what is the average % rb now ?

It depends on the skill level category where Stars' system puts the player (the number of categories in the reward system is unknown; the Golden Button challenge at .es distinguishes between 4 player categories, will likely come to .com/.eu soon).

I think I'm regarded as a breakevenish microstake grinder. My RB is 11-12% if I maintain the volume of 1 chest per boost (i.e. complete 2 chests a day using 2 boosts a day):

Type	Points req.	Boost	Rake req.	Chest EV	RB EV
Red	240	75	$1.65	$0.15	9%
Blue	560	160	$4	$0.46	11%
Bronze	1400	360	$10.40	$1.17	11%

I'm not keeping track of the average value of the extra points towards the next chest, so the precision of my RB% calculation wouldn't be better than plus-minus 1% anyway.

I haven't tried getting upgraded to silver chests, shall likely do so next weekend and report my personal requirement and boost.

Oh no - that would increase the frequency of my ill-advised higher stake binge grinding sessions

LOL that they started saying "Golden Bucket" as the article went on

Upgraded to platinum. 8000pts.

I'm such a whale.

Move to party poker out of principle please. Spread the word.

The rakeback cuts are not God's fault but our own fault. God gave man free choice, and man chose to sin. God could change everyone’s personality so that they cannot sin. This would also mean that we would not have a free will. We would not be able to choose right or wrong because we would be “programmed” to only do right (like a robot, i.e. not a meaningful relationship). https://www.gotquestions.org/God-allow-evil.html I know many players are suffering as a result of the business decision Stars made with the rakeback cuts, but if you trust in the Lord, he can provide comfort and hope during hard times. Don't dismiss the possibility of there being a God. He is real and there is SO much evidence to support the bible as God's true word. It's sad that most non-believers haven't even bothered to even look at any evidence for Christianity.

This may seem like an irrelevant "religious" post, but in fact it's more relevant than anything else that's been posted in this thread. None of the "solutions" and remarks presented so far in this thread display any kind of hope in the longterm. There have been angry comments, cursing and blasphemy targeted at Amaya and threats to leave the site - these comments do nothing other than highlight the sinful nature of mankind. Then there's been people switching over to Party, only to switch back after realising that the better rakeback does not entirely compensate for the sudden shift of regs over to Party making the games tougher, worse software and game traffic. Finally there's people who reluctantly still play at Stars but are unhappy with the changes. None of these efforts provide any kind of solution or hope, only despair. But Jesus provides a hope that far exceeds any monetary success in this world - he provides the hope of salvation, eternal life, an everlasting relationship with an all-loving, almighty God. All he asks is that you put your trust in him. This is the solution.

Non-believers, try making this quick prayer tonight: "Dear God, you know I do not believe in you right now. But if you are real, please reveal yourself to me". Just give it a chance - you've got nothing to lose and everything to gain I tried this only this year, and surprisingly it worked! It took a few months, but my life has transformed ever since. So in summary, realise the longterm insignificance of these rakeback cuts in the eternal timescale, and look at the bigger picture, that there's a God out there who loves us with all his heart and wants us to love him back - all we need to do is accept him into our lives and declare "Jesus my lord and my saviour"

I used to be able to play the saturday freerolls, but now i need ticket from these chests to play it, this sucks! I have gotten one 2,5k ticket in the last 3 weeks lol

Maybe I missed it, but is it possible to buy these tickets in rewards store maybe?

Yeah no this doesnt make you seem crazy at all. Not one bit. lol ill leave you with one of the classic 2008 full tilt SN's.

lol_religion

@ Mr Invisible

Please, leave your religious bs out of this thread. It's annoying to go through your posts in search of topic related stuff. Afaik there's a subforum on 2+2 where you can write/discuss about your god as much as you want, so please move your activity there.

My post was not a standalone religion post, so not a derail and thus it does not belong in the religion subforum since it addressed the recent Stars rakeback reduction/chest rewards program which is only relevant specifically to this thread. I proposed a constructive solution for individuals affected by the rakeback changes to consider, a hope that could ease the pain they might be going through, which just so happens to be based on core Christian values. Many will ignore me, but a few may find meaning and learn a couple of things, or at least find something interesting in what I'm saying. Others have offered much less constructive feedback such as pointless insults, mockery and cursing directed at Amaya that achieves nothing constructive and doesn't add to the discussion at all. And yet nobody tells them to shut up. I think this highlights the secular, atheistic bias in this thread and a lack of openness to hearing other people's points of view.

Nah, i'll just keep worshipping satan like a good poker player should do.

Dude, please.
this a thread about the rakeback from stars, how did we even get to the point of atheistic bias... staggering.
to enrage you a bit more: This is exactly the reason "you guys" are in the same category as vegans, forcing info through peoples throats.

