Unfortunately I'll be hard-pressed to get more VPPs, have too much IRL stuff going on in the next few months, namely a ton of friends getting married in the U.S.

Last year's "scam" was the introduction of Spins, right? I wouldn't exactly call that a scam, although it did decrease traffic across the board and make it harder for SNG regs to get volume. Could they introduce a new game type this year? Of course. But I think it's more likely that they delay the 'Changes to SNE' announcement until the absolute last minute, collecting all that delicious rake from aspiring Elites and then discouraging those players from actually reaching the 1,000,000 VPP mark.

That's the idea. After I get SNE in mid December/early January I'm going to head back to SE Asia for a few months. Will visit Hong Kong, possibly Bali, and settle in Thailand (Chiang Mai). Also have about $8500 worth of Euro Step Tickets to use, so if there are some live EPT events within a 6 hour flight, I'll do that too.

Not actually scam, but bait-and-switch.

Well yeah in poker it might be better to be pessimistic than optimistic, under the thought of ''win as much while it last''. But if im correct they did cut down the value of SNE this year by removing WCOOP ticket and BOTP leaderbord right ? not sure if they also increased rake on certain games, I think most of that didn't go through. Also i think(again not 100% sure) they said they wont make any (major) changes this year. And next year they will make more significant changes to the RB system.

Well I think if they wait to long, they wont stop many players going for SNE and get that 20k milestone at 1M VPP, even if they would remove RB completely next year. it might make them even more motivated to get that extra 20k milestone.

I think its very possible that in 2016, SNE has no real advantage over SN, they might just remove SNE completely and cap RB at x%.

for example would you stop chasing SNE this year if they capped RB next year at 50%, Or would you be motivated enough to grind as much as you can this year at higher RB?

I disagree.

A huge part of SNE's value comes from rakeback in the following calender year. If Stars came out now and said that they're doing away with the program, a lot of grinders would cut down their playing hours, leading to less rake (profit) for PokerStars. Instead by not announcing changes, Stars lets these guys continue to plug away, pay rake, and then snatches away benefits of SNE towards the tail end of their grind. Somewhat evil, but great for business.

If PS came out and capped RB at 50% next year, my immediate plans wouldn't change much. The $60,000 between 600k and 1M VPPs is still there. If anything, those changes might incentivize me to grind more, not less, as this would be my last months with 60%+ rakeback.

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, but I feel you are contradicting yourself here, yes I know huge value comes from the following year as an SNE. But yourself said even if they remove all value next year you still will go for SNE, so why would other grinders stop going for SNE? esp if they announce the changes late in the year and most of them are closer to SNE already.

You might mean if they remove value of this current year? I don't see them doing that at all, since that will be extremely evil, and a scam. They could never say ''hey guys we decided to remove the 20k milestone bonus at 1M VPP this year''. I personally wouldn't worry to much about them changing the value of SNE for this year.

Sound like a great plan! I love SE Asia, and if we are talking value, there not many better places around than Thailand and esp Chiang Mai.

Also not sure if possible, but you might could and try to convert those Euro steps into some APPT events, there are plenty in Macau and some other places in SE Asia aswell. APPT is most likely one of the softest live MTT circuit around. You also might wanna check out the APT circuit, its a bit smaller than the APPT.

Maybe I'm not explaining this well. Now is a terrible time to go for your first SNE, especially if you aren't doing too well at the tables.

If I wasn't already SNE, I wouldn't be going for it. But thankfully I got it last year and therefore get 68% RB this year compared to the 53% for aspiring Elites.

No, I highly doubt they'll remove (more) value from this current year. But Amaya's goal is to generate rake. They'd love it if a ton of guys ended the year with 999,999 VPPs. And withholding information regarding the fate of the VIP Program makes it more likely that guys will end up between 500,000 and 1,000,000 VPPs, as they'll continue to grind now and give it up if/when Stars decides to do away with the program.

I'm here to talk about the death of poker.

It's aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiive

Except he used the completely wrong form of the word past. While he may have passed high school. He meant past.

He and I had a lengthy debate about that over Facebook chat

Poker is as dead as it has ever been since the beginning of this Internet thing and it's as alive as it will ever be (unless amaya somehow manages to bring back US players).

Or has there ever been a year where the field in w/e gametype actually got weaker? Serious question, idk, I'm newschool.

I bet PokerStars in the U.S. will be incredibly soft once it's open and legalized. Americans haven't been able to improve their game along with the rest of the world and yet still have that fantastic combination of confidence and delusion.

Nom nom

If that happens let's meet up an celebrate

In for celebration freeroll

Yeah that makes sense, didn't really think about aspiring SNE'ers. For them it's the worst year to go for SNE by far. But then again don't think much more people will end at really high VPP number this year, like 800k - 1M even if next year is going to be really bad, that last 20k milestone bonus still stands, resulting in really high RB% for that last stretch.

Regged the entire 9 max SNG lobby today, per usual, and during my session one of the $1k Turbo SNGs popped off. Thought it was a $100 game until we got to 5 handed and I realized I was at the table with MissOracle and ZeeJustin. Oops.

Color coded the background a bright purple so I'd pay more attention to it annnnnnd busted the game seconds later. Coolest part though? I didn't care. I mean, sure, I wanted to win. But when I lost the flip I didn't really feel the feels I thought I'd feel when losing a $1,000 SNG. I remember the sickness in the pit of my stomach when I lost my first $700 Step. I remember slamming my fist on the desk when I ran KK into AA in one of my first $200 Hypers. I even remember a loooooonnnnnnnng time ago that I made a spreadsheet to track my $20 SNG profit/loss and the sadness I felt in my soul when updating it after a losing session.

Now I brick a $1,000 SNG and I'm like, ho hum.

First signs of being a baller
glgl!

Challenge yourself by not looking at your results for a month or sth imo (guess you're rolled for that). It will do good pychologically
When I did this I ran 500 bi under ev and just was sad a couple of days instead of worrying for longer that I might've played really bad and took lots of breaks during the grind. Completely lost the feelimg about how a Session went and then lost interest in it.

Nah, def can't do that. One time I made it two weeks, but that was a struggle.

I'm not too affected by my results, roll is good enough to sustain a significant hit and my confidence is rather high right now. However, not knowing would drive me insane. If negative results hurt my volume I'd definitely consider your idea, but I'm going to reach 200 hrs this month no matter how good or bad I run.

Chase the dragon, 3502s running. Let's see if you can still feel those feels bro

All the feels in 6 max

Unfortunately got 3rd, AT < A3. +$18k though!

o wow o wow o wow o wow o wow, u boys killin it!!!!!!!