How to Restart the Legend: PokerListings 2025?

In this article, we share insights from Max Streltcoff, Head of Project at PokerListings. He talks about the brand’s future, the tools the team uses now, how their strategy is changing with new technologies, and how public interest in poker is growing.

The Beginning

Max Streltcoff started his career in the iGaming industry because of his love for esports. In the early 2000s, StarCraft: Brood War was not just a game; it helped many future analysts and professionals in online gaming. In 2002, Max saw that esports players were making money not just from tournaments but also from poker. This world seemed more logical and structured, which attracted him to online poker.

As he learned more, he became interested in English-language resources where poker players talked about tournaments, strategies, and market rules. PokerListings was the most useful platform for him. In 2008, he joined a big poker project in the CIS as a writer and later became the editor-in-chief, spending over ten years there. This was a time of rapid growth for online poker in the region, and the project helped him develop his skills.

During this time, PokerListings was a standard for Maxim in terms of style, quality, and content. He reached out to the team for collaboration but didn’t get a response until now. With the chance to help relaunch the site, Maxim reassessed its core values. His main challenge was to make balanced changes, keeping the brand’s strengths while conducting a full audit to find new opportunities and create a fresh strategy. This kicked off a new phase of modernization and transformation to keep up with current industry trends.

Restart and command

When the project got new leaders, the top priority was improving infrastructure. They worked on transferring domains, conducting technical audits, and meeting with the old team to ensure a smooth integration. Team members who used to focus on offline tournaments had to change their roles to fit the needs of digital content creation. Some adjusted quickly and kept working on the project, while others decided to leave.

Now, the team has about 20 professionals, including affiliates, editors, SEO analysts, legal experts, developers, writers, media managers, and marketing specialists. Most of them work remotely, but they still collaborate effectively and achieve good results.

Regional Growth Hubs

While most attention has been on the main English site, nearly 20 local versions are ready to be updated. In 2025, the company will fully relaunch these sites to fit local cultures and needs. Local teams will get scripts and ideas from the main office, which they will adapt for their markets and adjust their strategies. The project encourages everyone to share ideas as long as they match local trends and interests.

Early experiences in Africa and Latin America showed that a mix of central control and local knowledge works well. The next step is to expand into Europe and Asia.

Updating the Design

Updating the website is more than just a new look, it’s a crucial step for better functionality. The recent changes aim to meet readers’ needs by allowing them to quickly switch between sections and find useful information with just a few clicks.

Enhancing User Experience

The main goal of the redesign is to make the site easy for everyone to use. Key sections with helpful information are now in the top menu:

• News,
• Online Poker,
• Rules,
• Strategies,
• Tools,
• Online Casinos.

PokerListings has changed the content layout so users can quickly find articles, standings, news, and tools. Pages adjust automatically to fit the screen sizes of PCs, smartphones, and tablets. This new structure helps users switch easily between poker room and casino reviews, strategy articles, and news.

Improving Loading Speed

Loading speed is important for website traffic. The Pokerlistings team has optimized the code, used “lazy loading” for images and videos, and reduced file sizes.

Now, pages load 40% faster. Thanks to these technical updates, the site gets more visitors from smartphones and tablets using mobile internet.

Adding New Features

The information portal has improved with new services and features. The updated odds calculator is faster and more accurate, and the “Poker Hand Analysis from Pro Players” section helps users analyze combinations and improve their strategies.

The company has also added a new “Freerolls” section with exclusive offers for free events. These additions make the site appealing for both beginners and experienced players.

Adapting to Modern Requirements

The new site meets current standards and digital trends. Pages load quickly, even on unstable internet connections, thanks to CDN technology that distributes content through servers worldwide.

Users will notice a large, clear font, a convenient menu, and a well-organized layout. Another improvement is “lazy loading,” where video content starts only when users scroll to it.

Advantages Over Competitors

In a busy market with many projects, it’s important to stand out and stay strong. PokerListings is committed to being legal, ethical, and having a long-term vision. Inspired by Warren Buffett, the team values honesty, trust, and careful planning over quick profits.

PokerListings focuses on casual players who enjoy poker for fun, not just to make money. They want simple strategies, freerolls, and helpful information. That’s why the team creates clear and useful resources like guides, tutorials, and entertaining formats. They offer updated calculators, beginner guides, bankroll tips, and basic poker theory.

But the strategy isn’t just for newcomers. The team is also creating tools for experienced players, including AI features, analytics, and in-game stats.

Ethics, education, and smart technology in action

PokerListings main advantage is their strict compliance with the laws in the countries where they operate, as well as their commitment to transparency and integrity. This approach echoes Jeremy Miller’s ideas about Warren Buffett’s investment methods: PokerListings focus on long-term and transparent partnerships rather than short-term benefits.

