Alex "Kanu7" Millar quits Team PokerStars online due to upcoming VIP system changes

We reported about players boycotting VIP system changes at PokerStars both online and recently at EPT Prague, but there is one individual that stands out with his actions and principles. Alex "Kanu7" Millar resigned yesterday from his position as a member of "Team Pokerstars Online", as he is against upcoming VIP changes. Millar, who is considered one of the top No Limit Hold'em cash game players in the world, is the first player to take such a drastic actions in order to show his disapproval for the changes and the way they were communicated to players.

Here is what Millar had to say via his Twitter account (@kanupoker):
"I'd like to apologise to the players for my complete failure to be able to help in any way with the recent pokerstars VIP changes (1/2)"
"With @RealKidPoker eventually failing as well I no longer feel I can represent the company and I have now left Team Pro Online (2/2)"

Kanu7 is 12th on the list of biggest poker winners tracked by HighstakesDB. His total cash game profits amount to $3,294,787.

This is actually the second time similar situation happened to PokerStars. In 2014, Team PokerStars Pro, Victoria Coren-Mitchell, quit the team to show her disapproval of how parent company of PokerStars, Amaya Gaming, was pushing PokerStars towards casino gaming and sports betting.

Respek

On December 17 2015 21:26 TimDawg wrote: Respek

wheres baal at

baal would be busto w/o whoring our rake money

considering all cuts they're making in promos as well i doubt sponsored players didn't get a cut as well, but yeah its about time you all tell them to fuck off, let em promote the game with people like Neymar which will tear their skin off when it comes to payments

boss

On December 17 2015 21:34 handbanana21 wrote: wheres baal at

Imi here

^better do not type and rather use both hands to hold onto your contract

On December 18 2015 01:38 dogmeat wrote: ^better do not type and rather use both hands to hold onto your contract

Agreed.

What this guy did might be cool but personally i would do like Baal 100%

respect

Frankly, given the amount of money he's taken from the games and Pokerstars I don't really respect the decision at this point in time. Victoria Coren was the first to leave and that was a long time ago. I understand she's far from short of money, but she saw what was coming and took a moral stand, she acted purely on morals and that's not how I feel about Kanu's actions at all at this point in time. I feel like Kanu has just read the public opinion and made this decision to get "respect" from the crowd... If he was really against Pokerstars' business plan that much he could have left when Victoria did, they all must have had a clue about the future. He's just the same as the rest of them - self serving. But he's acting as if he isn't to get praise like he's a pioneer and deserves positive attention. I don't buy it. Fuck him. #hadafewbeers #mightnotagreewithmyassessmenttomorrow

Classic example of damned if you do, damned if you dont. I think thats pretty unfair midian. Its impossible to know his intentions, but from face value, he made a bold move, whereas everyone else is choosing to let it blow over. Hopefully bigger names will follow suit. (nanonoko for one, given he used to represent the ultimate grinder)

yeah what does he stand to gain from this "respect"

maybe he didn't feel strongly about things before but just reached a point where he couldn't stomach staying?

On December 18 2015 03:42 ToT)MidiaN( wrote: Frankly, given the amount of money he's taken from the games and Pokerstars I don't really respect the decision at this point in time. Victoria Coren was the first to leave and that was a long time ago. I understand she's far from short of money, but she saw what was coming and took a moral stand, she acted purely on morals and that's not how I feel about Kanu's actions at all at this point in time. I feel like Kanu has just read the public opinion and made this decision to get "respect" from the crowd... If he was really against Pokerstars' business plan that much he could have left when Victoria did, they all must have had a clue about the future. He's just the same as the rest of them - self serving. But he's acting as if he isn't to get praise like he's a pioneer and deserves positive attention. I don't buy it. Fuck him. #hadafewbeers #mightnotagreewithmyassessmenttomorrow

I think its 2 different things.

Victoria did it because of casino/sport bets
He did it because of the VIP system.

I personally don't mind the whole sport betting thing, i'm actually happy about it =)

On December 18 2015 03:42 ToT)MidiaN( wrote: Frankly, given the amount of money he's taken from the games and Pokerstars I don't really respect the decision at this point in time. Victoria Coren was the first to leave and that was a long time ago. I understand she's far from short of money, but she saw what was coming and took a moral stand, she acted purely on morals and that's not how I feel about Kanu's actions at all at this point in time. I feel like Kanu has just read the public opinion and made this decision to get "respect" from the crowd... If he was really against Pokerstars' business plan that much he could have left when Victoria did, they all must have had a clue about the future. He's just the same as the rest of them - self serving. But he's acting as if he isn't to get praise like he's a pioneer and deserves positive attention. I don't buy it. Fuck him. #hadafewbeers #mightnotagreewithmyassessmenttomorrow

i fail to see why how much money he's won from the games has anything to do with this decision

in some alternate universe if Vicky Coren had been a High Stakes crusher at the time of her decision, would it have been less bold/respectable? I don't think so

I see what you're saying but I just don't really think it applies here

On December 18 2015 03:42 ToT)MidiaN( wrote: Frankly, given the amount of money he's taken from the games and Pokerstars I don't really respect the decision at this point in time. Victoria Coren was the first to leave and that was a long time ago. I understand she's far from short of money, but she saw what was coming and took a moral stand, she acted purely on morals and that's not how I feel about Kanu's actions at all at this point in time. I feel like Kanu has just read the public opinion and made this decision to get "respect" from the crowd... If he was really against Pokerstars' business plan that much he could have left when Victoria did, they all must have had a clue about the future. He's just the same as the rest of them - self serving. But he's acting as if he isn't to get praise like he's a pioneer and deserves positive attention. I don't buy it. Fuck him. #hadafewbeers #mightnotagreewithmyassessmenttomorrow

This guy won a lot, but it's worth a mention he is down like $135k this year (so probably break even at best with SNE).

If he continues at this trend next year, leaving Team Online means he will be basically losing player with new SNE rakeback and without extra bonus that every team online member gets. So I don't think this is a case of "yeah, I earned my cash, so let's get some fame".

On December 18 2015 02:30 Floofy wrote: Show nested quote + On December 18 2015 01:38 dogmeat wrote: ^better do not type and rather use both hands to hold onto your contract Agreed. What this guy did might be cool but personally i would do like Baal 100%

I will give u sarcasm detector for xmas

But nobody is expecting baal to quit, esp given how much he sucks at poker

Just relax, everything is the same

Kanu7 is a great guy. Maybe Pro players received cuts as well, maybe he was about to get kicked, maybe he uses this to gain anything from the community. I guess all options are possible albeit very unlikely. Kanu7 is a class act and I think his morals and ethic forced him to take a stand, instead of debating his motives we should celebrate his integrity.
There is 0 reason to believe otherwise and I think it is a terrible thing that people belittle others that do the right thing for maybe not doing "enough". Like why did Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg donate so much money, how can we find evil in that and make them look like sociapaths that want to use it as a marketing gig to do X.

Being analytical and discussing various alternative reasons why someone does something is fine, but like trying to discredit Mother Theresa or Ghandi without a good reason just seems douchy.
Midian I know you for many years and you are a cool cat but I think your post came of quite douchy/didn't receive enough thoughts. Not an attack just saying

Midian is drunk, clearly his post is dumb and should be ignored and no, Kanu obv had no ulterior motives he did it based on integrity, pretty remarkable.

BTW it appears that unlike Gates, Zuckerberg didnt donate shit, he set up a typical tax-evasion charity scam and Mother Teresa was a cruel hypocrite sociopath that only spread death and suffering in Calcuta, all you think about her is a lie, look up Hithcens book about her, or if you are lazy his documentary.

and DogMeat you are pathetic lol, now you try to attack me on my poker skill because I exposed your bigoted ass in the terrorism thread lol, ill kick your ass on the table any day buddy

am i as pathetic as your poker "winnings", or more? :D

btw i m totally fine with my casual racism, sherlock

On December 18 2015 11:54 Baalim wrote: Midian is drunk, clearly his post is dumb and should be ignored and no, Kanu obv had no ulterior motives he did it based on integrity, pretty remarkable. BTW it appears that unlike Gates, Zuckerberg didnt donate shit, he set up a typical tax-evasion charity scam and Mother Teresa was a cruel hypocrite sociopath that only spread death and suffering in Calcuta, all you think about her is a lie, look up Hithcens book about her, or if you are lazy his documentary.

