PokerStars are suspending all services in Russia

[UzDarkHero]

My opinion is that this is totally unfair and ridiculous with the people of Russia.

There was no other way after the financial sanctions, these organizations simply will not be able to complete transactions to Russia ... Therefore, it is beneficial for them to close access now, I hope all this will end soon.

 

[kanycta99]

a drop of water will eventually destroy the stone

 

[Poker Orifice]

You apparently do not quite understand what it means to live in Russia. And that not a single adequate Russian has ever voted for him. And that elections as such never took place. But it is easier to judge than to think.

What does it mean to live in Russia?

What is it like for those who have never voted for him... & to live in a place where elections as such never took place?

I am interested. Thanks.

 

[Poker Orifice]

My opinion is that this is totally unfair and ridiculous with the people of Russia.

There was no other way after the financial sanctions, these organizations simply will not be able to complete transactions to Russia ... Therefore, it is beneficial for them to close access now, I hope all this will end soon.

This ^ was my understanding too. If you can't process transactions, how can you continue to operate there?

 

[ScottyDee]

Good for you pokerstars slava ukraine!

 

[DS3]

"If you want to play, get rid of Putin"..... This is the most stupid thing I've ever heard in my life. You apparently do not quite understand what it means to live in Russia. And that not a single adequate Russian has ever voted for him. And that elections as such never took place. But it is easier to judge than to think.

Actually, you misrepresent the situation in Russia yourself.

You know full well many support Putin and it is too easy to say they all have been brainwashed and fair elections were never available. That is just not true.

The problem Russia faces today is that of 'authoritarianism creep'. Putin was adored and empowered after he appeared to clean up Russia after the catastrophic nineties. In the West, to use a cliche, that is known as making a deal with the devil.

The majority have tolerated Putin for relative stability and turned a blind eye against the increasing repression, election tampering and quashing of political opposition. For now he has the entire population on lock down. That has been over a twenty year arc where many were aware of what was happening and failed to act.

It is impossible to say where Putin's actual support stands as of today (independent surveys yet find he commands majority support but that is debatable) but to claim 'not a single adequate Russian has ever voted for him' is ridiculous. As pointed out above (which you missed I assume) we have had Card Chat members argue on behalf of Putin's actions in Ukraine.

 

[fundiver199]

You know full well many support Putin and it is too easy to say they all have been brainwashed and fair elections were never available. That is just not true.The problem Russia faces today is that of 'authoritarianism creep'. Putin was adored and empowered after he appeared to clean up Russia after the catastrophic nineties. In the West, to use a cliche, that is known as making a deal with the devil.

Exactly and to be fair its not just Russia. Many countries in Eastern Europe have also elected authoritarian leaders recently, and the US had Donald Trump, where until the last moment it was even unsure, if he was going to step down voluntarely after losing the last election. If someone had predicted this to happen even 10 years ago, they would have been called crazy.

So 'authoritarianism creep' is a virus affecting large parts of the world, and its way more dangerious than coronavirus. And as you say, several CC member have either supported or sort of excused or downplayed Putins war. So its certainly not true, that the entire russian population are innocent victims in, what is happening.

Of course I am not saying, that we should now hate all russians, just because they are russians. But I am totally cool with the fact, I no longer see russians at the poker tables on Stars, or that they can no longer watch their favourite movies on Netflix. This is the price to be paid for, as you say, making a deal with the devil.

 

[Laskunpo69]

People can use vpn

 

[balo]

Exactly and to be fair its not just Russia. Many countries in Eastern Europe have also elected authoritarian leaders recently, and the US had Donald Trump, where until the last moment it was even unsure, if he was going to step down voluntarely after losing the last election. If someone had predicted this to happen even 10 years ago, they would have been called crazy.

So 'authoritarianism creep' is a virus affecting large parts of the world, and its way more dangerious than coronavirus. And as you say, several CC member have either supported or sort of excused or downplayed Putins war. So its certainly not true, that the entire russian population are innocent victims in, what is happening.

Of course I am not saying, that we should now hate all russians, just because they are russians. But I am totally cool with the fact, I no longer see russians at the poker tables on Stars, or that they can no longer watch their favourite movies on Netflix. This is the price to be paid for, as you say, making a deal with the devil.

The only difference is US is a democracy where the people choose their leader every 4 years. They chose Trump, a stupid move now, but it was the people who decided it.

Russia can never call themselves a true democracy until they get rid of the regime , leaders not chosen by the people but some sort of election that can only gain one person, Vladimir Putin.
So until the Russians themselves stand up to the leader and we get some sort of military coup in Russia, nothing will change.