PokerListings has been around since 2003 and has already gained a significant audience. The main users are recreational players who prefer low bets, study poker rules and enjoy freerolls. The team is actively developing content and tools to make their game more comfortable. For example, PokerListings has prepared detailed guides that can be downloaded and used at any time. The company has also updated the training materials and added new content to attract newcomers.

In addition, PokerListings is gradually introducing new tools, including AI-based solutions, to support more experienced players who prefer low rates.

The Role of AI and Technology

The capabilities of AI are growing rapidly, making data collection and processing cheaper and changing the entire web, especially sites with organic traffic. Right now, texts written by AI are almost indistinguishable from those written by humans, and this difference may disappear over time. Websites are filled with thousands of such articles, which can be produced in seconds, raising questions about whether people will read them knowing they are created by machines. Moreover, a lot of this content is written more for search algorithms than for actual readers. And this brings up important questions: how can PokerListings balance what readers want with what works well in search engines?

To solve this issue, the company needs to analyze their audience deeply and create truly high-quality content. AI is a helpful tool, but the end result must meet real human needs. This is especially important in online poker, where many platforms have stagnated and ignored new trends. Now, these services are at a turning point: some will stay on top, while others will be replaced by more innovative brands.

2025 Plans and New Services

In 2024, the team started its new plan. They created a new structure, updated important content areas, launched initial regional websites, and developed a new brand image. The main focus was on quality, following the law, and ensuring technical stability.

The short-term goal is to finish this phase to prepare for growth in the future. Key priorities include building stronger regional teams, automating content creation, and improving support for affiliates.

New Services, Awards, and Hand Analysis

The 2025 plan includes several major launches:

• A system to track poker room traffic,
• A new section for offline tournaments,
• A public database for players and users,
• Updated calculators,
• Individualized error analysis,
• Automated tools for reviewing hands.

Another important step is bringing back the industry achievement awards. These awards aim to bring the community together around the new brand. They will be based on clear measures like traffic, market share growth, and user feedback. The awards will also honor those behind the scenes, such as experienced dealers, developers, writers, and experts who help improve the poker world.

The Transformation of Poker

Poker has changed a lot in the last ten years. Players have become more skilled, fast online games have become popular, and laws are changing to protect users while keeping regulations in check. In countries like Brazil, poker might soon be recognized legally, which could help it grow in this big market.

At the same time, many poker players are also enjoying online casino games, with about 60% of them trying slots for fun and variety. This is changing the market: games are getting faster and more random, and websites and apps are adding better visuals and sounds.

PokerListings is paying attention to these changes and is working to combine traditional poker with new formats and experiences.

Working With the Audience & Media Strategy

Today, PokerListings mainly targets English-speaking audiences, especially in the U.S., UK, and Canada. They are also developing their presence in Europe, Latin America, and Africa, which are seen as important markets for the next 5–10 years.

Their content strategy focuses on long-term value, providing in-depth analysis, tournament summaries, interviews, historical pieces, and original articles. The goal is to be useful, not just to attract clicks with flashy headlines.

In 2025, the team started to participate more in poker tournaments, even sending some of their own top players. Media visibility is important, but it needs to feel genuine, especially since many users are in the U.S. and not interested in European news.

PokerListings is growing its communities on X (Twitter), YouTube, Meta, and Telegram, particularly among English speakers where competition is still manageable. They plan to expand into Discord and create media featuring popular poker players and industry experts.

It’s clear that PokerListings has successfully recovered and revamped its strategy. Maxim and his team have established a new structure based on tradition and expertise, while also focusing on innovation and adaptability.

The next phase is all about growing globally: launching new services, entering local markets, and providing tools for analysis, education, and community engagement. In this game, it’s not just about having a good hand — it’s about playing it smart. And their strategy is already underway.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The company’s management plans to update its strategy, focusing on partnerships and cooperation with key players in the poker industry. In the face of growing competition and changing player preferences, building strong alliances is becoming an important step to strengthen market positions. 

PokerListings intends to establish links with online casinos, poker platforms and other organizations to offer users unique offers and an improved gaming experience. In addition, the company plan to expand its presence in the international arena by cooperating with local operators in various regions. This will make it possible to better adapt the offers to the local markets and the needs of the players.

A New Era for PokerListings

PokerListings is entering a new era, striving to revive the legend and strengthen its position in the poker world. The company understands that every stage of its development requires adaptation and innovation. In 2025, PokerListings plans to not only improve the user experience, but also introduce new features that will make the platform more interactive and accessible. The company is proud to offer players extensive resources, including strategies, reviews, and the latest news from the poker world. The team is working to ensure the relevance and quality of the content by creating a community where everyone can find support and the necessary knowledge. So the upcoming changes will attract both new and experienced players, and help build a successful future for PokerListings.