Will Poker Stars pass Party when there WPT event airs?

[Blackjackgod]

I just opened up an account there and I am blown away!!! I am normally a party player but I think the tournies at Stars are run much better. Plus the number of low limit buy-ins are nice for the average new player who doesn't want to start of with larger buy-ins. Any opinions on the future of Poker Stars? Any negative stories about them? Thanks in advance.

[Wake up CALL]

In a word, NO!

[joeypoker789]

I agree with you "NO" about PokerStars becoming #1. Unlikely right now. But with that said, PokerStars might well have the best tournament software out there right now even if they no long are the busiest tournament site.

[Cyndie]

PokerStars has some problems with marketing...they don't get the fish until they have either wised up, or gone broke enough to move to lower limits...Party got the sportsbook players from InterTops and they like to gamble now.

Stars got started with a huge pool of micro limit tourney players...and they just don't move up...Stars has attracted some hi rollers, because they seem to actually have staff to supervise, but they don't have live help, or a phone number to my knowledge.

Even though we all chuckle at the transcripts of Party Chat, at least we have a chance of getting to a real person.

PokerStars also has the worst referral system of all the major sites, and at least to recently the most difficult system for finding banners and links....many affiliates/portals would find little reason to put Stars banners in prominent locations.

We have kept them even though they have managed to lose everyone of our referrals, just because I like the stud tourneys.

[lorinda]

because they seem to actually have staff to supervise, but they don't have live help, or a phone number to my knowledge

Your questions are answered much quicker via stars support than via party live 'help'

The big games do indeed have supervision most of the time, unless someone is eating dinner in the office.

I think a site that can get 900 runners for a $200 tourney and around 500 for a $500 has more than a few high rollers.

PokerStars also has the worst referral system of all the major sites, and at least to recently the most difficult system for finding banners and links....

... and they use the saved money on giving a lot back to the punters in promotions. I don't want to get into the affiliate thing again, but Stars promotions have the biggest appeal of all now that Party have stopped their deposit bonuses.

Stars got started with a huge pool of micro limit tourney players...and they just don't move up...

I'm sorry, but this is just not correct.

PokerStars has some problems with marketing

This I can't dispute.

I think people are still overestimating Party's dominance.
It appears that no Paradise multi's are in sight, and Stars is the natural challenger, although UB are also fighting hard.

When was the last time Party was actually running for a 48 hour period without a crash? I'm guessing about 18 days ago.

There were three times as many people paying the same money yesterday for a shot at the WPT as there were going for the WSOP, clearly stars are advancing rapidly.

Lori

[C M Burns]

whats also good at stars for atracting many low limit plasyes is the abundance of freerills and low limit satelites, compared to party, it gives smaller players the chance for big payoffs.

[Legato]

I'm convinced Stars is going to pass Party unless Party makes significant changes. I used to play almost only on Party Poker, now I play mostly at Stars. They have nicer software, better tournament structures, comps and more professional support. I'm in fact very surprised that Party still dominates the SNG market so heavily while Stars is biggest of them all regarding multis.

I do not see UB or Paradise as contestants. UB is OK, but Paradise is falling behind and has been doing so for years in my opinion. I find it more likely that Ladbrokes or Prima starts catching up. ICP is also a possibility if they put some effort to it with all their money.

[goodguy_1]

Come on get serious ICP..thats the crappiest poker software online bar none ..yes their casino software is great but their last so-called big "upgrade" of the poker software showed how clueless these guys are.And you are right they do have the money to spend on poker..what the fock are they waiting for ?.really poor managemnet..poker needs to be a bigger priority there.

I like Prima too but their software has a long way to go to challenge PokerStars.There is a known issue w/ Prima for many users ..that some players are unable to play multiple tables ..I have talked to tech about this and they know about it..according to Royal Vegas Prima is coming out with a big upgrade soon.

The ideal situation would be if all the fishies moved to Pokerstars or Paradise(if they get MTT's) whhich both have by far the best all-around platform.

I play at Party everyday .I am sick of these connectivity issues.The night of the $25K Freeroll the lobby was lagging ridiculously.Every 5-10 -15 minutes the remaing field was updated..really focking annoying if you are making a borderline decision and need current information on your position/etc.

[BlueBear]

Numbers at Poker Stars are certainly gaining these days and play increasingly fishy though not as fishy as Party. Customer support at Poker Stars is excellent and very very prompt, I like the fact they give detailed and correct explanations - i have been very happy with their support. regarding the lack of tournamnet status update in the 25k freeroll which i did take part, i believe that party sacrificed the updates so that the tournament would be able to run smoother and doesn't hang - poor form at their part.

[goodguy_1]

Blue I agree completely that Party did this to manage what they knew where networking/latency issues but it still not acceptable.

They are making tons of money and they should be plowing it back into the software and network infrastructure..really annoying to have lingering problems day in day out even with the great games imho.