Many in the poker community have been dumbfounded to discover that PokerStake.com has completely removed the online poker rankings database, but its parent company has confirmed to pokerfuse that the player profiles will be restored.
The database was a feature on the legendary PocketFives site, which was rebranded as the online staking platform PokerStake in 2023.
PokerStake is known to have strong affiliations to GGPoker. It would appear that the online poker giant purchased PokerStake back around 2021 and is now looking to introduce it as the primary platform for tournament staking on GGPoker. It is unclear at this time to what degree the affiliation with GGPoker has influenced the removal of historical rankings.
For now, players will have to accept that the historical information contained within the database is unavailable, but along with justification for their removal, the company has confirmed that player profiles including their online results will be restored.
“As part of PokerStake’s ongoing analysis of platform traffic and user preferences, it was determined that the PokerStake community places greater importance on live results than online results,” a company representative told pokerfuse. “PokerStake is now working to create more holistic player profiles that combine live and online results.”
Although short, this statement does provide some insights, confirming that the move was deliberate and not a result of a technical glitch, and that the rankings eventually will be back. However, it is not clear when that will happen nor what exactly will be incuded in the player profiles when the information returns.
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The PokerStake Database contains Online Poker History
There is hardly a serious online tournament player who hasn’t heard about PocketFives. Founded in 2005, the site grew to become one of the largest communities for poker players, and online tournament rankings were a big part of it.
Over the 15+ years, the PocketFives database became the go-to place for historical results, and it continued to drive competition and rivalry between players. When the site was rebranded to PokerStake, things continued as they were for a while but then, a few days ago, all results disappeared without a trace.
Several high-profile players took it to Twitter to express their shock and disappointment, including Chris Moorman, the man who’s been crushing it on the virtual felt for years.
Moorman, as well as several people responding to his tweet, seem to believe that this came to pass due to the GGPoker affiliation. The comment we received confirms that GGPoker was aware of the decision, but it’s unclear if they played an instrumental role in it or if the directive came from PokerStake management.
Patrick Leonard chimed in with his opinion, likening the move to Hendon Mob database being deleted. And he’s not far off the mark, as the PocketFives database is (was) to online poker what The Hendon Mob is to live poker. He also underscored that the site was the place that even those not actively following the poker would visit if they had friends or family who played, simply to see their results.
How Big of a Deal Is It?
When it comes to legacy sites like PocketFives, it’s hard to talk about things completely without emotions. For those who have been around for a while, like Moorman, and came up with the site, it can certainly feel like a big part of history is being deleted for no apparent reason.
But beyond this, these rankings are also meaningful, as they do provide information on players’ performance and their overall success to those inside the poker world and to those looking from the outside alike.
While different restrictions imposed by poker operators made it harder for the site to keep up with all the results, it was still something, and, perhaps more importantly, it represented an important reference for players who have been on the grind for years.
As things stand right now, it seems like the rankings are gone temporarily, and they may not be restored in the format in which they previously existed. PokerStake is planning to bring out a different leaderboard, which, according to the company, would combine online and live results, but what this might look like or when it might be implemented remains unknown.