Moonchild
Rock Star
Silver Level
I am a bit troubled by some promotions on pokerstars. For me it often looks like that they push people in more reckless gambling and therefore higher the chances that someone gets some gambling problems.
By all means, I love poker, pokerstars and their events. I'm a loyal watcher of f.ex. the EPT's. I love pokerschool and I have trust in their ways to keep the game safe when it comes to the software and cheating. But at the same time I see some contradictions in their integrity claims. On the one hand they offer pokerschool and if you start playing, it is indeed a good tool. They also support organisations that helps gambling addicts. But on the other hand lots of their promotions leads players in the games where luck is a way bigger factor than skill. F.ex. the beat the clock challenges, spin and go challenge and so on.
They give away free tickets for 'easy challenges' and make it look like you have a great chance to win a huge prices. One can say: it's the responsibility of the individual and if you're smart enough you would not fall in 'this trap', but is that really the way it works? Isn't even a very intelligent person easy to be trapped in a dangerous way of playing?
The guys working at PS should know that there is a large group of players that get in some kind of problems playing online, especially when PS keeps on shooting with so called great promotions. They should also know that 'free will' is very questionable and that intelligence doesn't mean it prevents you from problematic behaviour. And once you're in some graduation of a gambling addiction, it is hard to get out. I becomes a contextual and pathological disease easily.
I don't want to be a moral preacher here, but wouldn't it make their integrity claims more credible if they think about the risks in (the pushing of) their promotions and offer more support to problematic players. They should see when someone puts lots of money in poker with low ITMrates. Maybe they can offer those players more support and advice.
If you look at the numbers of addiction it is clear that gambling is a big problem. (you can look online at specialized sites for the numbers) With other addictions, we see a more hands on approach through the years. Luckily. There are more mandatory warnings on all kinds of addictive products, so why not on poker and especially with promotions that require more gamble then luck?
Again, I like to emphasize I don't want to be the moralist here. I'm just asking questions and make suggestions that IMO make poker a more safe en therefore more enjoyable game for everyone playing. I'm curious about your thoughts on this subject.
By all means, I love poker, pokerstars and their events. I'm a loyal watcher of f.ex. the EPT's. I love pokerschool and I have trust in their ways to keep the game safe when it comes to the software and cheating. But at the same time I see some contradictions in their integrity claims. On the one hand they offer pokerschool and if you start playing, it is indeed a good tool. They also support organisations that helps gambling addicts. But on the other hand lots of their promotions leads players in the games where luck is a way bigger factor than skill. F.ex. the beat the clock challenges, spin and go challenge and so on.
They give away free tickets for 'easy challenges' and make it look like you have a great chance to win a huge prices. One can say: it's the responsibility of the individual and if you're smart enough you would not fall in 'this trap', but is that really the way it works? Isn't even a very intelligent person easy to be trapped in a dangerous way of playing?
The guys working at PS should know that there is a large group of players that get in some kind of problems playing online, especially when PS keeps on shooting with so called great promotions. They should also know that 'free will' is very questionable and that intelligence doesn't mean it prevents you from problematic behaviour. And once you're in some graduation of a gambling addiction, it is hard to get out. I becomes a contextual and pathological disease easily.
I don't want to be a moral preacher here, but wouldn't it make their integrity claims more credible if they think about the risks in (the pushing of) their promotions and offer more support to problematic players. They should see when someone puts lots of money in poker with low ITMrates. Maybe they can offer those players more support and advice.
If you look at the numbers of addiction it is clear that gambling is a big problem. (you can look online at specialized sites for the numbers) With other addictions, we see a more hands on approach through the years. Luckily. There are more mandatory warnings on all kinds of addictive products, so why not on poker and especially with promotions that require more gamble then luck?
Again, I like to emphasize I don't want to be the moralist here. I'm just asking questions and make suggestions that IMO make poker a more safe en therefore more enjoyable game for everyone playing. I'm curious about your thoughts on this subject.
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