What can PokerStars & the WPT do to compete with GGPoker?
Now that GGPoker have established themselves as a force in live poker, what can their rivals do to avoid being crushed by them?
Last week the World Series of Poker and GGPoker announced WSOP Paradise. An aggressive competitor to both the World Poker Tour and PokerStars, taking place at the exact same time as the WPT Championship and EPT Prague.
I made it quite clear I was not a fan of this move because it forced poker players to make a choice between two events they would love to play. The World Poker Tour Championship was the stand-out event of 2022 and the purpose of WPT Paradise was clearly to poach the players from that event.
I also stated that from a business perspective, I respected the strategy and that it might usher in a very competitive era in live poker. GGPoker has entered the live arena, and now it's time for PokerStars and WPT Global to compete.
So what can the WPT and PokerStars do to compete with GGPoker?
A massive increase in online qualifiers
GGPoker has pledged to send 1,000 online qualifiers to the Bahamas, which is a remarkable number. While this tournament is more of a competitor to the WPT, I think the online qualifier aspect hurts PokerStars more. The players who can win a WSOP package online are from the same liquidity pool as the main PokerStars client.
So first and foremost, PokerStars needs to up their online qualifier offering. Not only increase the overall numbers but do something to make them more appealing. They have already got off to a good start with their new satellite format Power Path, but there needs to be something else to boost numbers if they want EPT Prague (and future events) to compete.
We have already seen what works to make an event like this special, it's just a case of whether the WPT and PokerStars want to spend the money on it. The answer is sending a lot of amateurs to these events for free.
PokerStars paved the way with their Platinum Pass for the PSPC, and one of the reasons why the WPT World Championship was so popular was because they did something similar. They sent a lot of players to this event for free via social media promotions.
The question is does the WPT want to spend all that money again this year, and does PokerStars want to adopt a Platinum Pass model for the EPT? It's easy for me to say 'give everyone free tickets' but at the end of the day, PokerStars and the WPT need to make a profit.
Will customer service be key?
The other reason why the WPT Championship was so popular was that it was well organised, a lot of players have said it was the best event they ever played in terms of atmosphere and structure. The same has been said of the PSPC.
Long term the other way PokerStars and the WPT compete is by providing the best customer service. PokerStars used to be at the vanguard for this, then the criticism of them was that they stopped caring about anything but the numbers, but in recent years players have sung their praises again.
The WSOP may be the most prestigious series, but there are a lot of complaints about the way they run their business. The structures for example, the rake, and things like making the Main Event prize pool top-heavy just to make a marketable winner story. The Bahamas may sound luxurious but historically there have been lots of complaints from players from events ran there, especially when it comes to carrying large sums of money around. WSOP Paradise might get the most runners, but it feels a bit rushed and might get a bit messy.
As well as focusing on online qualifiers, the WPT and PokerStars need to make sure the customer is key. Great side events, activities away from the table, the best structures, making sure the payout structures are popular, affordable and relaxing hotel deals and more.
I think the WPT Championship will be the event we talk about in December, WSOP Paradise will get big numbers, and EPT Prague will suffer the most. However, I am excited to see what poker is like 18 months from now because PokerStars, the WPT, and everybody else are going to have to do a lot more now that GGPoker have set their sites on live poker.
Which of the three events would you prefer to go to? Let us know in the comments:
