Pokerstars New VIP Program

Monteroy · Dec 23,2005, 01:57 PM

http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/main.htmlÂ* Â*it begins in the new year.

I have read through it some and as always Pokerstars really puts thought into what they do.Â* It is almost silly comparing this program's setup with Party's current program.

Gold membership would not be too hard to maintain if one plays 2/4+.Â* You earn points at twice the level for it and $500 travel gift card goes for 30,000 points.

So at gold member level thats $500 for 15,000 points or 3.3 cents per FPP raked hand ($20 or more at 2/4 limit+).Â* If the average contributed rake is about 1.50 rake/8 players (ie 18 cents or so) then it works out to around 16% rakeback at Gold level give or take.

While that figure isÂ* lower then what you can get at other sites, it is offered in such a professional well thought out manner that it is really a good deal (especially given what the game selection will become).

In contrast, Party Poker's VIP program (to which I am a member) is literally a mess.Â* They do not know what offer they will give from one day to the next, and half the time they do not even inform their players of the offers.

I do really like the Party games, but I can see them losing some high volume players based on just how well run their various reward programs have become.Â* I will not forgo Party totally, but I will certainly be playing more on Stars, likely Gold level purely based on this new program.

I hope we will see this type of trend continue, it is exactly what online poker needs.

funkymunky · Dec 24,2005, 08:41 AM

I like the Stars VIP program, although I don't think it'll bring the super high-volume guys with rakeback deals. Not really worth it to them.

The thing is, it seems pretty black and white - what you see is what you get. Unlike Party, which may or may not declide to inform you of your VIP target, or even decide that there will be a tanglible offer in a given month.

Anywho, I have RB elsewhere, but I can see some stars play for the next little while - if anything to try and make my way up to Gold or Platinum.

I would say the ball is in Party's court, but I get the feeling they either don't know or don't care what's going on inthe poker world around them. And I really get the feeling they'd just as soon get rid of all the sharks.

BTW, it will be interesting to see how this affects the other rooms, in terms of official incentive programs.

P.S. It seems to be a waste, particularly with things like plasma screens, monitors, Porches, etc available, but I kinda like the idea of having that PokerStars table in my rec room.

GTA Poker · Dec 24,2005, 10:19 AM

I don't think this is a big deal since it does not come close to any rakeback program...at least it's something as I play almost all my sngs on stars.

zero · Dec 24,2005, 02:09 PM

"Name a Star

By playing at PokerStars, you are already a star. Now, you can make it official by naming one of the stars in the sky after yourself or a loved one. "

For only 2500 FPP I'm tempted to name a star after myself, I guess its a cool thing to tell people. Hahaha, what a weird thing to have in the store, but I'm half serious about doing it anyways.

westside8 · Dec 24,2005, 02:22 PM

For 2500, I am tempted to do the same. I mean if I can just take down of those of 300FPP satellites and just unregister I can get a star name after me!
Is it just me or it will be really hard to obtain anything over silver level?

SirWatts · Dec 25,2005, 03:32 AM

This is very good news. Most importantly, it will convince to me to play more sit and goes instead of crapshoot MTTs to really rake in the FPP.

Tigerscott · Dec 25,2005, 08:13 PM

well if you can get to high enough level to buy wpt or wsop seats.. it'll work like rakeback sort of