Poker Stars VIP Club

Like many of its competitors in the online poker market, PokerStars has long had a player loyalty program in place. Players at the popular online card room earn Frequent Player Points for participating in ring games and tournaments alike. Once players have accumulated enough FPPs they can use them to order merchandise directly from PokerStars, or to earn entry into special FPP satellite tournaments which award seats in land-based big-money tournaments. On January 1st, 2006, PokerStars will be rolling out an addition to its player loyalty program that should put it a step above the competition: the new PokerStars VIP Club.

The basis of the new VIP Club are VIP Player Points, or VPPs. These new points are accrued in exactly the same manner as regular FPPs - by playing in cash games and tournaments. However, any bonus FPPs (through completing surveys or through VIP club member benefits) or FPPs earned through withdrawing from FPP tournaments you've won your way into. The accumulation of VPPs every month gives you one of four status levels as outlined below:
 

As soon as a player accrues enough VPPs to reach a new level in the VIP Club, the new status level will be awarded. That new level lasts until the end of the calendar month in which it was earned (e.g. if you earn 1,500 VPPs by January 12th you will be a SilverStar member throughout the rest of the month). Your status as a SilverStar member will last until the end of February, unless you earn another 1,500 VPPs to requalify during February.

Each status level above BronzeStar carries with it various benefits, as listed below:

SilverStar - members earn 50% bonus FPPs per week (e.g. an extra 500 FPPs if you earn 1,000 FPPs), have access to SilverStar FPP Store merchandise, can enter weekly VIP tournaments, and can win satellites for entry into a monthly VIP freeroll.

GoldStar - in addition to benefits enjoyed by SilverStar members, GoldStar members earn 100% bonus FPPs per week, have access to GoldStar FPP merchandise, and earn automatic entry into the monthly VIP freeroll without having to win a satellite.

PlatinumStar - in addition to benefits enjoyed by GoldStar members, PlatinumStar members earn 150% bonus FPPs per week and have access to PlatinumStar FPP merchandise.

For players who manage to earn 100,000 VPPs in a single year, there is one further VIP Club level: Supernova. Members who reach this level will not have to requalify monthly as members of other levels do; their status will continue to the end of the calendar year in which they earn it. They earn 250% bonus FPPs weekly, gain access to all the benefits awarded to lower membership levels, have access to special Supernova FPP merchandise, and can earn custom FPP rewards.

Once the VIP Club program has kicked off, weekly freerolls will begin running every Saturday. These tournaments will be limited to 10,000 player each. At 1:30 PM ET the $5,000 GoldStar VIP freeroll begins. The $7,500 PlatinumStar VIP freeroll starts at 2:00 PM ET. The Supernova VIP freeroll starts at 2:30 PM ET, and the $2,500 SilverStar VIP freeroll kicks off at 3:30 PM ET. SilverStar freerolls will begin on January 7th, GoldStar and PlatinumStar freerolls begin on January 28th, and Supernova freerolls will start April 1st. The Supernova freerolls will start with a prize pool of $10,000 and increase by $2,000 on the first Saturday of each month. To finish out the VIP freeroll schedule, the monthly $100,000 VIP freeroll will run on the last Saturday of every month at 3:00 PM ET, starting on January 28th.

One of the most attractive benefits of the VIP Club is the ability to use FPPs to buy tickets for entry into online and land-based tournaments. SilverStar members can enter the weekly PokerStars $200+15 No-Limit Hold'em tournament; GoldStar members can enter that tournament as well as the weekly $500+30 No-Limit Hold'em tourney. PlatinumStar events enjoy these benefits as well as the ability to use FPPs for entry into $500 and above World Championship of Online Poker Events, European Poker Tour events, and preliminary World Series of Poker events with buy-ins up to $5,000. Supernova members can enter all of the above tournaments, as well as the WSOP Main Event, the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final, and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. All entry tickets are non-transferable, non-exchangeable, and non-refundable.

The new VIP Club promises to set PokerStars apart from its competitors - and the best part of the program is that players don't have to do anything more than play in the games they already enjoy.