Something for everyone
PokerStars has announced a revamp of its rewards program, calling it “fairer” and “more transparent.” Slated to switch over on January 22, the new system aims to reward high volume players more while not punishing casual players for not putting in the grind.
The first big change that PokerStars discusses in its blog post is that Weekly Poker Challenges will disappear.
“These challenges did not work as well as we’d hoped, with 75% of the players who opted into challenges failing to complete them,” Stars said. “This resulted in players having their progress bars reset, no matter how close they were to completing them. The end result was that those players’ efforts were simply not rewarded.”
PokerStars noted that, based on customer feedback, the challenges were one of the biggest sources of dissatisfaction.
The new system will be purely volume based, so players make progress at their own pace, with clear targets and rewards. Minimum requirements to earn Rewards Chests have been increased, but the maximum rewards have increased, as well, from 25% in the base program to 40%. All rewards will be in cash.
Of course, this doesn’t help lower volume casual players who won’t hit higher rewards levels. For them, PokerStars wants to reward “frequency” in addition to volume. To do this, PokerStars will give players a $0.50 Power Path ticket every day they play, regardless of volume.
New levels at the top
The top grinders will get special rewards. PokerStars is introducing two new loyalty levels above all others: Select and Select+.
PokerStars Select is for those who rake $/€50,000 in a rolling one-year period. They will earn 50% rakeback. Simple as that, it seems.
PokerStars Select+ is for players who rake $/€100,000 in a rolling one-year period. They will get 60% rakeback from Spin & Go and Zoom games and 50% rakeback from all other poker games. All rakeback will be deposited in accounts daily.
Players who are still working toward a reward when the new system is put in place next Monday will be shifted over once their progress bar is completed, expired, or exchanged. All earned cleared Chests and unused rewards will stay in players’ accounts – nothing will be lost in the conversion.
PokerStars is warning that players might find themselves at a different loyalty level when the program switch is made in a week.
“Why these adjustments, you might ask,” Stars says on its FAQ page. “Because the new levels have very different play requirements, and by downgrading, we compensate for the difference and ensure consistency.
“In other words, we provide players with Chest level requirements that are consistent with the conditions set out for them so far.”
Rewards points for the casino and sports betting are also being eliminated and will be replaced with future promotions.
