The rec players will be ecstatic with this new program. After 2 or 3 hours of mono tabling, they will be rewarded by the excitement of opening their new chest. And win a whooping 1.5BB.

Their first reaction will probably be like "wtf? why so little? there must be a problem".
After 3 or 4 pathetic chest opening, I reckon they won't even bother and probably would feel insulted.

Are you guys still going to play your full volume on ps then? GL soldiers.

I thought the difference between our requirements would be bigger, but apparently, Amaya has taken into account that when I do play on its premises, I load more tables at once than an average customer, so I've failed to 'pass' as a recreational to the reward system, no matter how hard I tried to fool it

If there magically were no regs at Stars, then the number of running Beat The Clock games would decrease by 1.5 times or so; the number of high stake Spin & Gos would decrease by 2-3 times, but they'd be still going off 24/7 and the jackpots would be still hit at a sufficient rate. Recreationals' deposits would then last over 3 times longer (because they'd be losing to rake only, not to regs) and the deposits would be mostly converted into rake. I don't think that Amaya is afraid of regs' departure.

the thing is even if im right and fish get a 180 clearing and only play during boosts which is probably generous, they will have like 12% rb which is basically what bronze offered. 14% if theyre at 160

Beat the clock is still played by regs? I thought it was proven to be unbeatable?

Opened my first chest. I got 8 starcoins and 15 points for the next chest. I feel so...used...

The lobby does show the same screen names in simultaneously running games; I'm not the one to judge their ability, but they qualify as regs on the basis of, well, regularity of play.

Don't forget that those regs whose Sharkscope stats are open are only a subset of all regs.

Oh BTW, Belgium here and need 240 points for first red chest. Was chromestar but hadn't played much last week...

could someone give me cliffs what is changed, i see the chests etc but in rakeback number terms ?

Question: Can starcoins still be exchanged for cash, no matter how little, or only tournaments tickets and items from the store? Store disappeared in UK.

The VIP store has moved into the My Stars tab on the right side of the lobby. All the previous store items, incl. $10 cash rebates, are still available.

^^ Cliffs: none of those who have reported their numbers ITT appears to have more than 6% rakeback in the long run unless they only or mostly play when a boost is available (i.e. every 8 hours) that doubles the rakeback for a small amount of volume.

I see. They moved the store in a different section. Cash rebates still available though.

Anyone know many points you get per dollar of rake?

The madness has started. RIP y'all

I've seen some Russian player refer to Chests as 'coffins'

100 without a boost, 200 with it.

The obvious problem with Pokerstars and chests is that there is very little "shiny, cool things" people can open. In Hearthstone/Overwatch etc. there is good amount of Legendaries/other random cool stuff you can get. In poker you get... 13 Starcoins, which don't really represent anything.

PLO games on micro gaming are of the hook, fkn ****t loads more traffic

I play poker on PokerStars because I win at poker. Am I disappointed that I will not get as much of a discount as I used to get? Yes I am. Who would voluntarily give up free money?

Is that disappointment enough to make me switch to some other site that has inferior software and traffic, that has pretty much the same rake and whos rakeback is already as bad or worse than Stars even after these changes? No not at this time. That would be hurting my best interests just to spite PokerStars. Even if every 2+2 poster stopped playing on PokerStars I don't think it would have any effect on what they do.

I don't have a problem with changes that are aimed at trying to increase the rec player pool and/or drive out break even nits. Either of those will most probably make me more money in the end. My issue with the new system is not the hokey changes, it is the across the board reduction in rewards. Even if it was a shift in payouts from winners to loosers I would not have that much to say against that. But from all the numbers I have seen this is taking from everyone. The rewards are going to be so small as to be seen as insignificant to the lowest stake players so I don't see how this is going to be a magic wand to get recs excited.

So I opened my first chest and got 9 coins and a 25 boost.

This sucks ass right?

BTW how does the timed boost work?

Do I have to be online at a certain time for the boost to work?

No, you can start clearing the boost at any time after it becomes available (within 3 calendar months) even if you were offline at that moment.

It works similarly to the collection of play money in the cashier.

I e-mailed them and it turns out they credited me 20 coins (20cent) for my 90-95% done 2500 bar. I asked them wtf basically and they sent me this.

Hello,

Thank you for contacting us back.

Unfortunately, we are not able anymore to credit StarsCoin not earned with the old VIP system.

The new Stars Rewards loyalty program is aimed at increasing the number, frequency of play and total deposits of new and casual players (who are the lifeblood of any poker economy) by continuing to make poker fun and relevant to today's players. We believe that our new rewards program is another important element of this plan by making the experience of earning rewards more fun and engaging.

In regards to specific game types players will still receive progress to their rewards via all game types and bet types for poker and, where available, for casino and sports.

We thank you for choosing us and if there is anything else we can do please let us know.

Regards,

Antonio
Stars Support

Right on (for low roi / b-e regs)

Any influence possible on any process within the new reward system or just open chests and that's it? I received respective value of ~1.5% rb from the first 3 chests fwiw.

Like many others, first red chest required 240 points, started on 50 and had a 75 point boost which wasn't particularly clear as it said "Boost In: 75 points" - not that it was already active for the next 75 points earned.

To test, I played a $1 spin which has 8c of rake - Expected to get 8 points but the boost made it 16 which corresponds to an earlier poster who said 0.01c of rake = 1 point.

Flicked over to the sports tab and threw a few Wimbledon bets on "certain winners" - again to test,(Murray, Nadal, Roger) and the bar flew up - That looks to be the way forward for anyone remotely interested in sports betting. You are given the points upon placing the bet, not when it has settled which opens up certain possibilities of course if you are looking for a quick route to your next 2% RB chest

GL all - See you over at Party soon I imagine...

oh and my chest was good for 8 Coins and +5 towards next chest. Yay for me.

Surprising, the value has dropped since it went live in Denmark.