Getting rid of the opposition leaders by poisoning them and arrest them will not help your country.
When you ask an average Russian they say we do not involve in politics, we stay away and forget Putin exist. That will not help you.

 

[DS3]

Exactly and to be fair its not just Russia. Many countries in Eastern Europe have also elected authoritarian leaders recently, and the US had Donald Trump, where until the last moment it was even unsure, if he was going to step down voluntarely after losing the last election. If someone had predicted this to happen even 10 years ago, they would have been called crazy.

So 'authoritarianism creep' is a virus affecting large parts of the world, and its way more dangerious than coronavirus. And as you say, several CC member have either supported or sort of excused or downplayed Putins war. So its certainly not true, that the entire russian population are innocent victims in, what is happening.

Of course I am not saying, that we should now hate all russians, just because they are russians. But I am totally cool with the fact, I no longer see russians at the poker tables on Stars, or that they can no longer watch their favourite movies on Netflix. This is the price to be paid for, as you say, making a deal with the devil.

Thanks for elaborating on my point.

I also agree with drawing a through line through to Trump. I believe that the States is slipping perilously close to such an administration and note that in a recent survey the US has now dropped to 62nd in ranked democracies.

Regarding Russia, we collectively need to recognize the complicated dynamic. I am sure Putin is not as popular as polls say. The ones I refer to are independent but it is thought people reply in a conditioned response - in manner they think others will. Even so and with a margin of error, it would still appear he is supported by a significant amount of Russians.

And this when combined with a lack of communication makes it so difficult for Russians to trust enough people to come out and protest in numbers - at the simplest level they cannot trust each other.

Back to sanctions and in this case Russians being excluded from PS etc. People say it is not an effective measure but obviously it is and has caused much debate. In this I would also include those from around the world who say it is unfair to target poker players/regular people as it would appear they need to be educated regarding the idea behind sanctions.

If there had been no invasion there would be no sanctions. People should understand the fault lies with Putin and the consequences will have an effect on all Russians, period. There is no way to differentiate between Russians worthy of sanctions and those who are not. But the sanctions need to be in place when people are being indiscriminately killed by the thousand.

 

[jsnake716]

PokerStars have just announced on their Facebook page, that they are suspending all services in Russia. No reason is given, but for sure this must be connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some forum members including myself have called for this move for quite some time already, so I am happy to see, that PokerStars is finally doing, what many other international companies have already done.

Of course everyone can have his/her own opinion. My take on this , why do Russian people suffer for their Government actions? I guess you are OK with Canadian government freezing individual bank accounts too? I offer caution, you are asking to be ruled by something as bad or worse than a dictator. You are begging for private companies to carry out the will of certain Governments, politicians love this, they get to cry "not me, it was them" The US fraudulent Government is doing it now using private companies to do what they demand behind closed doors. What happens when the tide changes and you become the target???

 

[fundiver199]

My take on this , why do Russian people suffer for their Government actions?

People always suffer for their governments actions. This is just the way, the world works, and why its important to have good governments.

I guess you are OK with Canadian government freezing individual bank accounts too?

If you mean the accounts of Oligarchs then absolutely yes. If leading german nazists had bank accounts in other countries in 1939, then of course these should also have been frozen. The free world is at war with Russia now, and war has consequences.

 

[Poker Orifice]

Of course everyone can have his/her own opinion. My take on this , why do Russian people suffer for their Government actions? I guess you are OK with Canadian government freezing individual bank accounts too? I offer caution, you are asking to be ruled by something as bad or worse than a dictator. You are begging for private companies to carry out the will of certain Governments, politicians love this, they get to cry "not me, it was them" The US fraudulent Government is doing it now using private companies to do what they demand behind closed doors. What happens when the tide changes and you become the target???

What do you think the consequences should be for their actions?

Here we're able to vote. (and oddly enough the counting of the ballots is even trusted... it's weird but it's always been that way)

 

[DS3]

People always suffer for their governments actions. This is just the way, the world works, and why its important to have good governments.

If you mean the accounts of Oligarchs then absolutely yes. If leading german nazists had bank accounts in other countries in 1939, then of course these should also have been frozen. The free world is at war with Russia now, and war has consequences.

To be frank, if I was facing sanctions for my government actions, I would know where to assign the blame. I've watched numerous clips of Russians who appear to grasp precisely why they are facing such actions.

