I don't have a specific timeline, but I will work on getting a more solid one. I will say it is a matter of priority and shouldn't be a prohibitively long time.

You'll be able to switch to VIP if you choose, regardless of whether or not you've signed up via an affiliate.

FYI, to TiltTheTilt and others ^^

Thanks Seth!

How will switching VIP affect affiliate promos? When I switch to VIP, will I lose out on the RTR rake race, or no change?

Also, could I switch back to RB instead of VIP in the future if I so wanted?

Thanks a lot Seth!

Yeah, that bit about the $109 tickets is awesome news. Now I don't have to worry about "accidentally" stock-piling too many of them if I am uber-successful in the satellites or play a ton on Wednesdays to rack them up somehow.


Just to clarify: It has to be on "days that you qualify?" So if I have a Sunday ticket and then 2 months later decide I want to use it on a non-Sunday I can't ask to have it changed at that time?

Not too big a deal I guess but it would be nice to have the flexibility for the future I suppose.

I never clicked the Redeem button for reaching 1st (or 2nd? can't remember) gear under the old VIP program, think it was for $100 cash. Can I still get that?

Are you getting rakeback? Cuz if you are, then no.

I see that you guys finally got around to removing points exchange for RB players, but in doing so, you also removed the only place where it showed our points total. Please correct this. I don't feel I should have to register for a tournament just to be able to see my current points balance.

On the plus side looks like the points ledger is functional again.

Any other RB player have their VIP points balance set to 0?

Yep I can confirm, mine set to zero at least in tournaments.

You can signup though with zero points so server know your points count.

Prior to June 1st, RB players were getting 35% + 6.5% VIP Cash Back, which totaled 41.5%.

I see that we're still getting the 35% RB, but did we lose the +6.5 VIP Cash Back? So now it's only the 35%.

I understand that we're eligible for additional RPM promotions after 6/1, (as we were prior the 6/1). But all in all did we lose the additional +6.5% VIP Cash Back?

Thank you

They are sort of lost but you can use the 6.5 points in tournaments. So cash there and you will get some value, this is what I will attempt. It is hard to determine the tournaments that you can use points to enter. Beyond that I don't know which are the softest, (guess it depends on the player). Finally there is the time element away from the cash games.

Thanks Seth.

Hopefully Merge reconsiders the RakeChases. I understand if they don't go back completely to the previous format. The RakeRaces that have taken their place through affiliates aren't even close to the same value though. Also, players who signed through the skin directly are unable to even participate in the small RakeRaces that the affiliates are allowed to offer.

Overall, I like most of what I'm seeing and hearing.


We also lost value with the RakeChases. I'm not sure if you've checked your affiliate or if you signed through RPM directly, but either way you have likely lost value here as well.

That's kind of a big hit for the RB player

Maybe RPMSeth will come up with a way to make it right?

I'm kinda in the same boat as dmyers here. It looks to me that once you figure out (or accept someone else's) point where you break even, you should consider how fast you are going to get there and use that to help decide about switching as well. Hopefully this comes across in text the way it is in my mind :P...

Since the levels are based on lifetime points, we could all get to A eventually, right? So, just from the raw numbers and points exchange at those higher levels, it looks like that it is better to switch over ASAP so any points you earn can be used for that later exchange and not lost. However, in my case I am just not able to get in the volume to move up very fast. So I am willing to take that daily RB since it looks like I will be stuck at the low levels for awhile and it would be forever before I realized gains from points earned. But if you are putting in tons of volume and taking advantage of the double point promos you should make sure that the points you are stock-piling will be available for that cash exchange and switch ASAP.

And it was made to sound like it was going to be an improvement.

"Great value"

Not to existing RB players. Like those quoted I don't usually play tournaments. I bought into a $2000 guarantee tonight with points. 1100 points=$11. After getting knocked out by a bad beat after playing for over 2 hrs I cashed for $23. I wonder how much rake I could have generated for RPM/Merge in those 2+ hrs? It would have been more than $11.

I think it's a great value for Merge. This situation is so sad. uhh

True colors are starting to show. Oh, well. Potential players beware.

