The Poker Bus

PokerStars VIP Program Announced

The VIP program at Pokerstars is going to be crazy! I knew the VIP program was coming for over a month now but I had to keep it a secret. I couldn’t help leaking a few hints here and there but I was able to hold it in for the most part.

This system works on different tiers. You start out on the base tier, which is BronzeStar, and you earn nothing special for being in this BronzeStar VIP. It’s the same as the regular VIP store.

The next level is a SilverStar VIP. To become a SilverStar VIP you have to earn 1500VPP points within a calender month. As a SilverStar your FPP earn rate increases by 50%. If you enter a $20+2 tournament, instead of earning 10fpp’s you’ll get 15fpp’s towards your pokerstars account. The FPP store for a SilverStar member includes iPods, tickets to the big Sunday tournaments, and the ability to name a star??
http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/silver_fpp.html

Next comes the GoldStar VIP level. You need to earn 4,000 VPP’s to get into this level. You earn VPP(VIP Player Points) at the same rate as the base FPP points. $1 in tournament rake gets you 5VPP’s no matter what tier you in. You also can’t earn VPP’s through winning a FPP tournament. As a GoldStar VIP, your FPP’s add up at a 100% earn rate. Your FPP earn rate doubles compared to the base VIP level or the old FPP system. You also get access to a store where you can purchase TV’s, monitors, and a single table tournament with a Pokerstars champion.
http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/gold_fpp.html

The second highest VIP level is a PlatinumStar. You become a platinum star after earning 10,000 VPP’s in a month. You earn FPP’s at a 150% rate at this level now. The FPP store also gets really good at this level. You can now buy into EPT events, WSOP events, WCOOP events, and get some other cool stuff. With this level and the previous level, after the month ends you drop to the base level and start over again. http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/platinum_fpp.html

And the best Pokerstars VIP level you can reach is Supernova. If you earn 100,000FPP’s within a year, you’ll get Supernova status for the rest if of the year. This includes a huge 250%FPP earn rate. So for every $2 raked in tournaments you’ll earn 35 FPP’s instead of the normal 10. This makes the $10k buy-in events that cost 1,000,000 FPP’s not as out of reach as it may seem. And you also get access to the previous FPP stores.
http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/supernova_fpp.html

They were thinking about adding an option to convert your FPP’s to cash, but Pokerstars really wants to stay away from RakeBack. After getting to Supernova status, the prizes come much quicker though. You earn 3.5x more FPP’s then you would at the old fpp system. At Supernova status you’ll earn 13,500 FPP’s after being raked $771, which is enough for a $215 tournament ticket. That’s equivalent to almost 28% RakeBack. Most other prizes are the same as around 25-30% RakeBack at supernova status also. Pokerstars rakes less then most other poker rooms at cash games so even getting 20% rake back at Pokerstars(in the form of prizes) might be equal to 40% RakeBack at a prima skin.

This VIP program is really exciting. Even without Rakeback or special promotions like they have now poker stars was my favorite site to play at. They always had the best software, customer support and tournaments. Now with the VIP program I have a feeling Pokerstars is going to take even more business away from other internet poker rooms and cause them to come up with more drastic promotions to try and get players back.

Pokerstars tournament rake back equivalent

Each fpp averages out to $.016 in the new fpp store. You can buy into pokerstars tournaments with fpp’s and then cashout for T$ which can be used in all tournaments and sit&go’s.

Also I’d like to make it clear that you can’t get RakeBack at PokerStars. Pokerstars pays their affiliates a one time payment for referring new players, not a percentage of their rake each month. If getting rake back is your thing there are some good deals on the RakeBack page.