French PokerStars site.
Talks are yet to be held with other representatives from around the world.
Personally, I don't think PokerStars realise that the French will not be walked on by anybody. If the French don't believe they are being treated fairly or they don't agree with something, they strike or fight back in other ways and it's not just small groups of people, I'm talking very large groups that stand together to fight their corner.
What are your views on this French boycott? I would be very intrested to hear your thoughts.
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