Success in poker is built upon numerous factors. Skill. Luck. Determination and persistence. The bankroll or chip stack to take risks. The ability to develop a reputation and play off of it.
Over the last 17 years, PokerStars utilized a little something from every column to become far and away the world’s leading poker site, shoring up control of approximately 70 percent of the online poker market.
There have been brilliant and skillful people in charge along the way, starting with original majority owner Isai Scheinberg. There have been lucky breaks, like Chris Moneymaker winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event, the first televised in depth by ESPN, as a PokerStars qualifier wearing a PokerStars patch. Right or wrong, PokerStars persisted in offering its product to American players after the UIGEA passed in 2006. The company always seemed to have the funds to enact the “you have to spend money to make money” strategy.