You guys do realize they added a promo that allows you to win a ticket for $109 if you just play 8k hands in a day..

That's like.. incredible..
I'm glad I'm just getting RB.. it sucks that we lose the 6.5 but we gained the ticket worth $109..

Approximation formula for determining the number of cash game hands you need to play in order to obtain a given number of vip points. Again, check that this makes sense.

Assumptions
2/7 of your total hands are played on double vip days.
You are under the VIP System.

Declarations
v = number of vip points you are trying to earn (units: vip).
r = rake paid per hand (units: $/hand).
h = number of hands needed to earn the desired number of vip points (units: hands).

(5/7)*(h)*(r)*(10vip/$1) + (2/7)*(h)*(r)*(20vip/$1) = v
h = (7v)/(90r) $/vip


Example

Player A wants to know approximately how many hands they need to play in order to reach Gear T (10000 vip) when starting with 2000 vip points. Player A is under the VIP System, and approximately 2/7 of their total hands are played on double vip days. So,
v = 10000vip - 2000vip
v = 8000vip

Additionally, over the last 20,000 hands, Player A has paid approximately $28.61 in rake. So,
r = $28.61/20,000hands
r = 0.0014305 $/hand

h = (7v)/(90r)
h = (7*(8000))/(90*(0.0014305))
h = 434,968.3 hands

Player A will need to play approximately 434,968 hands to earn 8000 vip points. (The $28.61 rake paid per 20,000 hands was taken from $0.02/$0.04 NLHE cash games)

If you know what percentage of your hands will come on double vip days, then you can use this formula to approximate the number cash game hands that you will need to play.

Assumptions
You know the percentage of hands that you will play on double vip days.
You are under the VIP System.

Declarations
v = number of vip points you are trying to earn (units: vip).
r = rake paid per hand (units: $/hand).
h = number of hands needed to earn the desired number of vip points (units: hands).
d = fraction of hands played on double vip days (units: rate).
s = fraction of hands played on single vip days (units: rate).

h = v/(10sr+20dr) or
h = v/(10r(s+2d))


Example

Player A wants to know approximately how many hands they need to play in order to reach Gear T (10000 vip) when starting with 2000 vip points. Player A is under the VIP System, and will play 40% of their hands on double vip days and 60% of their hands on the single vip days. So,
d = 0.4
s = 0.6
v = 10000vip - 2000vip
v = 8000vip

Additionally, over the last 20,000 hands, Player A has paid approximately $28.61 in rake. So,
r = $28.61/20,000hands
r = 0.0014305 $/hand

h = v/(10sr+20dr)
h = 8000/(10(0.6)(0.0014305)+20(0.4)(0.0014305))
h = 8000/0.020027
h = 399460.7 hands

Player A will need to play approximately 399,461 hands to earn 8000 vip points.

Not really sure why you are just assuming a .02/.04 player but whatever.

Regardless, it is worth remembering that there is no guarantee the double-points days will continue. It's a monthly promotion. They're had a history of doing the double-points days in the past several months but that still isn't indicative of the future.

If you are going to play on RPM you should also be prepared for the possibility that double-points days might not be a permanent thing for all we know. Of course, if/when something changes with the VIP or Promo stuff it's up to the player whether to continue playing there or not. Players have options of different skins....and I assume that hopefully some will re-open to American sign-ups after a couple months.

I used the situation of a $0.02/$0.04 player just to create an example of how to use the formula (it's the only level that I have information on). Since the formula, h = v/(10sr+20dr), is all in variables, you can plug in whatever values are true for you. If you play $0.05/$0.10 then your rake paid per hand will be higher, and you can just plug in that number for r instead. If double points days changes to one day a week or is terminated completely, then you can alter s and d. Although if double vip days is reduced, then you will probably have to reach a higher gear than you initially anticipated to match 35% rakeback. I don't see other skins offering the double vip day promo, so it definitely is something to consider as possibly being temporary. The vip point system may also change since it's so new and hasn't been tested.

Thanks for the work you did.

Seth,

I sent the email to opt in for the Monday and Friday double VIP promos and I sent u a PM to find out if this has happened but have not heard anything. Is it possible to get confirmation on this. Thanks