One of the biggest challenges an online poker room faces is how to retain customers. It is easy enough to attract customers – offering a sweet deposit bonus or nice rakeback deal can work – but other sites can just as easily steal those customers away. In fact, rakeback has been the subject of much debate lately, as most online poker operators hate it. They believe that rakeback is a cheap way to lure customers away from other sites, often rooms on the same network. That destroys margins and creates no customer loyalty.
So what should online poker rooms do to keep their customers in the fold? Well, aside from the obvious, such as provide quality software, security, and full tables, operators need to concentrate on developing loyalty programs that actually create loyalty. They all have them. PokerStars has its different VIP levels, Full Tilt Poker has its Iron Man Challenge, CEREUS has RAI$E, and so on. Each has its supporters and detractors and all are effective to some extent. One online poker network, however, caught my eye recently, as it rolled out changes to its loyalty program that I believe will help it immensely.
That network to which I must give kudos is the Cake Poker Network. On December 9th, it launched its new Gold Stacks program, an offshoot of the pre-existing Gold Chips system. Before I get into why I like it, let me explain how it works. It’s all based on Gold Chips earned during real money play. As you play at any of the Cake Poker Network sites, you earn Frequent Player Points (FPPs) at the rate of one for every $1 raked from a cash game pot and seven for every $1 in tournament fees. Accumulate 120 FPPs and you get your first Gold Coin for the month. After another 115 FPPs, you get a second Gold Coin. The FPP requirements keep decreasing until the fifth, when it levels off at 70.
With the new program, those Gold Chips build up to create Gold Stacks. With each Gold Stack, the online poker room gives you a guaranteed reward. You don’t have to do anything special to claim the reward; it is automatically given to you. Furthermore, the poker room will sweeten the deal by giving a larger Turbo reward for building a stack within six days and an even larger Super Turbo reward for building one within three days. There are 50 levels of Gold Stacks in all, each of which requires an increasingly greater number of Gold Stacks to be built before moving up a level. For the first nine levels, the rewards are simply more Gold Chips. Starting at Level 10, they are cash prizes, which can get as high $682.50 for the Level 50 Super Turbo reward.
Players below Level 10 will never move down a level, even if they take a year’s hiatus from poker. Players above that are only required to earn three Gold Chips over back-to-back months to maintain their status and, even if they don’t accomplish the minor feat, they will only go down to Level 10.
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here is why Gold Stacks impresses me. First, it’s very easy to follow. Earn FPPs, accumulate Gold Chips, and create Gold Stacks. All of it is tracked textually and graphically in the poker software. There are no point multipliers, no fancy names for different VIP levels, no added benefits (besides the actual rewards) to higher levels, and FPPs are earned at the same rate no matter what game or stakes you play.
Second, the rewards are automatic and guaranteed. You don’t have to take your Gold Chips to a store to buy a cash bonus and you don’t have to decide whether to spend points now or try to save up for a better bonus.
The main reason I like the Gold Stacks program is that it has something for everyone. Everyone can feel included. For the high-volume, high-stakes grinders, there are very healthy cash bonuses as you advance up the Gold Stacks ladder. It may take a while to hit the higher levels, but it takes a while to achieve elite VIP levels at other poker rooms, too.
For low-stakes players, there is almost immediate gratification, as stacks are easy to build early on. Sure, the rewards are only Gold Chips below Level 10, but those Gold Chips can still be spent in the Cake Shop for gear, electronics, and other unique items. Even though it’s not cash, it gives the casual player a sense of accomplishment to win something.
Plus, unlike other poker rooms where you have to keep playing a lot to avoid losing your VIP status, the rooms on the Cake Poker Network will not punish low-level players for playing low volume. You won’t move up quickly if you don’t play a lot, but you won’t move down, either. It’s a consideration like this that makes casual players, in particular, feel wanted and appreciated. They don’t feel that the “good stuff” is only reserved for high rollers.
With hardcore poker players having the ability to earn ever-increasing cash rewards and low-stakes players feeling the satisfaction of actually being rewarded for playing, the Cake Poker Network may have found an effective way to develop customer loyalty.