*** PokerStars VIP Rep thread ***

[PokerStars VIP]

Hi guys. Just wanted to post a quick introduction. I'll be following the forums here on FTR, and hopefully I can make some useful contributions for PokerStars related questions or feedback that some of you might have. PokerStars has always tried to keep a close relationship with the players to be able to meet their needs, and I'm genuinely interested in hearing your input.

A bit about myself : I'm a former professional player based out of Canada where I'm now the PokerStars VIP Coordinator for mainly the East Coast. FTR has been a great help to me over the years, and I hope I can return the favour in the future.

I'll do my best to answer any other questions and I look forward to participating in the future.

Cheers,

Dylan C
VIP Coordinator
P♠kerStars

[Icanhastreebet]

Why did you guys doom switch me?

[celtic123]

What do you plan to do about the 9/6 nits that plague 2NL fr since the Americans stopped showing up ?

[PokerStars VIP]

What do you plan to do about the 9/6 nits that plague 2NL fr since the Americans stopped showing up ?

PokerStars doesn't punish any style of play. You're on the right track to finding a strategy to adapt to these types of players by being a regular contributor to FTR. You're probably better off posting this question in the BC or Full Ring forums as a topic for general discussion -> i.e. "Help me deal with 9/6 regs".

Cheers,

Dylan C

[rpm]

What do you plan to do about the 9/6 nits that plague 2NL fr since the Americans stopped showing up ?

serious? i think the games have become way softer since BF.

[pokerfan]

Can i get the equivalence of 31% rakeback if i maintain platinumstar vip every month? I know you have VIP and stellar rewards. I left about $1k funds in my stars account since last year but think about moving to another network site coz i'm not supernova any more.

[PokerStars VIP]

Can i get the equivalence of 31% rakeback if i maintain platinumstar vip every month? I know you have VIP and stellar rewards. I left about $1k funds in my stars account since last year but think about moving to another network site coz i'm not supernova any more.

Hi Pokerfan. If you specify what games and volume you typically play, I can give you a more detailed breakdown of what rewards you can expect. But generally, if you're maintaining PlatinumStar and playing Full Ring you can expect 31% in rewards, for 6max and Sit n Gos/MTTs you'll be earning 28%. If you did re-achieve Supernova status, you'd see a significant bump.

Keep in mind, no MGR deductions go against your rewards so this is a true representation of the percentage you receive.

[Icanhastreebet]

Yeah ignore the question from the guy who has paid u guys 80k in rake this year.

[pokerfan]

Hi Pokerfan. If you specify what games and volume you typically play, I can give you a more detailed breakdown of what rewards you can expect. But generally, if you're maintaining PlatinumStar and playing Full Ring you can expect 31% in rewards, for 6max and Sit n Gos/MTTs you'll be earning 28%. If you did re-achieve Supernova status, you'd see a significant bump.

Keep in mind, no MGR deductions go against your rewards so this is a true representation of the percentage you receive.

yeah, i played 50NL FR games on stars and logged in around 35-40k hands each month last year. This year, i figure that i can only do like 25k hands.So it seems that there's no way i can even maintain PlatinumStar every month.

[Micro2Macro]

What do you plan to do about the 9/6 nits that plague 2NL fr since the Americans stopped showing up ?

this is literally the easiest opponent to play against and you should be grateful they exist

[PokerStars VIP]

Why did you guys doom switch me?

Icanhastreebet, I didn't purposefully deflect this question, but I assumed it was a given that you knew there is no "doomswitch" and PokerStars takes its game security and integrity extremely seriously. I can personally sympathize that variance, on the other hand, can be frustrating.

Dylan C

[supa]

Kinda dumb question but why doesn't stars allow americans to play freerolls anymore?

[supa]

I think I actually hate myself for even asking.

[Keith]

cos you can't win anything that could have a monetary value.

[celtic123]

cos you can't win anything that could have a monetary value.

This is interesting. Can Americans play poker on Facebook?
I do believe that you can actually buy credits/ chips to play on f/b, can someone clarify this?

If clarification arrives, do you see the madness here?

[supa]

The difference seems to be that you can't actually win anything of value on fb. You can however buy worthless chips from fb but they'll never be worth anything. I dunno who the fuck is actually doing that but they're obv morons whos money would be of better use as donations on a real site.

