It feels like online poker news has been dominated by the changes at Full Tilt Poker. With the addition of the new game Rush Poker and implementation of a new buy-in structure at standard tables, most players are cheering the changes at Full Tilt. This has left the world’s largest online poker site, PokerStars, in a somewhat unfamiliar position of playing second fiddle in the headlines.
As a result of the changes at Full Tilt Poker, the first fear that many PokerStars regulars had was that short-stackers who could no longer play on Full Tilt would move over to PokerStars. Short-stackers are players who buy into cash games for the absolute minimum and play a push-or-fold strategy. Once these players double up, they immediately leave and do it again somewhere else. They are regarded as serious nuisances at tables who kill the action and take away from the “true” dynamic of poker.
With the new structure at Full Tilt’s cash game tables, these players are forced to buy in for 35 big blinds, which mathematically doesn’t allow them to play their brand of poker. Thus, in theory, they’d move to a site that will allow them that privilege. This scenario seems to be playing out to a degree and many PokerStars regulars are highly vocal in their opinion that the site needs to follow suit.
When asked for comment, a PokerStars representative told Poker News Daily, “PokerStars will monitor player feedback and make changes if we think it’s an overall positive for PokerStars and its players. There is no set timetable for any decisions.”
The only other official comment from a PokerStars representative came from the TwoPlusTwo forums in the SuperNova Elite Pursuit Thread. There, PokerStars VIP Manager “PS SteveD” said, “Table buyin size limits is a topic that PokerStars will be paying close attention to in the coming weeks. Changes are possible. As always, all player input is welcome and appreciated.”
There is an industry sentiment that PokerStars has the best VIP Program that rewards players for constant play. With Full Tilt Poker saying that its VIP system is about to undergo serious changes, we checked in with PokerStars to see how their own newly implemented VIP Club changes have been received. We spoke directly with “PS SteveD” on the TwoPlusTwo Forms about the site’s VIP system and potential changes coming in the future.
PND: The PokerStars VIP Club made some significant changes in recent months. What were the goals you hoped to accomplish with those changes? How have they played out so far and do you think they have been successful?
PS SteveD: One goal of the VIP Club changes for 2010 is to add some value for BronzeStar, SilverStar, and GoldStar VIPs. The VIP Stellar Rewards program accomplishes this goal, giving cash directly back to players starting at 750 VPPs and continuing on up through 90,000 VPPs. It’s a nice set of rewards for PlatinumStar and Supernova VIPs too, as players reaching 90,000 VPPs for the year will earn $1,000 in Stellar Rewards. SilverStar is much easier to reach now as well, down to 750 VPPs per month from 1,200 VPPs. Overall, VIP Club benefits are now much stronger for lower volume players. The changes have been successful so far as players seem to be quite happy with VIP Stellar Rewards.
Another goal was to make some changes based on player feedback in order to provide value in ways preferable to players. Converting the $75,000 Weekly VIP tournament into a $1,000,000 Quarterly VIP tournament has proven to be a very popular change. The restructuring of the milestone cash credits to provide more value to players at 200,000 and 300,000 VPPs has also been embraced, with many Supernovas aiming for higher milestones this year.
PND: We believe there were 209 SuperNova Elites last year. Did that number blow away your expectations and what are you shooting for in 2010?
PS SteveD: The number of Supernova Elite VIPs has increased every year since the level was first offered, so the increase wasn’t surprising. With players earning VPPs 10% faster at all tournaments and sit and gos as well as many six-max tables, I expect we will have even more Supernova Elite VIPs in 2010.
PND: What’s been the reception of the January VIP Club Store sale and can we expect anything like it in upcoming months?
PS SteveD: Reaction to the January VIP Club store sale has been overwhelmingly positive. Participation exceeding projections is a good indication that players like this promotion. Expect different kinds of promotions over the next few months, but future promotions involving the VIP Store are a very strong possibility.
PND: There are a bunch of rumors we know you can’t directly comment on, but can you speak about how changes are implemented?
PS SteveD: Player suggestions and feedback play a very important part in the PokerStars decision-making process. When all (or most) players want the same thing, the decision to move forward with a change is often very easy. It can be challenging to make decisions in areas where player opinion is divided among strongly opposing viewpoints. In such situations, much effort is put into finding a solution that meets the wants and needs of all players.
PND: Why is there no level between SuperNova and SuperNova Elite?
PS SteveD: The milestone cash credits provide intermediate levels in a way. Consider the difference in rewards earned between a player earning 200,000 VPPs and a player earning 100,000 VPPs. The player earning 200,000 VPPs earns 350,000 extra FPPs, 50,000 of which are spent on a $3,400 milestone cash credit. If spent on the largest cash bonus, the other 300,000 FPPs will net another $4,800. That’s an extra $8,200 in cash value for players who earn 200,000 VPPs instead of 100,000 VPPs. The rewards just get bigger as players hit higher milestones. Players who earn 500,000 VPPs can be rewarded with $34,000 extra (compared to 100,000 VPPs) through milestone cash credits and bonuses. So, the value is there at those intermediate levels.
An official level between Supernova and Supernova Elite is something that was considered for this year. While there was some player support for such a level, there was no real consensus about where exactly it should be added. The current schedule of milestone cash credits allows for a nice steady increase in rewards so that players can choose which exact milestone level is the best yearly goal for them. I will continue to monitor player input on this matter and it will certainly be reviewed again when changes for 2011 are considered.
