Wow. This post is hilarious.

Instant Cash Bonus
As part of the UK May VIP Special Offer we are also adding cash credits to the VIP Store so that players can gain immediate reward. Players may trade Frequent Player Points (FPP credits) for cash during the months of May and June. And remember, thanks to the VIP status upgrade, you’ll experience the store at your new level. You must be at least a SilverStar VIP to access the VIP Store.

FPP credits Instant Cash Credit
10,000 $160
1,000 $16
500 $8

Please note that players may only redeem one of each type of cash credit during the month, so the maximum amount that can be redeemed is $184 ($8 + $16 + $160).

I am confused about something. (clearly alot of things given my last couple posts) The italicized text above was copied from the UK promo page listed on the 1st post ITT. I couldn't find it anywhere in the Pokerstars.com promotions page, but I was able to find it (the VIP cash bonus offers) available in the FPP store, apparently available to anybody.

I just bought all 3 instant cash bonuses, and I am not in the UK. It sucks that they aren't promoting this part of their offer to anyone outside of the UK, but it is there in the store for anyone who wants the instant cash at a rate of $0.016/FPP.

Obviously this has nothing to do with the instant (yes, I know it's not technically 'instant') SN bonanza for UK players, but at least this part of the promom appears to be available to everyone. It's just not promoted anywhere that I know of, unless you happen to see it in the VIP store.

They are listed under bonuses as May Special Offers for Silver+.

I have some resentment too. But the test market thing I mention is towards people who believe/act like there is a 100% chance that only the Brits will get this thing which I don't think is true. And yes, I based that on what Scottyy and some of the other reps said.

Yes, it is possible they are just saying that to try to appease some people. But it obviously hasn't worked a whole lot. And essentially you are saying that you think Scottyy is lying to us. Well, I don't think he would and most people who know him on these forums don't think so either. You can think he is lying about why they are doing this if you like. Even if they do end up giving it to everyone else you can still think that and argue, "well, they were probably lying at first and then changed their minds because of the public outcry."

I choose to actually believe him.

MB, the problem that I see isn't that there is no way they extend this to everyone else. It's that you seem to believe that is the most likely outcome of it all. From reading your posts, it seems to me that you are more or less convinced that it will happen given enough time.

The major problem that I have with this line of reasoning is that I think you are assuming too much. I, too, believe ScottyY when he says it is a test. The problem is that, afaik, he never said it was a test to validate the promo on a wider basis. In fact, the reason I have consistently questioned their methodology for doing the test this way is that it could simply be a test to see how much penentration they can get in a tough market like the UK where they have so much more competition. That might be the main question they are trying to get answered, in which case the likelihood of anybody else ever really seeing a promo like this is very slim.

The point is that I think you are drawing the most optimistic conclusion out of a bunch of possible conclusions. I still firmly believe that the conclusion that you are drawing would be more firmly based if they had chosen to do the random sampling method that I suggested before.

Choosing the UK vs. a random sample for this "test" implies to me that they are more interested in cracking a tough market instead of testing how popular a promo would be for broader distribution.

Unless he doesn't understand what a week means he has before.

FWIW about a week or two ago Pokerstars sent me a survey about the possibility of implementing rakeback for all players? I'm sure someone else has mentioned this already though.

I do not think that at all. I think there is a reasonable chance they don't give it to anyone else. I also think there is reasonable chance that they do. I don't know what the chances are and have no way of knowing. I'm obviously hoping they do though and the fact that it's a possibility has me encouraged as opposed to them saying, "we just can't give this bonus out to anyone else. It's for the UK only. Sorry."

I do think that anyone who thinks the chances of others getting this bonus are 99% or so aren't thinking this through and are letting their anger and resentment cloud their judgment.

One of the arguments earlier was "they can't give this to anyone else. It would be too expensive for them. I have put together a possible counter-argument when I crunched some of the numbers and showed that it could still be profitable for them. Do all the numbers HAVE to work out the way I showed and does Stars have to look at all of them that way? No. But I was answering comments on, "I just don't see how it's possible in any way at all for it not to be too expensive."

"OMG...they can't just give several thousands of $$ in value to a ton of people!!" But, well, that's what they're already doing. And they say it is a test-market. And I believe them. And I hope it leads to them rolling it out elsewhere.

I have no way of knowing whether they will or not and any inferences you drew that I thought I did are incorrect.

Read everything ITT, and that's the first I've heard of it.

In that situation I believe it is far more likely that Scottyy really was going to to come back in a week or 'soon' and then was overruled by higher management and then he was kind of stuck. Do you really believe he just said a "week" to intentionally lie to everyone right from the start? Well, maybe you do. I don't.

As I said before, I trust the guy enough. And I also believe he's human and makes mistakes. And I also believe that sometimes he thinks something is going to happen and then he gets overruled later. Because of previous issues on things you are referencing Scottyy has said he's not going to preview possible upcoming promotions because sometimes it doesn't always work out and then it becomes a problem.

We've been talking about it in the Supernova Elite pursuit thread and I believe in other threads too. I agree that Stars should actually promote the existence of these and I think there are other promos and situations and bonuses where they just throw them in the store, don't tell anyone, and unless you happen upon them OR keep up with stuff on a place like 2+2 there is a very good chance you will never know about them.

This is a criticism I've had of Stars for some time actually.

I think we agree on a whole lot more than we disagree on here. Like you, I hope they do offer this to everyone else as well, and I have laid out my reasoning for that wish a couple times now.

Although I have never said as much, I agree with you that the logic behind the "it's too expensive for everyone argument" was flawed from the word go. If it's too expensive to give to everybody, then it's too expensive to give to anybody in my mind. Since they are giving it to somebody, then the natural conclusion I would draw is that the "it's too expensive" argument does not hold water.

The real difference between us is that you seem to be hoping based on what ScottyY said, and I am thinking differently based on the methodology of the "test." In the end, I hope you're right, and I'm wrong.

'You are essentially saying Scotty is lying to us'

Not really, I'm essentially saying that is very plausible that an employee in a very lucrative business is taking the correct tack and doing what he is told to assuage his clients and/or was he himself told this was merely a 'test'. I have no idea, my intention is not to impugn Scotty's character, merely stating possible reality when dealing with a multimillion dollar business(or any business), and furthermore and concomitantly I was responding to your dismissiveness to people's somewhat apt real world analogies and exasperation by you repeatedly saying 'hey dude, it's just a test.'

Yeah honestly was something about the difference between VIP and rakeback, I can't even remember. It had me rank VIP/rakeback programs on other sites and etc.

At the end in the final comments area I said I was basically ok with their VIP program, but that as a Supernova for many years I wasn't the one getting the shaft, and that their program definitely wasn't nearly as good for those at lower tiers.

Obviously if they send out this survey they are at least thinking about some kind of big change/addition.

I didn't get around to opening the survey and I think I missed the deadline.

But I also think I have pretty much stated my opinions on all that stuff in here. Also believe it should be pretty easy for them to see that many of their potential players are staying away because of lack of value or even perceived lack of value.

No tax what so ever on poker or any poker assest. I think there just trying to incourage more and more UK player's ro become degens