My point is that since you don't pay for freerolls it isn't gambling because you're not risking anything. But the sad fact is that I only asked because the DoJ has reduced my pathetic poker career to freetrolling for the time being.

[PokerStars VIP]

You guys were on the right track. It's because US players can't play in tournaments that have real money prizes.

[supa]

Yeah, but this is obv a stars rule and has nothing to do with the U.S. in general. I mean, an american can pay a monthly fee to the WPT site and play for cash and prizes legally so there's really no reason for stars to not allow us to play for free also. Except for the fact that it's prolly a huge pain in the ass to keep track of and cash out the nanorolls that a freetroller might win. So it seems more of a logistical thing, yeah?

Fwiw, I'm still a big fan of stars and commend everyone involved for getting our rolls back to us in a somewhat timely manner, and will be one of the first in the line of masses to deposit if we ever get the opportunity to play there again.

[Nekrogovner]

I have a question. Why don't you have NL2 and NL5 40-100BB USD tables, but only EURO ones?

[PokerStars VIP]

Yeah, but this is obv a stars rule and has nothing to do with the U.S. in general. I mean, an american can pay a monthly fee to the WPT site and play for cash and prizes legally so there's really no reason for stars to not allow us to play for free also. Except for the fact that it's prolly a huge pain in the ass to keep track of and cash out the nanorolls that a freetroller might win. So it seems more of a logistical thing, yeah?

Fwiw, I'm still a big fan of stars and commend everyone involved for getting our rolls back to us in a somewhat timely manner, and will be one of the first in the line of masses to deposit if we ever get the opportunity to play there again.

Supa, I see your point, but it just comes down to Freerolls being real money play due to the real money prizes. The entry free is irrelevant in this instance.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, it's appreciated.

[PokerStars VIP]

I have a question. Why don't you have NL2 and NL5 40-100BB USD tables, but only EURO ones?

Hi Nekrogovner, PokerStars is always trying to accommodate player demand, and I'm here to listen to feedback. What games specifically would you like to see added and why?

I'll then forward your input on to Poker Room Management.

Cheers,
Dylan C

[scott_owen]

I would love to see some lower stakes HU tables.. I've never been one for the HU-SNG's so would love it if I could play 10NL and 25NL HU.. i'm sure people would be keen for 5 as well, though i think that and 2nl would be far too much of a crap shoot for my liking..

[celtic123]

Hi Dylan C,

I need to earn 59 VPP by the 15th of July to qualify for my ps100 Bonus (if I understand this scheme). Have you any idea how many hands I must play at 2NL or 5NL to achieve this?


Im comfy 4-10 tabling.

[PokerStars VIP]

Hi Dylan C,

I need to earn 59 VPP by the 15th of July to qualify for my ps100 Bonus (if I understand this scheme). Have you any idea how many hands I must play at 2NL or 5NL to achieve this?


Im comfy 4-10 tabling.

Hi Celtic, here are some estimates:

5NL 6max: 950 hands

5NL FR: 1450 hands

2NL 6max: 1800 hands

2NL FR: 2450 hands

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Dylan C

[PokerStars VIP]

I would love to see some lower stakes HU tables.. I've never been one for the HU-SNG's so would love it if I could play 10NL and 25NL HU.. i'm sure people would be keen for 5 as well, though i think that and 2nl would be far too much of a crap shoot for my liking..

Thanks for the input. Your comments have been passed on to the Poker Room team.

[Micro2Macro]

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with your job, but something needs to be done about those who abuse the sit out button at high stakes (10/20+).

[Numbr2intheWorld]

Is it true that pstars takes screenshots of your comp sometimes when you play?

[PokerStars VIP]

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with your job, but something needs to be done about those who abuse the sit out button at high stakes (10/20+).

Hi M2M, We did introduce a specific rule to counter this a few months back. See rules 10 and 11 here:

Poker Ring Game Rules - Poker Game Rule Guide for PokerStars

The rule addition/change was prompted by problems at high stakes NLHE tables. Since then we've been monitoring tables and have passed out warnings and then temporary bans for offenders. The situation has improved greatly at these tables as a result.

A few days ago our Ring Games Managers started putting more focus on monitoring high stakes PLO tables for the same purpose. They aren't monitoring 24/7 but they are checking in fairly regularly. If you want to discuss the rule or report a violation (ideally with screenshot), contact highstakes@pokerstars.com for direct access to ring games managers.

