Current Problems WIth Pokerstars VIP/Supernova Program And Suggestions

[DCJ311]

Caveat: I know that there is already a thread about this but I feel like these ideas would somewhat derail it.

First off, I am a Supernova player at Pokerstars, and have accrued almost 300,000 VPP's this year. Over the past 2 years, I have corresponded with various Pokerstars officials back and forth both via e-mail and in person on how to improve their site for all players, not just the high stakes ones.

As mostly a $225, $555, and $1050 sit and go player, I've been frustrated with Pokerstars for years given their lack of activity in their high limit sngs compared to the ones on PartyPoker. I have persisted with them in the past on giving superactive players incentive to play on Pokerstars, and that was one of the basis for the implementation of the VIP program.

I was initially happy with the Supernova program, as it is roughly equivalent to 28% 'rakeback' for Supernova members. However, even with the massive incentive to play on Pokerstars post-VIP program, the sit and go's I like to play are barely more active than they were a year ago.

I have racked my brain trying to think of why people aren't lining up to play big buyin sit and go's at a much higher rate than they once did, since it is a really easy way to gain FPPs and become a Supernova member.

But when it comes down to it, if you are a regular 8-10 tabler, there are far more reasons to use those 10 tables at PartyPoker rather than Pokerstars, given the 'promotional' incentives available at PartyPoker.

I have done the calculations and realize that I spend roughly $200,000 a year in rake on poker, which is frighteningly sick when you stop to think about it. DarioMinieri of Pokerstars recently traded in 3 million FPPs for a Porsche. Do you know how much rake he had to pay for that Porsche? I believe it's somewhere in the ballpark of $170,000.

Listen, if Pokerstars were really on point, instead of giving guys like Victor Ramdin and others who hardly give Pokerstars any business big endorsement contracts, they'd take the $50k hit and give Dariominieri a free Porsche, simply for being one of Pokerstars' most active players. Sure it's really nice that Barry Greenstein is a member of Team Pokerstars and plays a tournament every once in a while, but the millions of dollars paid to him should really have gone to Pokerstars' most active players.

It's really frustrating to be one of hundreds of people who have given upwards of several hundred thousand dollars to Pokerstars in the past several years, and end up with very little to show for it in terms of promotions and endorsement deals, meanwhile a few guys who hardly play on Pokerstars are getting endorsement offers.

I mean, why call it 'VIP' if all you're really getting is 28% rakeback? If I accrue 2 million VPPs in a year, I don't get any more special treatment than a guy with 100k VPP.

At least on PartyPoker, the more you play, the more promotional cashback you receive, as well as a free WSOP seat to the 30 most active players over a given week this summer.

The best thing to do on Pokerstars is get your 100k VPP so that you are eligible for all Supernova promotions and freerolls, then simply take your business to PartyPoker so you get better value for your dollar.

I really do prefer playing on Pokerstars rather than PartyPoker, so here are some suggestions as to how they can improve:

1. Add a higher VIP tier than Supernova. The problem with Supernova is that it polarizes players. If you multi-table 25/50 NL and $530+25 sit and go's all day, it takes at most 3-4 months of active play to get the 100,000 VPP. It's really a joke and doesn't set the bar high enough for truly active players.

If you're a $1/2 limit player who plays only 1-2 tables, you have no chance of making Supernova, and it gives you virtually no incentive to play on Pokerstars aside from the nice software.

So, Pokerstars should add something an 'Atomic' tier for players who reach a level of 500,000 VPPs per year, and these players should be simply given great comps and other promotions, like free Super Bowl and World Series tickets, cruises, free entries into WSOP, etc. As I said before, guys like Dariominieri should be GIVEN a Porsche, not have to trade 3 million FPPs for one.

2. Allow more flexibility with FPPs. FPPs should really be allowed to be exchanged for W$ and possibly even T$. I have 900,000 FPPs in my account and I can't do anything productive with them at the moment except buy into maybe a dozen specified tournaments.

There's a huge market out there that profits from buying and selling W$. It's clear that most players are looking to dump W$ for cash. Why not let them exchange W$ for FPPs? Each FPP could be worth $0.015 W$ and vice versa.

If you own a poker site, your main financial goal is to keep as much money as possible on your site. If you let players exchange W$ for cash, you take a significant amount of money out of your site when the players take the cash and withdraw. If you allow W$ and FPPs to be interchangeable, you keep the money on the site and gain more traffic for your satellites and freerolls.

The same thing applies for T$. Why should I have to spend 31,000 FPPs on a $500 Amazon gift certificate, when all I really want to do is use those FPPs to play a $500 sit and go?

If Pokerstars wants their sit and go's and tournaments to be more populated, allow players to trade their FPPs for T$. It's ridiculous that Pokerstars wants me to withdraw $8000 worth of FPPs for an EPT Baden tournament, but doesn't want me to spend $8000 worth of FPPs on their sit and gos in which they are raking almost $800. Explain that one to me!

Anyways, I'd like others to chime in and I'll add more later.