Also Ghandi wasn't exactly all he was cut out to be either

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent...h-about-gandhis-sex-life-1937411.html

Yeah I watched the docu on mother theresa, turns out she was quite the sadist cunt eh?
Also her face looks like death as well.

ok, since we are doing this, Gandhi was racist and a misogynist. look it up

Forgot I posted lol, I was obv drunk and had a terrible night in town, falling out with a friend in the process so yea was way out of line. Even posted similarly douchy comments on some random youtube videos, I actually just became one of those douches who trolls comment sections for a night. Time to stop drinking I think :O I don't know Kanu at all and can't pretend to know his motivations, but I guess it's good that people are standing against Amayastars

What... just what ? from Kanu7 to Mother Theresa ... I love LP

Maybe Kanu7 is the resurrection of Mother Theresa.

Imagine how many people the guy sent broke, definitely preached poverty through action

Haha, maybe terrible examples I gave :D

I played a lot vs Kanu7, never met someone that was as friendly losing or winning 10 buyins. Zero tilt, so at least I am sure he is a friendly cool fellaaa!

+MidiaN just wanted to push you back as it seemed quite unordinary of you to write that stuff =) Alright LP all love!

<3

On December 18 2015 19:45 FiSheYe wrote: +MidiaN just wanted to push you back as it seemed quite unordinary of you to write that stuff =) Alright LP all love!

Yeah it was fair enough, I was certainly out of line!

On December 18 2015 12:07 dogmeat wrote: am i as pathetic as your poker "winnings", or more? :D btw i m totally fine with my casual racism, sherlock

oh so you are only a casual racist... thank god you are not a formal racist, that is bad

Christianity, poker... Looks like evolutionary psychology is another topic you dont have a clue of. But you surely think highly of yourself as someone who havent won online for 3 years+. You are basically sponzored version of neilly lol

i suggest u guys do a hu for rolls

A real fight would seem a better solution

I'm not sure if you've signed some NDA, but if not, what is your deal with PS Baal? FTP pros were very up front about what we got. I was given $35 an hour and 100% rakeback.

I wouldnt fault Baal for staying with PS, it could very well be a lot of money, especially for a mostly midstakes grinder. But I think the nosebleed pros like ike should probably leave, the money is inconsequential to them, and the company is moving in a dangerous direction. This is not the only money grab they have done....

After black friday, many US players began to find alternate ways to play on stars; most were doing some form of remote desktoping. They would connect to a server in Canada or another country, and play on their stars account through that server. Some of these players, mostly MTT guys, would play on different screen names so their valuable stars names wouldnt risk being banned. Gboro for instance. When these players were caught, they were generally allowed to cash out and keep the money.

About a year ago, a few friends of mine were doing this. They were cash game players who played on their own names, and PS confiscated the money and did not distribute it to their opponents and probably did not hand it over to the DOJ either. This definitely amounted to >1M in money. These guys weren't trying to gain an unfair advantage on names that weren't theirs, just trying to find more convenient ways to play online, and the money was straight up stolen. Yes PS said they could do this, but it was against the precedent of previous PS management.

Add in casino games, FPP reduction (not only future, but existing), no vpps at high stakes, and removal of SNE....it's pretty clear this company doesn't give a fuck about anything but their bottom line now. Only way to fight that is to make a stand, not just professionals, but sponsored players, recreational players, everyone. I know it boils down to game theory....pros leave, fun players make up higher % of games, pros come back and take money. But you can't fight fire with fire, make it about something other than your bottom line and stop playing on this scummy monopoly.

One argument I have heard mentioned from PS is that deposits have been low, possibly even lower than money given out to SNE. That is such a bullshit loaded statistic. Does anyone deposit by traditional means anymore? When I need to deposit or withdraw money I trade with other players. Fun players do this too. My buddy had a huge month a few years ago and cashed out nearly 1M through Israeli players like Eli Elezra and others who didn't have formal ways to deposit money. Stars has been doing just fine, is raking the shit out of the games already and is giving less money to SNE players than they bring in on those guys. Reward the guys who pay the majority of your rake, or better yet, don't rip the rug out from underneath them on no notice.

