[yeltzen]

I've switched over to Poker Stars this month to try and find out if the FPP system is better than rakeback. My question is: do the "bonus" FPPs you get from being a SilverStar, GoldStar, etc apply to your tier? For example, if you're a SilverStar, you earn 50% more FPPs. Does this mean you'd only need to earn ~ 2750 to make GoldStar the next month (e.g. 2750 * 1.5)? Or are the bonus FPPs for rewards only? The latter would make more sense since that's how most casinos like Harrah's do it.

[Strange]

I understood it to be the former.

[hachkc]

They don't.

FPPs (spendable) and VPPs (tiers) are different. VPP accrue at the normal rate depending on rake and game. FPPs are bonused so you can buy more things faster but you won't jump tiers faster. This assumes things haven't changed much in the last few months as I haven't been playing much at all. For the record, I have made GS a few times.

[yeltzen]

Originally Posted by hachkc

They don't.

FPPs (spendable) and VPPs (tiers) are different. VPP accrue at the normal rate depending on rake and game. FPPs are bonused so you can buy more things faster but you won't jump tiers faster. This assumes things haven't changed much in the last few months as I haven't been playing much at all. For the record, I have made GS a few times.

Oh yeah, I forgot about FPP vs. VPP. That makes sense. I figured it was like that... if the bonus points did count, I was thinking making GS would be pretty easy. I'm going to easily make SS this month. If I didn't have a gf I'd probably make GS pretty easily. And this is at $25NL. I'm thinking rakeback on FTP is probably better right now, at least until (if) I can work my way up to higher stakes.

[Poboy]

Pretty sure rakeback > FPPs. Especially since rakeback is in money.

[hachkc]

Originally Posted by yeltzen

Oh yeah, I forgot about FPP vs. VPP. That makes sense. I figured it was like that... if the bonus points did count, I was thinking making GS would be pretty easy. I'm going to easily make SS this month. If I didn't have a gf I'd probably make GS pretty easily. And this is at $25NL. I'm thinking rakeback on FTP is probably better right now, at least until (if) I can work my way up to higher stakes.

One thing to remember, unless they've cancelled it, is you can get a $285 bonus for like 25k FPPs. If you make GS every month, you can accrue enough FPPs every 3mos to get a new one. Plus you can always sell merchandise on ebay for cash. Someone on 2+2 once did a comparison between FTP rakeback and P* fpps but I don't remember the exact answer but the differences were not huge.

How many hands you think you'd play to make GS at NL25? I'd think that would be pretty tough unless you don't have a job (or a gf). Making SS at NL50 is pretty easy very doable at NL25 but for GS, I had to work at it the few months I made it and also had some NL100 and NL200 (short stacking) mixed in. I don't have a gf but do have a job, wife & kid.

[Big Mike]

FPPs are a great deal when they send you two iPods for the price of one (see my thread in General topics for details).

[yeltzen]

Originally Posted by hachkc

How many hands you think you'd play to make GS at NL25? I'd think that would be pretty tough unless you don't have a job (or a gf). Making SS at NL50 is pretty easy very doable at NL25 but for GS, I had to work at it the few months I made it and also had some NL100 and NL200 (short stacking) mixed in. I don't have a gf but do have a job, wife & kid.

Well, it's taken me 4100 hands to get about 2/5 of the VPPs I need for SS status. So, I'll need about 10,000 hands this month. I would need probably double that or more to make GS (probably more). I think it would be brutal at 25NL, but could be done if I had nothing else to do. I will hopefully be moving up to 50NL pretty soon unless I start some crazy downswing, so that should help my cause.