Daniel Negreanu, one of the best poker players of all times, is commonly known as being straightforward and having no hesitations in expressing his opinion, regardless of the situation and the people involved. The last disagreement, he took part in, is not an exception. The latest changes, PokerStars has implemented, made hundreds of players discontent and soon, the poker websites were flooded with comments, encouraging Negreanu to part ways with PokerStars and terminate his contract if possible. In case the contract termination would have negative consequences, poker fans urged the player to make an announcement and firmly state that he does not support the actions of the popular poker platform.
However, contrary to the expectations of the fans, Negreanu did not take the actions proposed. He has probably realized that the influence PokerStars has on his career is too significant and any disagreements will have an extremely negative impact on his reputation. That is why he answered to fans’ requests via his blog and said that he supported the actions, taken by Amaya Gaming authorities.
Although the fans described the new owner of PokerStars as a greedy company, Negreanu didn’t give up on supporting Amaya Gaming. He stated that all the recent changes, that caused so much drama and dissatisfaction, have been carefully planned over the past few months and basically, these amenities were supposed to be implemented regardless of which is the company that owns PokerStars.
It did not become clear if Negreanu was trying to keep his reputation spotless or he supported the changes indeed but he also added that the online poker industry had changed a lot recently and in order to remain competitive to the other gambling providers, PokerStars’ authorities had no choice but to opt for innovations and increased fees.
Negreanu also admitted that the fact that PokerStars is a publicly traded company does not allow much room for growth but it does requires thorough checking procedures of the balances.
The poker star was also truly convinced that the changes were the best alternative, bearing in mind the plan of PokerStars to make the virtual tables more and more visited. He admitted that the increase of the rakes does not contribute to attracting new players though.
Negreanu continued convincing himself as well as everyone else, somehow involved with the PokerStars affairs, that the Amaya Gaming managers have taken the wisest decision. He added that attracting new recreational players was essential for keeping the poker game popular and preferred. According to him, if the PokerStars’ strategy is successful, it could bring about an impressive revenue.
All the moral support, Negreanu gave PokerStars, made the fans even angrier and they hurried up to respond. They wanted The Hall of Fame to void Negreanu’s induction and the members of the forum had to vote. Those who voted “no” outnumbered the “positive” voters.