Random anecdote about Kanu, in PCA we were having drinks and we were saying goodbye and I decided to troll him holding the hug for too long trying to make it awkward, but he just held it even longer and beat me in my own game lol

You can't fault a guy for staying with the company that has treated him well over for some rakeback cuts jesus lol
It's not like Pokerstars took your money and lost it in some investment they made. It's shitty obviously but looking at Poker's trend over the last 8 years it's obvious the perks would be the first to go once player deposits start to shrink. Once you quit playing you will realize that shit happens in every industry and this is really normal corporate "cunty" behavior that happens everyday and everywhere.

On December 19 2015 17:07 Daut wrote: After black friday, many US players began to find alternate ways to play on stars; most were doing some form of remote desktoping. They would connect to a server in Canada or another country, and play on their stars account through that server. Some of these players, mostly MTT guys, would play on different screen names so their valuable stars names wouldnt risk being banned. Gboro for instance. When these players were caught, they were generally allowed to cash out and keep the money. About a year ago, a few friends of mine were doing this. They were cash game players who played on their own names, and PS confiscated the money and did not distribute it to their opponents and probably did not hand it over to the DOJ either. This definitely amounted to >1M in money. These guys weren't trying to gain an unfair advantage on names that weren't theirs, just trying to find more convenient ways to play online, and the money was straight up stolen. Yes PS said they could do this, but it was against the precedent of previous PS management..

that's absurd...

^^ Of course Baal won't/can't make a ballsy move like that, his livelihood relies on the handouts/rakeback from what I see/read.

To expect him to resign over corporate greed is ridiculous. That being said, he can drop the whole 'capitalism is evil!!!!' argument basically immediately.

On December 20 2015 00:06 Baalim wrote: Random anecdote about Kanu, in PCA we were having drinks and we were saying goodbye and I decided to troll him holding the hug for too long trying to make it awkward, but he just held it even longer and beat me in my own game lol

lmao

On December 20 2015 06:35 devon06atX wrote: That being said, he can drop the whole 'capitalism is evil!!!!' argument basically immediately.

What? I've never said such a thing, Im an anarcho-capitalist, I absolutely believe in the free market.

its the state what I am against.

Kanu story must've looked awkward as fuck from the sides

On December 19 2015 17:07 Daut wrote: Add in casino games, FPP reduction (not only future, but existing), no vpps at high stakes, and removal of SNE....it's pretty clear this company doesn't give a fuck about anything but their bottom line now. Only way to fight that is to make a stand, not just professionals, but sponsored players, recreational players, everyone. I know it boils down to game theory....pros leave, fun players make up higher % of games, pros come back and take money. But you can't fight fire with fire, make it about something other than your bottom line and stop playing on this scummy monopoly.

Word.

On December 19 2015 17:19 Daut wrote: One argument I have heard mentioned from PS is that deposits have been low, possibly even lower than money given out to SNE. That is such a bullshit loaded statistic. Does anyone deposit by traditional means anymore? When I need to deposit or withdraw money I trade with other players. Fun players do this too. My buddy had a huge month a few years ago and cashed out nearly 1M through Israeli players like Eli Elezra and others who didn't have formal ways to deposit money. Stars has been doing just fine, is raking the shit out of the games already and is giving less money to SNE players than they bring in on those guys. Reward the guys who pay the majority of your rake, or better yet, don't rip the rug out from underneath them on no notice.

How is that even possible though? And if so, why does it matter? They're not getting over 100% of the rake in rakeback and they're by far the minority of players.

On December 20 2015 12:25 Baalim wrote: Show nested quote + On December 20 2015 06:35 devon06atX wrote: That being said, he can drop the whole 'capitalism is evil!!!!' argument basically immediately. What? I've never said such a thing, Im an anarcho-capitalist, I absolutely believe in the free market. its the state what I am against.

Ah, my apologies. Somewhere between the 8th and the 13th beer I lost the ability to think rationally hah. But ya, I definitely wouldn't quit PS if I was you. Not everyone has a big ass bank account to lean back on.

On a happier note, Xmas is coming yay!