PokerStars VIP program changes are slated to come in effect from 1st January which means online poker players have 2 days to take decision on their FPP balance. Once the changes are implemented, all Frequent Player Points (FPPs) will be converted to StarsCoin at a rate of 1.2 StarsCoin per FPP.
Despite of several protests in past 30 days against the VIP program changes, the Amaya Inc. company is going to implement the announced changes. It would be noteworthy to mention here that PokerStars Team Online pro quit the sponsorship deal after the company didn’t show any interest in making changes to announced StarsCoin program.
Casual and semi-regular players may get benefited of this conversion as their overall value of points will increase. However, the regular grinders of the site and the pros will see a net drop in their VIP point’s value which compels them to think before the conversion takes place. Thousands of such players have an option to spend their FPPs prior to the conversion to derive maximum benefit.
As per the calculations provided by OnlinePokerReport, each category of player on PokerStars will have to assess the benefits/loss of the conversion and take decision on spending their FPPs accordingly. Here is a brief synopsis of how each category will be affected by this FPP to StarsCoin conversion:
SuperNova
The players in SuperNova class will be the ones hugely impacted by this conversion. At minimum, the conversion will result in a 20% loss of value for players who have generated at least 100,000 VPPs in 2015.
SuperNova players currently have two cash bonus exchange options: $600 for 40,000 FPPs or $1,000 for 100,000 FPPs. The first option gives an exchange rate of $.015 per FPP while the 2nd one offers slightly better rate at $.016 per FPP. Tournament ticket exchange rates are also approximately $.016 per FPP.
It’s quite obvious for SuperNova players to encash their FPPS for cash bonus or tournament tickets as favored individually.
PlatinumStar
PlatinumStar is the first loyalty tier where players can exchange their FPPs at a rate more than the StarsCoin conversion. If players of this category wait for the conversion, they will see a depreciation of approximately 8% in their net value of FPPs.
PokerStars offer $200 cash bonus for 15,400 FPPs which equates to $.013 per FPP. However, the tournament ticket rates are same at approx. $.016 per FPP. Hence, it would be better to exchange their points for tournament tickets than cash bonus.
GoldStar
Players in GoldStar category will have no impact of the StarsCoin conversion if compared to FPP to Cash bonus exchange. The exchange rate offered to GoldStar players for cash bonus stands at $.012 per FPP which is same to the net value exchange of FPP to StarsCoin.
However, tournament players in this category can earn benefit by exchanging FPPs to tournament tickets at the current rate of $.012 per FPP.
SilverStar
SilverStar players can wait for the StarsCoin conversion as the cash bonus exchange rate currently offered to them stands at $.0111 per FPP. However, the tournament players can take advantage of higher exchange rate for tournament tickets ($.0157 – $.0159) as the unspent FPPs will depreciate in value after conversion to StarsCoin.
ChromeStar
ChromeStar players will not be benefited by any FPP exchange programs due to the low rates ($.01 per FPP) being offered. Such players should wait for the StarsCoin conversion and the new benefits.
BronzeStar
The preliminary level of PokerStars players will be the most benefited ones of the new virtual currency StarsCoin. Currently, BronzeStar player get a cash bonus exchange rate of 1,000 FPPs per $10 and $.01 per FPP for tournaments.
After the conversion to StarsCoins, the players of this category will see a benefit of approximately 20% in the net value of points.
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Cash bonuses available in the VIP Store |
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| VIP Status | Bonus | Price in FPP | Value $/FPP |
| Supernova | $1,600 | 100,000 | $0.016 |
| PlatinumStar | $200 | 15,400 | $0.012987 |
| GoldStar | $75 | 6,250 | $0.012 |
| SilverStar | $25 | 2,250 | $0.011111 |
| BronzeStar | $10 | 1,000 | $0.01 |
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Tournament Tickets in the VIP Store |
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| Status VIP | Ticket | Price in FPP | Value $/FPP |
| SilverStar+ | Sunday Storm $11 | 700 | $0.015714 |
| SilverStar+ | The Big $22 | 1,400 | $0.015714 |
| SilverStar+ | The Big $55 | 3,500 | $0.015714 |
| SilverStar+ | The Big $109 | 6,900 | $0.015797 |
| SilverStar+ | Sunday Million $215 | 13,500 | $0.015926 |
| SilverStar+ | VIP Match with a Team Pro | 15,000 | $0.015667 |
| SilverStar+ | Sunday 500 $530 | 33,000 | $0.016061 |
| SilverStar+ | Super Tuesday $1,050 | 65,500 | $0.016031 |
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