PokerStars VIP

One of the most important aspects of playing poker online as opposed to live is the VIP Programs that online poker sites offer. These VIP Programs can take several forms, including rakeback as well as more traditional frequent player programs. Although there is not any true PokerStars rakeback, the PokerStars VIP Club has proven to be the most player friendly frequent player program in the industry.

Part of the reason for the success of the PokerStars VIP Program is its simplicity. In short, the more you play, the more you earn. Every time you play you earn VIP Player Points (VPPs) at PokerStars. VPPs, combined with your VIP Status, determine the number of Frequent Player Points you receive. Frequent Player Points (FPPs) can then be used to purchase items from the VIP store, including exclusive PokerStars items, tournament entries, jewelry, electronics and even cars. Most importantly though, FPPs can be used to buy cash bonuses. This is where the real value comes in with the PokerStars VIP Program.

How to Earn VIP Points

It is easy to figure out how many VIPs are earned for real money tournament play. For every $1 in tournament fees played 5.5 VPPs are earned. When playing in Euro instead of USD, 8 VPPs are earned for every €1 in fees paid. Partial points may be earned as well. For instance, when playing a $5 tournament with a $.50 entry fee, 2.75 VPPs are earned by the player.

Cash ring games are a little more complex, but still not overly complicated. In any table with 8 or more seats, no matter how many players are sitting in, 6 VPPs are awarded to the table for each $1 in rake paid. For Euro tables, 8.5 VPPs are awarded for each €1. The VPPs are then divided equally amongst each player dealt in to the hand. At the micro stakes, the VPP award is a little more. $.05/$.10 awards 8 VPPs per $1, $.02/$.05 will award 10 VPPs per $1 in rake and at $.01/$.02, 12 VPPs will be awarded per dollar in rake.

Cash games with 7 or fewer players will instead earn 5.5 VPPs per table for each $1 in rake. Again, the VPPs will be split evenly to each player dealt in to the hand. The micro stakes VPP rules will still apply to tables with 7 or fewer seats.

For example, at a cash game with 9 seats and stakes of $.50/$1, 7 players are dealt in. The rake collected from the pot is $2.50 and therefore 15 points are awarded to the table (6 x $2.50). Therefore each player would be rewarded with 2.14 VPPs.

VIP Stellar Rewards

No matter your VIP Status at PokerStars, all players are eligible for the VIP Stellar Rewards program. This rewards you for your frequent play by awarding cash bonuses just for earning a certain number of VIP Player Points within one year. The first reward is given when you earn 750 VPPs. This is a $10 bonus and costs only 1 FPP to claim (as do all the Stellar Rewards). An additional $10 bonus is also earned at 1500, 2250, 3000, and 4000 VPPs.

Once you earn 5000 VPPs you can claim a $50 Stellar Reward. This can also be claimed for each additional 5000 VPPs from 10,000 to 45,000 VPPs. At 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90,000 VPPs, you may claim a $100 bonus. This totals $1,000 in free bonus money, just for playing at PokerStars.

Other VIP Rewards and Promotions

The real value at PokerStars is in their VIP Status Program. You can earn a total of 6 different status levels – Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Supernova and Supernova Elite. Each status level has greater rewards than the one before it. In fact, at the Supernova and Supernova Elite level, players can make in excess of 50% effective rakeback when taking advantage of all of the bonuses and benefits that come along with it. Even at the Gold and Platinum VIP Status level, players can earn more “rakeback” than many other programs or traditional rakeback sites can offer.

VIP Calculator

You may use the VIP calculator to estimate the status that you might achieve by playing at PokerStars. The calculator is just an estimate and should not be taken as “set it stone”. In fact, we find that most of the estimates are on the low side – so most players will earn more than the calculator will list. This will give you a good, conservative idea of what status you might achieve though.