Therefore, with Ukraine already suffering a month of brutality and death if anyone is still claiming they do not understand the application of sanctions, I can only conclude they have no intention of understanding why for whatever reason (s).

 

[chen914]

Oh really? I hope this end and we will all live in peace.

 

[Stasey]

Its unfair for simple people.But in same time I understand why PS did this.

 

[fundiver199]

To be frank, if I was facing sanctions for my government actions, I would know where to assign the blame. I've watched numerous clips of Russians who appear to grasp precisely why they are facing such actions.

Therefore, with Ukraine already suffering a month of brutality and death if anyone is still claiming they do not understand the application of sanctions, I can only conclude they have no intention of understanding why for whatever reason (s).

According to this video from 2016 Putins approval rating skyrocketed in 2014, after he started the Ukraine war. And this is not such a stange thing. Whenever a country is at war, most people tend to beleive, "the other guys" are wrong and rally around their leaders. This is pretty universal and certainly not limited to Russia.

So the russians protesting against the war are almost certainly a minority, while the majority support Putin and his actions either passively or in a more active way. The million dollar question then is, if sanctions and the harder living conditions caused by them will make at least some russians change their mind, or if this will also be blamed on "the evil west".

 

[balo]

The younger generation does not agree with Putin.

 

[DS3]

According to this video from 2016 Putins approval rating skyrocketed in 2014, after he started the Ukraine war. And this is not such a stange thing. Whenever a country is at war, most people tend to beleive, "the other guys" are wrong and rally around their leaders. This is pretty universal and certainly not limited to Russia.

So the russians protesting against the war are almost certainly a minority, while the majority support Putin and his actions either passively or in a more active way. The million dollar question then is, if sanctions and the harder living conditions caused by them will make at least some russians change their mind, or if this will also be blamed on "the evil west".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT4sK36cU3Y

I think the clip from the Russian site 1420 which Balo has posted gives a general idea of Russian thinking- its largely generational. Of course, we know full well that any of these video clips are a small sample size, but at this point I have read countless articles which underline a few things.

Older Russians watch state TV and are largely in Putin's hold, younger Russians are media savvy and use computers and phones to avoid the propaganda. That said, I do not think the average person facing the effects of sanctions will lay the blame on the West, if they do so it will be after admitting that Russia has given itself a huge black eye first.

I think we also need to understand the last few years have severely restricted anti-government activity in various ways. The state have become increasingly draconian when clamping down on protests. There were serious protests after Navalny was poisoned (2020) held in various cities which were handled violently. Then everyone faced Covid and that shut down a huge amount of social interaction. Once the invasion began the authorities cut much of social media as fast as they could - the one crippling effect against mass communication which could lead to mass demonstrations.

The oldest generation might blame the West but I feel confident that the majority of Russians know the problem lies with Putin. They know Putin exerts total control, they know the oligarchs and 'connected' are fabulously wealthy and lets not forget 48 million Russians traveled abroad in 2019. They are better informed than most think. That doesn't mean most will take to the streets at the moment but many will know what has been taking place in Ukraine.

 

[efranto2286]

It's a shame because Russian players pay righteous for sinners... The vast majority of the Russian people are against the war but they can. Do...

 

[Maxmustdie]

it's amazing how 1 person can destroy the economy of his country, the life of a neighboring country and make noise all over the world

 

[Polytarp]

Can someone here train me to become an assassin?
:vroam:

Hi Navin! If you were around in Suriname in the mid/late 1980's perhaps you were aware of what took place at that time. I was part of the welcome crew for certain Surinamese visitors into French Guiana, including some of Ronnie's immediate family. Hypothetically, some people don't survive the training.

 

[emejota23]

the truth, I do not share the opinion of pokerstars, to withdraw the Russian players, since they, gives a lot of life and action to the page, more than all they are very aggressive players, who in themselves are very FISH, for the simple fact that the president is crazy, psychotic, the Russians have been practically withdrawn.

 

[Poker Orifice]

I just noticed in today's Pokerstars Super Tuesday ($1k buyin that has played on Tuesdays for ages) Roman Abramovich was playing (& placed 2nd for $12k)
Playing out of Poland.

I'm sure the HSMTT players would prefer to see him on the tables but seems a tad unfair to other Russian players. (this guy is a HUGE fish and at one point (10yrs. ago) was minus $3.5 million on cash tables & is also a huge tourney fish)

 

[deputat]

The main problem with russian pokerstars users is loss a lot of workplaces and depositors and also people who made the poker competition in all poker world