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The end is near?

bolly580bolly580 Member Posts: 603
in Poker Chat
https://news.sky.com/story/canadas-stars-group-in-26bn-sky-bet-talks-11340213

HI guys, what differences if any does Stars acquisition of skybet have for skypoker?

Thanks
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  • Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 172,210

    Hi @bolly580

    It's a little too early to speculate on how all this will pan out, the news only broke a few hours ago.

    I expect it will be Monday or Tuesday before The Business briefs everyone.

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  • bolly580bolly580 Member Posts: 603
    Il dust off the CV, nice knowing everyone. ;)
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  • Mayhem357Mayhem357 Member Posts: 92
    Not the news I would have wanted to be honest, easy to speculate this could be the end for Sky Poker in it's current guise but equally I doubt anything would change in the short/medium term.
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  • scotty77scotty77 Member Posts: 4,970
    edited April 2018
    SBG has developed some of online gaming’s most well-known brands, most notably Sky Bet, Sky Vegas and Sky Casino.

    The official statement from Stars didn't even acknowledge that Sky Poker was a thing. Which is actually really disappointing, as Sky Poker is probably the 2nd strongest poker brand in the UK and for a long time was the only organisation developing televised content.

    I think its safe to assume that in the medium term nothing will change.

    Very exciting for the team in Leeds and Sheffield. Clearly recognised as the worlds best when it comes to offering sports betting.

    Now to get a petition going for Tikay to join Hartigan and Orford on the EPT stream team!
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  • Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 172,210
    scotty77 said:

    SBG has developed some of online gaming’s most well-known brands, most notably Sky Bet, Sky Vegas and Sky Casino.

    The official statement from Stars didn't even acknowledge that Sky Poker was a thing. Which is actually really disappointing, as Sky Poker is probably the 2nd strongest poker brand in the UK and for a long time was the only organisation developing televised content.

    I think its safe to assume that in the medium term nothing will change.

    Very exciting for the team in Leeds and Sheffield. Clearly recognised as the worlds best when it comes to offering sports betting.

    Now to get a petition going for Tikay to join Hartigan and Orford on the EPT stream team!

    Sky Bet, Sky Vegas & Casino are the "headline brands", very much bigger than Sky Poker, & let's not forget that Sky Bingo, Oddschecker, Sporting Life & all the rest of the SB&G Portfolio were not mentioned.

    I would not read anything into that, Ryan.

    This, however, is probably spot-on;

    I think its safe to assume that in the medium term nothing will change.

    A Press Release by TSG this morning stated that it was expected that legals & paperwork for the enlarged Group would likely not be completed until "Q3, 2018", which is the July - September period, & that will be followed by an 18 to 24 month integration period. Nothing is going to happen overnight.

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  • Tikay10Tikay10 Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 172,210

    I understand the Staff will be briefed on Monday morning.

    If anything is revealed in that which you need to be aware of, please be assured it will be posted on this Forum.

    For now, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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  • EssexphilEssexphil Member Posts: 8,875
    At least we now know why the promised new software never turned up. Not saying that was delayed, but the original testing was done on a Sinclair Spectrum :)

    Suspect the changes will be quicker than being predicted, but hope I'm wrong
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  • mumsiemumsie Member Posts: 8,181
    Im hurting.
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  • marlsssmarlsss Member Posts: 26
    Wow,i dont think there's worse news players playing on a poker site could get that than this.Good game all.The end is near.Nothing they have done has shown otherwise. Wasnt expecting to have to migrate sites so fast
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  • EssexphilEssexphil Member Posts: 8,875
    Let's wait and see. May well be that Stars wants SkyBet, and will resell SkyPoker-or at least leave it be...
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  • marlsssmarlsss Member Posts: 26
    No chance it will be left be in the long term.Not the way that company operates.All that needs to be seen is what they did with Pokerstars and. If any other company took over I would be alot more optimistic but not with this group
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  • Itsover4uItsover4u Member Posts: 1,538
    Would be the end for me on the site if this happens. Dont agree with a single thing stars group are doing with poker and I have took all my action off the site as of two weeks ago.

    I understand business is business but I will not play for a company that are destroying a game we love. They are trying to turn a game of wits and skill into a gamble fest to keep addicted recs playing poker and losing money on there site. Profit driven greed that they try to package as helping the losing players.... you want to help losing players, educate them dont introduce 5bb shove fests with special power cards ffs. Dont increase rake. Dont pay one of the most recognisable faces in poker huge sums of money to tell the clueless that what they are doing is correct.

    on the plus side they may increase the rake.... its good for the eco system after all.



