Poker Stars improves VIP Program

[pokeraddict]

Poker Stars is not a rakeback friendly site but has their own VIP Program which is a decent replacement. Under pressure from players Poker Stars has made some improvements to their VIP Program. From the email sent out in the last couple of hours:

PokerStars always strives to give you the very best online poker rewards program, so we're continually looking at ways to make our VIP Club better for our valued players. With this in mind, we're pleased to tell you about some big changes that are being made to the VIP Club as of March 1, 2009.

WHAT’S CHANGED?

Easier to achieve monthly VIP Levels
We've lowered the amount of VIP Player Points (VPPs) required to achieve SilverStar, GoldStar and PlatinumStar status. Starting with March, the new amounts of VPPs required are:

Requirement lowered to 1,200 VPPs per month
(from 1,500)
Requirement lowered to 3,000 VPPs per month
(from 4,000)
Requirement lowered to 7,500 VPPs per month
(from 10,000)

These changes will make the VIP program more accessible and allow more players to enjoy the benefits of being a high tier VIP player.

Increased prize pools in VIP events
The prize pools in our weekly VIP tournaments have been raised. The $50,000 weekly VIP Freeroll prize pool is increasing to $75,000, and will feature 12 minute blinds.

Also, the 100 FPP buy-in, $20,000 weekly VIP event now boasts a $30,000 prize pool.

The increase in these prize pools brings the total value of PokerStars VIP events to over $6.5 million per year, excluding any special VIP events!

Supernova and Supernova Elite extended status period
Supernova and Supernova Elite players will now be able to retain their VIP status in the following year until the end of September (provided that the current play requirements are met). Previously, players were only able to maintain their Supernova or Supernova Elite status until the end of June; this change allows players the opportunity to retain their status for an additional three months. This extension goes into effect immediately for 2008 Supernova and Supernova Elite VIPs.

Milestone Bonuses are now Milestone Cash Credits!
Supernova milestone bonuses are now awarded as cash credits! For example, once a Supernova achieves 200,000 VPPs for the year, they will be able to obtain a $2,000 cash credit for 50,000 Frequent Player Points (FPP), without needing to earn a further 10,000 VPPs. These Milestone Cash Credits will be available for purchase in the VIP Store very soon.

Concierge service changes
For those players making use of the concierge services, there will be a change whereby a player may only use the concierge service once per month, with a maximum of three receipts. The total value of the receipts submitted must be for a minimum of $500. Guidelines regarding the changes and use of the service are available on the VIP Club page.

We hope that you will find the updates made to the VIP Club rewarding. For further information on the VIP Club as well as all the new changes, please visit our VIP Club page.

[RobWin]

Yea, that was a good change for Poker Stars to do, I've been advertising their new improved Vip Club for a couple of weeks now on my site.

[brucefinaldi]

I must admit, PokerStars has the best VIP program that I have seen to date!
I am researching VIP programs now, and they just seem to be ahead of the pack by miles! I like how their program is only a six level program, as not to complicate things.