PokerStars is by far the largest online poker room today. They offer action in every game and nearly any limit at virtually any time of the day no matter where you live. PokerStars is home to some of the largest tournaments online, including the famous weekly Sunday Million. There are also numerous smaller buy-in tournaments all day long in pretty much every format imaginable. Other tournament options include satellites to all of their major tournaments and also to live tournaments such as the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour and the new Latin American Poker Tour. Their “Steps” tournaments allow you to win a seat in the WSOP Main Event for only $7.50!
The initial sign-up bonus at PokerStars is 100% up to $50 and they offer a number of reload bonuses per year. Their bonuses are relatively easy to clear and the points that you earn while clearing the bonus can be redeemed in their FPP (frequent player point) store for books and PokerStars gear among other items such as electronics, or for a variety of tournaments that allow FPPs to be used for entry. PokerStars offers some of the best customer service in the industry. While only available through email, the customer service agents at PokerStars are extremely knowledgeable and will go to great lengths to make sure your every question is answered in a satisfactory manner.
Being the largest poker site by a significant margin, PokerStars is usually the first site to be supported by new pieces of 3rd party poker software. This means that if you’re playing at PokerStars you’ll always be able to use the latest versions of PokerTracker, PokerACE HUD, and whatever other poker software you like using. Having access to all these extra tools can help improve your play as well as your win rate.
PokerStars VIP Program
PokerStars does not offer actual rakeback in the traditional sense. They have instead chosen to offer an extensive VIP program with different levels based on how much you play there. Every player begins at the BronzeStar level and can advance all the way to the pinnacle of the VIP world with a standing of Supernova Elite. Few players reach this upper echelon of the VIP program but those that do are richly rewarded with many benefits including two entries to live tournaments valued at over $10,000 each. Most regular grinders will have no problem reaching the regular Supernova VIP level. While not as extravagant as the Supernova Elite level, Supernova still provides very generous rewards to its members.
In order to reach the various VIP levels on PokerStars you must earn VPPs (VIP Player Points) in either cash games or tournaments. The following table shows the requirements for attaining each VIP level.
VIP Club Status Levels:
Tier VPPs Required Qualification Period
BronzeStar N/A N/A
SilverStar 1,500 Monthly
GoldStar 4,000 Monthly
PlatinumStar 10,000 Monthly
Supernova 100,000 Yearly
Supernova Elite 1,000,000 Yearly
Each level has different perks including: access to exclusive freeroll tournaments, milestone bonuses, faster FPP accumulation rates up to 5x for Supernova Elite players, exclusive merchandise in the FPP store, and many other benefits.
To get an idea of the equivalent amount of rakeback you are earning, you need to take a look at the FPPs you are earning while you play. These can be redeemed for a variety of items in the FPP store with an approximate value of $0.016 per point. If you are playing tournaments the rakeback equivalent is described in the following table:
FPP Rakeback Equivalent for Tournaments
VIP Level FPPs / $1 RakeBack %
BronzeStar 5 8%
SilverStar 7.5 12%
GoldStar 10 16%
PlatinumStar 12.5 20%
Supernova 17.5 28%
Supernova Elite 25 32%
For cash game players, the equivalent rakeback percentage varies greatly depending on a number of factors including the game you are playing (hold’em, omaha, etc.), whether it is fixed limit or pot/no-limit, how many hands per hour you are playing and the average pot size at each table. It is impossible to determine an exact equivalent rakeback percentage but in general when you take into consideration all the freeroll values and additional perks that higher level VIPs receive, if you are willing to play enough to attain the level of PlatinumStar or higher you will be receiving an equivalent rakeback percentage equal to or better than that of competing sites.