Poker business, especially online, as well as gaming world in general, is certainly driven by the constant need for improvement. To attract new customers, poker providers are doing their best to make their software better and more engaging. This year PokerStars delivers some major changes on their platform, including new loyalty program called Stars Rewards.
Obviously, the skillful players could be able to achieve some profit from online gaming, or even make a decent living. Also, the mere fact of playing in the best online poker rooms could be entertaining enough. However, experienced users are well aware that all those things get better with a little extra incentive. Plus, recreational players will always appreciate some nice prize awards or bonuses coming their way. This is where so-called loyalty programs or VIP clubs come into play. In most cases, the general idea is for clients to gather points awarded accordingly to real money activity on the account. This means that regular high stakes players would most likely be the biggest beneficiaries of the system. It is a nice way to get some of your invested bankroll back, and a pretty good deal for poker rooms, as the prize money probably is going to be spend at the tables anyway.
There are no obstacles for loyalty programs to be more than that and to take more elaborated form. PokerStars is surely one of the leading parties in the matter. Their propositions often transcend beyond simple exchanging points. Before recent changes they were operating on the rudiments of various VIP levels. Those were being established by the amount of VPP points accumulated in a month. There were also FPP points for spending your bankroll that could be used to purchase prizes and tournament tickets. Higher the VIP level, quicker the points earning.
The new system is even more detailed. You still get points for regular playing, awarded for most real money games (with few minor exceptions), at poker, betting section and casino. You get 100 rewards points for every dollar in rake or tournament fees. Those points then will determine which one of six available chests, each having different maximum value, you can open to see what’s inside. What you can find is supposed to have a corresponding relation to what you do as a player. This concept of personalized awards suggests that the things you can get for participating in the program are being tailored to your preferences. This should mean that, if you are usually active in small stake multi-table tournaments, you can probably expect a few bucks in tournament ticket as your reward.
Besides that, the chest will hide some seasonal surprises in the form of entries and tickets to some special events (like WSOP, PS Festival and similar). Other than that, the overall prize pool should include the mix of some extra cash, StarCoins and more reward points. StarCoins can be exchanged for cash, tickets and other stuff at rewards store, or used in the special lottery “The Deal” where you can bet some of them for a chance to win something big.