@Ontopic:
Anybody that has the exact figures with old vs new?
Seems to be allot of discussion about it.

@Ontopic:
Anybody that has the exact figures with old vs new?
Seems to be allot of discussion about it.[/QUOTE]

this please, so far i hear a lot of 2% rb numbers, that cant be right right?

Damn guys, you make it too easy for him.

Mr Invisible is probably Tom .. you know the guy that creates loads of aliases and uses them to post in threads that are very active and always goes against the general opinions of most just to get a reaction.

I know ... its sad and pathetic but welcome to the internet.

this please, so far i hear a lot of 2% rb numbers, that cant be right right?[/QUOTE]

Im at 1.9% so far, old vs new throughout the years:

72 --> 66 --> 45 --> 28 --> 1.9%

FYP.

If I dared play $50 SNG Hero, I'd be one of the biggest whales there, lol.

No one is getting fired. It is published information. It is on the website in the FAQ. On of the few pieces of the system they published hard numbers for.

This has been answered many times but keeps getting asked. There is no simple direct answer. Your expected rakeback percentage is personal to you based on the type of player you are and your recent play and results as well as if your playing patterns allow you to maximize the boosts. In addition your actual results are dependent on how lucky you are with your chests.

If you want a general pull numbers out of the air answer:

Expected values seem to fall in the range of 4% to about 20%

Actual reported results are in the range of 2% to 1000%+

For some examples if you get a red chest for 200 points and get one of the special $1000 chests your will have realized somewhere between 50 000% and 100 000% on that single chest depending on the amount of boost you utilzed. On the other hand if your 200 point red chest was a bottom of the barrel $0.07 you could have realized as little as 3.5% with no boost. Obviously the percentage gets lower as the cost of the chest goes up.

Your milage may vary. Stay in school.

Just so I'm clear - when you say 'Chest EV' that $ amount is assuming you are converting all your SC into $$$ right? Because I haven't received any $ in a box yet...

Hey, can you talk to Alec Torelli and tell him to stop cheating or God is gonna get him? TIA

Yes, of course - I assume that 1 SC = $0.01, either as cash rebates or as SNG tickets. One never gets cash in red chests except the top ($50) one, it only appears in those chests whose value is bigger than $1, e.g. in the 3rd best tier of blue chests. (Small amounts of cash may be replaced by a casino bonus or a free sports bet, though. But the 2nd best blue chest does usually contain $2 cash and 5 SCs)

Tldr

Leave god out of this

On behalf of all poker players:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF8YDZfLQ30

Missed this one before. The overwhelming academic research on this topic would suggest you are wrong. When you look at long term measures of loyalty and other "feel good" type measures giving something of value, ie. a Porsche, or an experience, ie. a trip, as a bonus is much better than giving an equivalent amount of money. The money is only a good motivator as long as it keeps flowing. As soon as the money stops or is reduced it quickly becomes the source of a loss of motivation and a degradation of loyalty.

If you have a rich relative, or even an employer and they treat you to a dream vacation or something that you normally could not or would not spend your money on you will have very positive feelings towards them and those feelings will last even if it is never repeated or only repeated irregularily.

If on the other hand our rich relative gives us money on a regular basis without our asking we will still feel good towards them. But if the money stops there is a good chance so will the good feelings. We may even start to think they are an a**hole because we have come to expect and depend on that money. It might even put us in a financially difficult position because we have treated that money as part of our normal income, we have come to feel entitled to that money. Sound familiar? The thing is our rich relative never intended to augment our income, they were just trying to be nice and share their good fortune. Maybe things have changed, their investments went bad, their expenses went up or maybe it was just some other family members turn to be pampered. It does not matter, it's their money to do as they see fit. We were the ones who turned it into something it was not meant to be.

The same thing has happened with rakeback. For the poker sites rakeback was a marketing tool and expense. It was a way to try and attract new customers to their site and keep them playing there. Some players began to see that as something else, a part of their income and for some the only source of their income. They imagined it was some sort of employment contract between themselves and the poker site. It wasn't, they were wrong. PokerStars has changed the focused of their marketing and player retention budget while at the same time reducing those budgets. That sucks, and if that was the sole basis of your loyalty to PokerStars then your decision should be easy. Also PokerStars has made it clear they feel you will not be missed because if this describes you then this is probably not the only misplaced and detrimental attitude you possess and they have decided that makes you a bad customer.

Im quite tilted with these chests. As a rec player, I open one chest every day or 2. My last chest was 7 star coins, $1 and a 70 point boost.
Previously when I reached a level, over whatever you want to call it, I was getting between 235 SC and 600 SC I believe, depending on the step.

i cant see how anyone could possibly be happy when opening these.

i want vids of opening coffins since i dont play much on stars, but i still want the thrill of opening coffins.