PokerStars to increase rake from November

Battle of the Planets promo for SNG grinders ends permanently this Sunday.

PokerStars declared publicly last night that there will be changes made to the rake that it charges its players across multiple forms of the game.

The cap on rake in heads-up no limit and pot limit cash games at $0.25/$0.50 or higher will be increased by at least 50% and the rake cap on games with five or more players at the $25/$50 level is set to rise 66%.

In addition, the rake taken from each player's buy-in for heads-up hyper-turbo SNGs across all stakes will go up from 2.1% to 2.5%, but without an increase to the overall prize pool.

Spin & Go rake will rise up to 5% in exchange for a new 3000x jackpot, and knockout tournaments - other than progressive super knockouts - will see fees elevate to the level of regular events with similar costs.

Hyper-turbo satellites are affected as well, with rates increasing by nearly 50% on January 01, 2015 - further changes are also in place for the start of next year.

For a look at the entire statement and the changes taking place, head to our forum:

Forum: PokerStars rake increase annnouncement

The end of the Planet Battle

PokerStars has also announced that the popular "Battle of the Planets" promotion will be ending permanently at the end of the week.

Rewards for winners this week will still be paid out as usual, but there will be no further battles taking place as of November 03.

A monthly leaderboard competition for SNG grinders across all stakes, Battle of the Planets dished out an average of more than $2.5m in prizes every year since its inception.

Update: PokerStars have addressed the public's response to this rake increase.