Home / Poker News December 2011 / 2011’s Best Poker Stories – PokerStars Survive Black Friday
2011’s Best Poker Stories – PokerStars Survive Black Friday
Posted by: Mark Baldwing - Fri, 2011-12-30 14:30
April 15, 2011 – a day forever etched into the annals of
online poker history under the name Black Friday. Black Friday was indeed a major turning point for the online poker industry. It was the move that has forever set the boys apart from the men, and it only had one survivor: PokerStars. For years before that ill-fated day, PokerStars had waged war against Full Tilt Poker: its main online rival. It seemed to be able to come out on top every time the two sites locked horns over something, but the race appeared to be a close one indeed. Black Friday has made it clear though that Full Tilt Poker had never been in the same league with its arch nemesis: as Full Tilt’s attorneys got busy trying to downplay their client’s problems, PokerStars’ representatives got busy refunding their US players: a month after the Black Friday ordeal, the site announced that they had returned some $100 million to their US customers.
At about the same time, Full Tilt Poker’s players were still wondering whether they would ever see a single cent from the online poker room whose executives seemed to sink ever deeper into the muck of legal troubles.
While the loss of the US market certainly had a massive effect on traffic volumes at the site,
PokerStars have recovered nicely indeed. They have always been actively promoting their brand in various areas of the world, so they had something to fall back on after April 15. The superb damage control they exercised meant that they recovered faster than anyone would’ve expected. When marking their 10th anniversary through a series of special promotions in December, they broke several online poker world records, and they went ahead with their 2011 WCOOP as well, offering up more than $30 million in guaranteed prizes. That mark was handily exceeded too.
PokerStars have taken steps to make sure that player funds are overseen by independent regulators to guard against a Full Tilt-like fiasco in the future.