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  • TOOTRUETOOTRUE Member Posts: 193
    I guess when CVC Capital Partners acquired the business there was always a strong possibility that a scenario like this would arise. IPO would have been the preferred exit from a player's perspective and probably true for the majority of the employees as this offered the greatest possibility of retaining the culture and ethos that attracted many recreational players from other poker sites to Sky (myself included). CVC's priorities at exit were never going to overlap with its poker customers and I suspect that they are very pleased with the profit generated from the sale, together with those that invested in the particular fund that acquired SB&G. However, as I write this I am struggling to see how the change of ownership will actually be beneficial to me as a recreational player. Oh well, back to playing Russian bots...
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  • The_ReflexThe_Reflex Member Posts: 57
    No point beating about the bush, this is GG Sky Poker. Absolutely gutted.
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  • scotty77scotty77 Member Posts: 4,970
    I wouldn't be so quick to assume that Sky Poker will be facing the axe. Think of how dominant Stars is, and how many Sky Poker regulars also have a Stars account? It's probably 80-90%. Sky Poker has liquidity because both regs and recs want something different from their poker site. It's entirely possible that Sky Poker can indeed still operate, and possibly flourish under Stars ownership. Maybe it could enter new international markets as a basic, rec friendly, no HUDs etc site. I know a couple of people who work for Stars, and they've always spoken fondly of the ethos of Sky Poker. Even tho it's a small site, it has been very closely watched by the industry.

    I certainly have faith that Tikay will be there championing all the positives and unique things that have made Sky Poker great over the last 10 years.

    SkyBet have performed amazing over the last couple of years. We all know that the one negative from the change of ownership to CVC was the loss of the TV channel side, which was very sad and a number of people lost their jobs. However IIRC, 100+ people were hired on the day of the sale which has lead to the massive growth. The same will happen here; some people will receive some bad news but on the whole it is a positive.

    So yeah, I am hopeful and I think that it shows what a talented team that SkyBet has assembled.

    And if Sky Poker does GG, then that is ok. It won't happen overnight. Unibet (a standalone site) took over Stan James (for their sportsbook), and the Stan James poker product was still on Microgaming for 18 months or so.

    There are plenty of options of other poker sites anyway, with one new site about to launch in a couple of months.

    Oh and it is true that sometimes, more rake is indeed better.

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  • StayOrGoStayOrGo Member Posts: 12,187
    edited April 2018
    What will happen exactly, I guess we won't know, but here's a link to a news item on the RP website for those interested:

    https://www.racingpost.com/news/news/sky-bet-snapped-up-by-stars-group-in-28bn-mega-deal/328453

    One thing I think we can say, is that they didn't buy it for SkyPoker. They bought it primarily for SkyBet and then SkyVegas.

    What they do with the Poker bit?

    Will the crumbs of the cake get swept in the bin or put together and made into something more substantial?

    Only time will tell.
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  • marlsssmarlsss Member Posts: 26
    Whatever happens you can be sure there will be changes and it wont be positive for people playing on this site
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  • weedgiweedgi Member Posts: 103
    sky poker such a small part compared to sky bet sky vegas ect
    they just punt the players onto stars accounts gg sky
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  • TheMadMonkTheMadMonk Member Posts: 294
    Two things I think they will do is
    A= open the site up to players from across the world (they would be mad not to,and restrict their profit potential)
    B= close down the forum ( if they thought forums were a good idea,they would have their own)
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  • cpfc_2010cpfc_2010 Member Posts: 320
    Itsover4u said:

    Would be the end for me on the site if this happens. Dont agree with a single thing stars group are doing with poker and I have took all my action off the site as of two weeks ago.

    I understand business is business but I will not play for a company that are destroying a game we love. They are trying to turn a game of wits and skill into a gamble fest to keep addicted recs playing poker and losing money on there site. Profit driven greed that they try to package as helping the losing players.... you want to help losing players, educate them dont introduce 5bb shove fests with special power cards ffs. Dont increase rake. Dont pay one of the most recognisable faces in poker huge sums of money to tell the clueless that what they are doing is correct.

    on the plus side they may increase the rake.... its good for the eco system after all.



    I 100% agree with the sentiment of this post. Well said sir.
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