PokerStars’ Significant Overhaul of Its Rewards Program

PokerStars is back again with yet another new feature. In the last few months, the brand has started introducing new features and game mechanics to try and remain relevant in the poker market. The latest move is revamping its rewards system, with this upgrade being the most significant it has experienced since 2021.

The Last Few Years

Despite being the undisputed poker king for many years, setting many records and holding multiple titles along the way. It became less popular by 2021, with many players making the shift to other poker rooms.

GGPoker Comparison

The primary poker room that most players moved to was GGPoker. Not only had GGPoker offered better software and game portfolios, but it also presented lucrative promotions. In 2024, we’re looking at GGPoker’s cash game figures and see that it averages at around 13,000 for weekly traffic.

Meanwhile, PokerStars averages around 3,900, less than a third of the current poker king. Still, PokerStars retains twice as much traffic as the brand in third place, iPoker, with an average of 1,800.

The Brand’s Response

GGPoker continues growing and breaking records. In response, PokerStars’ approach is to offer new and innovative features. The brand revealed various promotions like Power Paths and card collections. It also unveiled a new payout structure and migrated its EU market to its dot-com market. However, the latest step is to overhaul its rewards program.

The original rewards program had several issues, such as not all players receiving rewards. It also had controversial weekly challenges, which, reportedly, around 75% of players failed. The weekly challenges weren’t fair, and there wasn’t transparency around opaque rewards and changing criteria.

Overhaul of the Rewards Program

The new rewards program introduces two new tiers: Select and Select+. These tiers are similar to the Supernova and Supernova Elite systems that were popular over a decade ago. The tiers will replace the controversial weekly challenges and offer up to 60% rakeback.

Further, the base program’s maximum reward level increases from 25% to 40%. Still, it comes at a cost, as the minimum requirement to earn a chest also increases. The poker room will release precise knowledge about a player’s specific rewards and progression to them. Power Path players in the Bronze and Blue tiers will receive 50-cent tickets daily to encourage participation.

Chests will remain the most significant way to receive rewards, but the brand removed StarsCoins, Tournament Dollars, and the Rewards Store. The brand will also remove The Deal, a progressive jackpot game, at the end of January. The last step in upgrading this system will be the debut of a rewards hub that’s coming soon.

The Future of This Poker Room

This brand’s latest approach to winning clients is abolishing the concept of penalising winners. Instead, it focuses on your play volume over your win rate. Still, the chest values have risen to between $3 and $1,000, which can be more than quadruple the original value. However, only time will tell whether this new system will withstand the test of time and how players will react to it.