To celebrate the 2010 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), PokerStars is offering a special reload bonus to all of its current customers.
Players who make a qualifying deposit before 11:59pm ET on September 11th using the bonus code “WCOOP” (without the quotation marks) will receive a 20 percent bonus up to the maximum of $100. For example, a customer depositing $200 on Wednesday will receive a $40 bonus. In order to receive the maximum $100 bonus, a $500 deposit is required.
As one might expect, the bonus will need to be earned through play at the real money tables; it is not put into players’ accounts right away. Those who deposit in U.S. Dollars will need to earn 20 VIP Player Points (VPPs) for every $1 in bonus. Different currencies have different VPP rates: 26 VPPs per €1, 32 VPPs per £1, and 20 VPPs per C$. Also note that for Euros and British Pounds, the maximum bonus is scaled down to reflect the differences in currency value to €75 and £65.
VPPs are collected by playing at real money tables, both tournaments and cash games. In tournaments, 5.5 VPPs are earned for every $1 paid in tournament entry fees (8 VPPs per €1). Cash game rates are determined by the number of seats at the table, regardless of how many are actually occupied. At cash tables with eight or more seats, 6 VPPs are distributed to the table as a whole for every $1 in rake (8.5 VPPs per €1), while at tables with seven or fewer seats, 5.5 VPPs are distributed for every $1 in rake (8 VPPs per €1). Those VPPs are then divided equally among the players who were dealt cards in the hand. Fractional VPPs are awarded.
For example, at a full ring table with nine players and $3 in rake taken from a hand, 18 total VPPs will be divided among the players, meaning that each player will receive 2 VPPs.
Fortunately, unlike bonuses at PokerStars over the years that were released in one lump sum once the entire bonus was earned, the WCOOP reload bonus will be released in $10 increments. Thus, players don’t have to worry about the entire bonus being lost if they are unable to earn the whole thing.
Players will have 20 days from the time of deposit to earn as much bonus as they can.
The 2010 WCOOP kicked off at PokerStars on September 5th. Today’s events will be $215 Pot-Limit Draw, $215 Triple Stud, and $1,050 Two-Day No-Limit Hold’em. All told, the 2010 WCOOP will consist of 62 events over three weeks with $50 million in guaranteed prize pools. It all culminates with the two-day $5,200 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event beginning on September 26th.
