Several years ago PokerStars played the white knight by acquiring Full Tilt Poker and reimbursing all poker players who had money trapped on the site.
Today the company announced it’s doing it again but this time with no strings attached.
PokerStars will allow the 60,000 players hit by PKR’s recent insolvency to transfer all their funds to PokerStars.
Obviously PokerStars potentially benefits from potentially getting new customers but those players are free to cash out at any point.
Seamless Process for PokerStars Players
Any PKR players who already have a PokerStars account should simply be able to link up their two accounts to gain access to their PKR balance.
Meanwhile the PKR players who don’t currently have a PokerStars account can simply open one up to gain access to their funds.
PokerStars, which made a deal with the court-appointed Administrator in the UK to reimburse PKR players, will be begin contacting said players today.
It’s important to note that players will not have any requirements to unlock their funds.
Once they've gone through a relatively short process they should immediately have access to their PKR balance.
PokerStars has already set up an FAQ to help guide PKR players through the transition.
PKR suspended operation of its site in early May of this year.
No Plans to Revive PKR
When PokerStars acquired Full Tilt Poker in 2012 it re-started the client and players were once again able to play on FTP.
The deal with PKR is completely different, however, and there are no plans to resurrect the PKR brand, according to PokerStars VP of Corporate Communications Eric Hollreiser:
We're not doing this to improve our bottom line and we are not acquiring or planning to revive the PKR software platform.
We're doing this because we think it's the right thing to do for the poker world and to encourage others to join us in putting you, the player, first by segregating and protecting player balances from operating funds.
PokerStars is proud that we're in a position where we're able to step in and help these players and encourage all companies in the industry to put players first.
PKR was a unique entry in the online poker world as it was one of the only sites that offered a 3D platform that had more in common with video games than poker clients.
The PKR platform initially attracted a considerable player base but that quickly dwindled as players showed a preference towards more traditional “flat” poker software.
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