PokerStars VIP Program
The true hidden gem of PokerStars is its VIP Program, which makes it very worth of your while to play some online poker at PokerStars. Despite PokerStars not offering real rakeback, getting some hands in on PS awards you VIP Player points, which will get you an entrance in the top texas holdem sites loyalty program on the net, period! And yes, when you compare the system to others that offer rakeback, you will come to the conclusion entirely on your own that it is worth much more than standard rakeback if you get a moderate amount of playing time in.
Let's get down to business, shall we? Every player on PS.com begins his or her voyage as a BronzeStar player, which is the first VIP level (more on that later). Play some hands and tourneys on PokerStars.com and you will be generating VIP Player Points. Once you generate enough rake you will have advanced in VIP level. Some VIP levels are monthly, meaning that they will have to be renewed each month for an additional month of membership. Others are yearly, and will remain in place until the next February, and to extend them beyond that you need to accumulate a certain amount of VPP each month thereafter. As you reach the higher VIP levels, the faster you will be collecting FPPs and the VIP store will reveal all its items to you to allow you to purchase them.
Now we will be going deep into the bowels of one of the best rewards us friendly poker sites rewards system in online poker!
But first, let us lay down some of the prime details. Playing real money games on the download PokerStars client, both in cash games and tournaments, will net you VIP Player Points. Your success in climbing the VIP ladder on PokerStars is related to how many VPPs you accrue over either a calendar month or a calendar year. By playing real money games and earning VPP in the process you will be collecting Frequent Player points at a rate which is determined by your multiplier, which is determined by your current VIP level. FPPs are the heart of the Poker Stars VIP Store, and you can use them to purchase a ton of things which range from Teddy Bears to a variety of poker books to real monies and some four-door goodness. It is also possible to purchase buy-ins for land based events such as the WSOP directly from the store and even some online events with the aid of FPPs.
The rate at which you earn VPP are like this: In tournaments you will be earning 5.5 VPPs for every $1 and 8VPPs for every 1EUR paid in tourney fees, and in cash games this will depend on how many were seated and dealt cards in a hands. With 8 or more seats, you would collect 6 VPPs per dollar raked, while 8.5VPPs will be awarded for every 1EUR raked, maxing out at USD3 or 3 Euro. When we are talking about games which have 7 or fewer seats, we will be getting as an amount of 5.5VPP/USD and 85VPP/EUR. The amount of VPPs awarded is then shared among all the players who got dealt cards during the hand.
To begin with we have BronzeStar, which is the initial VIP level for every player. Playing at this level will net you 1 Frequent Player point for every single VIP Player Point you earn. Most of the really good stuff will be either unlocked or prohibitively expensive FPP-wise in the VIP store while playing at this level, but you will still be able to spend your FPP's on Poker Books, PokerStars branded clothing accessories including headwear and also poker accessories including playing cards and dealer buttons.
The following step up the VIP club Ladder is the SilverStar level. To reach this level you will have to accumulate 750 VPP's in a single month. SilverStar is also where we see the introduction to the FPP multiplier effect, which basically means that your rate of accumulation of VPPs and FPPs will now differ. As you can recall, BronzeStar members would collect FPPs at the same rate as they would collect VPPs: at SilverStar you will now earn FPPs 50% as fast, which means that for every 1 VPP you generate, you will be earning 1.5 FPPs. SilverStar specific items include a $50 bonus which costs 5000 FPPs and takes 350 VPPs to clear, also a few customizable shirts and a large selection of electronics and gift certificates for a large selection of stores around the globe, and all of this is on top of the things you had access to as a BronzeStar.
The following step up is GoldStar. Reaching this VIP level is done by reaching the 3,000 VPP milestone in a month. As a GoldStar VIP you will get a 2x multiplier, which basically means your earning rate of FPPs will increase by 100%! You will have access to every item in the store that are exclusive to lower VIP levels, but you will also get access to a few GoldStar-specific items, such as a Deluxe 500 piece poker chip set and the ability to purchase a few online tournament tickets for FPPs, most notably a $320 buy-in entry and a $530 buy-in entry. Also available for GoldStars is a selection of PS branded money clips, which allow you to look real suave while doing your daily purchases.
