The general trend in the online Poker industry has recently been to offer greater rewards to the depositing players and to have specific promotions designed for them. This new focus has been followed by drastic cuts to the rewards given to the ‘regulars’.
In an interesting strategic decision, Partypoker has decided to do the exact opposite and return to the good old days of online poker by offering direct rakeback to its players that can reach up to 40%. On the other hand, PokerStars has announced as new reward program bringing the company in completely different path.
PartyPoker brings back rakeback
PartyPoker has just announced that their players will once again be adding rakeback to their bankrolls. PartyPoker surprised everyone in the industry with this change, which looks good for players in many ways. The percentage players receive will be between 20% and 40% depending on the number of loyalty points earned and will be paid as cash every week. May 22nd is the date that this new system will be rolled out.
The only downside to this change is that players need to generate $25 in rake in a week, to start benefiting from the 20% rakeback. Players must also manually opt in each week to receive their rakeback.
Tom Waters, Managing Director of PartyPoker explained the change, saying “I recognized that the existing loyalty store was complicated and confusing for some players and so we decided to replace the store with a simple and rewarding rakeback scheme that will deliver cashback into players accounts every week”.
The new program may also feature an invite-only Palladium VIP level, but there are no other details regarding what this is or how a player might earn it.
Partypoker Rakeback
| Points | Loyalty Payment | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | $5.00 | 20% |
| 50 | $10 | 20% |
| 75 | $15 | 20% |
| 100 | $20 | 20% |
| 150 | $37.50 | 25% |
| 200 | $50 | 25% |
| 250 | $62.50 | 25% |
| 300 | $75 | 25% |
| 350 | $87.50 | 25% |
| 400 | $100 | 25% |
| 450 | $112.50 | 25% |
| 500 | $125 | 25% |
| 600 | $180 | 30% |
| 700 | $210 | 30% |
| 800 | $240 | 30% |
| 900 | $270 | 30% |
| 1000 | $300 | 30% |
| 1200 | $480 | 40% |
| 1400 | $560 | 40% |
| 1600 | $640 | 40% |
| 1800 | $720 | 40% |
| 2000 | $800 | 40% |
Somuchpoker Rewards Club: Partypoker Review and deal
PokerStars singing a familiar tune?
Almost at the exact same time as the PartyPoker change, of PokerStars has announced that the company will once again change the rewards system with players set to accumulate ‘chests’ containing random prizes instead of earning stars coins. We cannot say for certain yet whether this translates to a decrease in value for players when compared to the old system, but if recent changes are anything to go by, then players should expect bad news.
Further ‘chest’ details
It appears that the new system will tailor each chest to the individual gaming preferences of the player, with sports betting players receiving more sports bet based prizes, and poker players being more likely to receive big packages to live events or stars coins to spend in the online store.
The more money players spend on PokerStars, the bigger the prizes in their chests become, although the prize are still ‘randomised’.
A mission component has also been introduced. Players can earn a ‘boost’ for consistency of play, or for accomplishing some other task the site might set out.
Severin Rasset, Director of Poker Innovations and Operations said the following about the new changes: “they are designed to create excitement with a variety of rewards with randomised values. The more you play, the bigger the chests”.
It’s hard to know the exact effect of this new program, but you can be sure that PokerStars is not seeking to address the hopes of regular players, who will certainly feel more comfortable with Partypoker’s offering and its clear benefits.
Article by Craig Bradshaw
