and what will happen to them because of that?
would customers be served by stars being split into two or three smaller sites?
poker is a weird market in that it will tend to there being one big provider as people want to play where the guarantees, spread of games and traffic is best. the market isnt big enough for multiple sites with queues of people wanting to play 6 max SnGs
stars is the latest incumbent of that role. if they exploit their customers they might not be for very long. it might not be another poker site that takes their place either.
also its worth noting that although high volume professionals and people running bots have moved to sites like party that welcome that sort of customer, stars has made massive changes that appeal to recreational players - gamification of rewards and poker, high variance short stacked jackpot poker, etc etc. those players may not feel as exploited as players who are rake sensitive and rely on poker for a living.
would you argue for government involvement in stars?
No I would not and nowhere mentioned that I even think government intervention is they way forward.
I really am struggling to work out what your point is.
You said you could not think of a single example of a monoply exploiting its customers. I simply provided one of which there are countless.
Hell, Argos who I was a senior buyer for got taken to court for price fixing in toys category which they had a monopoly on at the time. Exploiting their customers into paying higher prices and paid some huge fine. Though actually it was one the the manufactures doing it.
Nike and Addidas have been price fixing for 20 years between them to make consumers pay higher prices. The prices of their products to retailers are exactly the same to the penny and always have been (I used to buy sports equipment).
Their are so many examples of customers/suppliers being screwed over by firms with monoploy powers in a market. In general they are very anti competitive and make huge barriers to competition.
Eventually it seems the market corrects itself, I.e Tesco were abusing their power for years no longer dominant. Argos who I used to work for no longer dominant in toys. Stars I am sure will go the same way (hopefully).
It doesn't mean they are not damaging in the short to medium term though which was what I was stating.