And then we arrive at the last of the monthly VIP Levels, which is PlatinumStar. Just earn 7,500 VPPs in any given month and this level is yours. Arguably the best benefit available to PlatinumStars is the 2.5x multiplier which makes it very easy to generate enough FPPs to buy everything in the store, and the PlatinumStar VIP level really unlocks the majority of stuff (non-money items) you can get in the VIP store. As before, every single item available for the lower VIP levels plus a few PlatinumStar goodies, which include: large cash bonuses up to $650 and also 50" Plasma or 40" LCD TV to get your entertainment fix. Generating FPPs to buy things in the store becomes incredibly easy at this level: just maintaining your VIP level will net you with about 20,000 FPPs each and every single month.
And then we arrive at Supernova. Since its one of the yearly levels, to become a Supernova you would have to earn a minimum of 100,000 VPPs between January 1st and December 31st of any given year. This will basically make you eligible for almost all of the PokerStars Bonus Code deals in the VIP store, including the $1500 and the $4000 bonuses which are exclusive to this level. These bonuses cost 100,000 and 250,000 FPPs respectively, and will require you to earn 10,500 and 25,000 VPPs respectively within 90 days to clear them. Of course, you can take these bonuses as many times as you want (assuming you have the required FPPs to do it) but can only clear 1 at a time. The picture should be clear to you as the amount of money you can warn while you are a Supernova on Poker Stars.com.
At this level you will also be able to purchase the Porsche Cayman S from the VIP store, but to get it you will have to spend 3,000,000 FPPs, so it will be quite a stretch to do this at Supernova. If you ever want to reach this incredible status, make sure you brush up with PokerStars’ poker video content to get your game ready for the challenge.
Supernovas are also given access to the very superb Poker Stars.com concierge service. To use it you would have to simply buy something with a total value greater than $500 and then mail the receipts to PokerStars, and then you will have the equivalent amount in FPPs deducted from your account, with the money you spent now deposited in your account. The amount of FPPs required will obviously vary depending on what you bought, and if you have any questions you should get in contact with the legendary PS customer support department and they will break it down for you.
But the PokerStars VIP program still has one more card up its sleeve. If you are truly hardcore, you should definitely try to reach the SNE VIP Level. This is the ultimate VIP player level on Poker Stars.com and it will take 1,000,000 VPPs to reach, and will also make everything in the VIP store instantly available. It is also a yearly VIP level meaning it is valid until the next February. Broken down to its bases level, you beat the game.
For every VPP you earn while SNE, you will earn 5 FPPs, which means a 5x multiplier is in effect. On the treacherous road to reach Elite, thankfully, Poker Stars.com has implemented a whole host of cash bonuses which will be available to you every time you cross a 100K VPP milestone. The bonuses you will encounter along the way on your road to SNE will amount to very close to 100K USD. Without a doubt, you will be in for some serious moneymaking if you reach Elite.
every discrete VIP level also has access to Daily, Weekly and Monthly VIP tourneys for which you would have to buy-in using FPPs; more details such as the time and date are available at PokerStars.com and also in the PokerStars lobby. And to help you make your way up the various VIP levels, Poker Stars.com will also be offering a large amount of milestone bonuses that reward you for reaching various amounts of yearly VPPs. Check the site or the PokerStars client for more details.
The PokerStars VIP program is considered by many to have the best mac poker sites loyalty service. Playing on PokerStars is a very lucrative thing to do, and obviously with more play you will be getting more rewards. And the additional benefits from having set figures to reach should not be overlooked, as this will keep your mind steady in the most trying of times. But now that you know all this, and know for certain just how lucrative playing poker on PokerStars is, what are you waiting for? If you start playing today you will still be able to make PlatinumStar this month, with the sky being your only limit!