Even though the consideration of NL€800 and PLO€800 as "high stakes" could be a little misleading for those who really are aware of what true high stakes online poker games are, nevertheless, they were a sound decision for Unibet when they introduced these high stakes games back in March 2017. However, it was only less than a year after their introduction that the management had decided that the games are "currently too rich for their philosophy", and so they have lowered the highest stakes back to their original NL€400 & PLO€400.
Unibet's Head of Poker David Pomroy said that the reason why they removed the bigger-priced games is that, "The addition of NL800 and PL800 had contributed to short-handed games and slightly faster loss rates of recreational players at our higher stakes. Although the situation was by no means critical, we decided it was best to act on that trend sooner rather than later."
It is understandable that recreational players may potentially lose at a much faster rate and to an extent it can become a concern to any poker site; however, it seems odd that this has impacted Unibet so much that they opted to deny their players the opportunity to move up to the upper stakes beyond €2/€4.
Of course, it's not a sad ending for high stakes lovers, as Pomroy said that Unibet "will consider restoring NL800 and PL800 in the future once we feel a sufficient support structure is in place." and that, "This decision doesn't change our long-term ambitions to continue growing the site but right now our focus is on ensuring that we continue to offer a non-predatory environment and the most enjoyable cash games online."
There is one player who's most likely not going to be too happy about this, and that would be twitch streamer and Unibet Poker Ambassador Espen Uhlen Jørstad, who has been regularly tweeting his continuous success at the NL€800 during the final week of December 2017.
Source:
https://www.cardschat.com/news/unibet-nixes-high-stakes-cash-games-to-focus-on-recreational-players-56601
https://twitter.com/UhlenPoker
The more the money circulate the tables, the more the sites make.
