Germany restricts Pokerstars from offering rewards for German players

Jamil · Dec 20, 2022

Did you see the new decision on Pokerstars Germany?

wrzlbrnft · Dec 20, 2022

I recieved this message today from Pokerstars:

Hello,

Due to regulatory restrictions in Germany, we will no longer be able to offer PokerStars Rewards in Germany from 10 January 2023.

The following important changes will be made.

We will no longer offer PokerStars Rewards and Monthly Poker Challenges.
We will no longer offer StarsCoin. Any remaining StarsCoin will be converted to cash, but you can convert them or use them before January 10.
No compensation will be offered for uncompleted progress bars (PokerStars Rewards).
All existing earned Chests will be automatically opened with the rewards being credited to your account.
You can continue to use existing Poker and Vegas rewards as normal.

We understand this is a big change and we will be looking to review our promotional offering to secure a continued great poker experience for our players.

You can find out more information in our FAQs, please click here.

PokerStars

Debi · Dec 20, 2022

Changed the thread title to more accurately reflect what happened

G0930 · Dec 20, 2022

wrzlbrnft said:
I recieved this message today from Pokerstars:

Hello,

Due to regulatory restrictions in Germany, we will no longer be able to offer PokerStars Rewards in Germany from 10 January 2023.

The following important changes will be made.

We will no longer offer PokerStars Rewards and Monthly Poker Challenges.

We will no longer offer StarsCoin. Any remaining StarsCoin will be converted to cash, but you can convert them or use them before January 10.

No compensation will be offered for uncompleted progress bars (PokerStars Rewards).

All existing earned Chests will be automatically opened with the rewards being credited to your account.

You can continue to use existing Poker and Vegas rewards as normal.

We understand this is a big change and we will be looking to review our promotional offering to secure a continued great poker experience for our players.

You can find out more information in our FAQs, please click here.

PokerStars

Nothing to do other than being angry at German politicians I'm afraid 😐

fundiver199 · Dec 20, 2022

Welcome in the club. Its been like that here in Sweden for years

wrzlbrnft · Dec 20, 2022

to be honest, I won't miss that much those star coin rewards and the lousy chest contents...

acidburnfx · Dec 20, 2022

I don't remember receiving StarsCoins for a long time, it seems like it doesn't exist anymore. In the past, when you completed the progress bar, you almost always received.

G0930 · Dec 20, 2022

wrzlbrnft said:
to be honest, I won't miss that much those star coin rewards and the lousy chest contents...

You're kinda right .Especially since you can't collect them anymore but are automatically transformed to money after each month
cool chests are at Gold level though.

wrzlbrnft · Dec 20, 2022

G0930 said:
You're kinda right .Especially since you can't collect them anymore but are automatically transformed to money after each month
cool chests are at Gold level though.

Playing mainly CC freerolls on PS, I haven't climbed these higher levels...

G0930 · Dec 20, 2022

wrzlbrnft said:
Playing mainly CC freerolls on PS, I haven't climbed these higher levels...

To be honest I only reached Gold because of cash game and very lucky spin wins .
From tournaments alone it's veeery difficult to upgrade

azforlife · Dec 20, 2022

Pokerstars is taking drastic actions recently. Add this to the growing list of banned countries

kitchy65 · Dec 20, 2022

fundiver199 said:
Welcome in the club. Its been like that here in Sweden for years

Be good EUopeans

mina271 · Dec 25, 2022

I suppose that the other German players also received this message from PokerStars and I wanted to include it here too, but unfortunately it is in German and I don't want to break any forum rules. It was said that from 10.1.2023 there will no longer be a reward system for German players on PokerStars. No more treasure chests and no more Starcoins either. What Starcoins or treasure chest you still have at that time will then be immediately exchanged for the rewards you can get or even for money. I'm a bit disappointed and I don't know what other compensation is coming, but on the other hand I'm just happy that we can still play but unfortunately it doesn't remain very attractive to play on PokerStars. I hope that at least the Cardschat freerols will remain for German players.

Highfish · Dec 28, 2022

I will definitely stop playing cash games now; maybe from time to time a tourney.

Rockyfour · Dec 28, 2022

Hopefully they lower the rake for you guys or something or else playing on the site is going to be just a huge waste of time.

0546474 · Dec 30, 2022

There have been no major changes at PokerStars for a long time!!! I hope there will be changes soon, and for the better for the players.

millya5 · Dec 30, 2022

Bad news for German players

Sash_XXL · Dec 30, 2022

acidburnfx said:
I don't remember receiving StarsCoins for a long time, it seems like it doesn't exist anymore. In the past, when you completed the progress bar, you almost always received.

I had some in the Last Chest 😂

Andyreas · Dec 30, 2022

Sash_XXL said:
I had some in the Last Chest 😂

Me too

Poker Orifice · Dec 30, 2022

Rockyfour said:
Hopefully they lower the rake for you guys or something or else playing on the site is going to be just a huge waste of time.

How could they lower the rake when they're part of the ROW player pool?

I'd hazard a guess that most CC members aren't playing on Stars for the huge rakeback & rewards program. Up until a year ago there basically hasn't been any for many years (well.. almost non-existent).

fundiver199 · Dec 30, 2022

Rockyfour said:
Hopefully they lower the rake for you guys or something

They wont. And they have no reason to either, since the german government require them to pay a tax on all poker revenue. So even without rakeback or other rewards they still have a lower profit margin in Germany than elsewhere.

Rockyfour said:
or else playing on the site is going to be just a huge waste of time.

Definitely not. PokerStars have the best game selection and most activity of any site other than GG Poker. And on GG Poker german players have to pay the tax themselfes, which essentially work like a huge extra rake. Especially for cash game players, who like to jump around tables. I am playing on PokerStars most of the time, I get no rakeback whatsoever, and I am still winning money.

Poker Orifice said:
I'd hazard a guess that most CC members aren't playing on Stars for the huge rakeback & rewards program. Up until a year ago there basically hasn't been any for many years (well.. almost non-existent).

Exactly.

Andyreas · Jan 13, 2023

One question to all the German members:

I still see my chest in the application. Same for you? But I do not get offered the monthly poker challenge anymore...

Highfish · Jan 13, 2023

Andyreas said:
One question to all the German members:

I still see my chest in the application. Same for you? But I do not get offered the monthly poker challenge anymore...

same here

dreamer13 · Jan 13, 2023

The German government has introduced a new turnover tax of 5.3%. In addition, the new legislation prohibits Germans from playing more than four tables, depositing more than €1,000 per month into the site, and choosing their seats at the cash game tables. At PokerStars, this tax is levied on buy-ins - operators will be taxed depending on whether how long the player sits at the table. For example, for every €100 from a player, the poker room will pay the German government €5.30.The government has made another major change - when players sit down at the table, they must play a certain number of hands before getting up and out of the game. If players do not follow this rule, they will not be able to return to the table for a certain amount of time.

EnzoRS94 · Jan 13, 2023

The question is, what's the point of doing all that?

Germany restricts Pokerstars from offering rewards for German players

Jamil

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wrzlbrnft

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Debi

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G0930

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fundiver199

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Andyreas

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Poker Orifice

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