[PokerStars VIP]

Is it true that pstars takes screenshots of your comp sometimes when you play?

No, we don't take screenshots.

[aka_red]

just live streams i think?

[PokerStars VIP]

just live streams i think?

Hah, no live streams either.

[PokerStars VIP]

Below is an announcement about recent changes to the game speed. I'll be happy to discuss any of these changes in this thread and pass along any input.

After listening to player feedback, we have enacted changes in the PokerStars software to speed up dealing in certain situations. A few other related changes have been made as well, though in most cases the time a player has to act on their hand has not been affected. Read below for more details.

Non-Satellite Sit & Go Tournaments

Hyper Turbo Sit & Go Tournaments are most affected by the changes. Players in these tournaments will have 12 seconds to act on their hand instead of 16. Several other dealing speed improvements including time taken between hands and speed of dealing cards once players are all-in have also been made.

All other Sit & Go tournaments have had dealing speed reduced, but not quite as much. Cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

Players in regular speed Sit & Go’s will now have 16 seconds to act on their hand, reduced from 18 seconds.

The time taken to start dealing after all players have registered and been seated has been reduced for many popular Sit & Go tournaments. Many Heads-up and Hyper speed tournaments now start after only a 10 second delay. Other popular tournaments start after 20 seconds.

Scheduled Tournaments, Satellites, and Step Tournaments

Dealing speed has been increased in these tournaments similar to the changes made in Sit & Go’s. Cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

Players in some tournaments will experience slightly different amounts of time to act on their hand. This is as a result of standardizing this setting across all tournaments.

Hyper-turbo satellites have been sped up drastically. These satellites will run at the same speed as hyper-turbo cash S&Gs.

These changes will not take place for all future tournaments, but will instead filter their way into the tournament schedule over the next few weeks.

Ring Games

As with all tournaments, cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

The delay prior to dealing the first hand of a session at a table has been reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.

The changes to ring games will not have a significant impact on the number of hands played per hour at this point in time. PokerStars is considering further changes that may include changes to the amount of time players have to act on their hand.

Comments about playing experience at ring game tables are appreciated. In particular, if there is anything about the ring game experience other than players’ time to act that seems too slow or too fast we’d love to know.

Request for Comments

While PokerStars never stops considering player feedback, in this case we are particularly interested in response to these changes. Additional tweaks are possible if desired by players as a whole. Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions.

Thanks to all players who have already provided input that helped us make this round of changes. Special thanks to all of those who helped test these settings on PokerStars.test and provided helpful input.


Dylan C

[Miffed22001]

Below is an announcement about recent changes to the game speed. I'll be happy to discuss any of these changes in this thread and pass along any input.

After listening to player feedback, we have enacted changes in the PokerStars software to speed up dealing in certain situations. A few other related changes have been made as well, though in most cases the time a player has to act on their hand has not been affected. Read below for more details.

Non-Satellite Sit & Go Tournaments

Hyper Turbo Sit & Go Tournaments are most affected by the changes. Players in these tournaments will have 12 seconds to act on their hand instead of 16. Several other dealing speed improvements including time taken between hands and speed of dealing cards once players are all-in have also been made.

All other Sit & Go tournaments have had dealing speed reduced, but not quite as much. Cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

Players in regular speed Sit & Go’s will now have 16 seconds to act on their hand, reduced from 18 seconds.

The time taken to start dealing after all players have registered and been seated has been reduced for many popular Sit & Go tournaments. Many Heads-up and Hyper speed tournaments now start after only a 10 second delay. Other popular tournaments start after 20 seconds.

Scheduled Tournaments, Satellites, and Step Tournaments

Dealing speed has been increased in these tournaments similar to the changes made in Sit & Go’s. Cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

Players in some tournaments will experience slightly different amounts of time to act on their hand. This is as a result of standardizing this setting across all tournaments.

Hyper-turbo satellites have been sped up drastically. These satellites will run at the same speed as hyper-turbo cash S&Gs.

These changes will not take place for all future tournaments, but will instead filter their way into the tournament schedule over the next few weeks.

Ring Games

As with all tournaments, cards dealt after all action is complete due to players being all-in are now dealt twice as fast. The time between all hands being shown or mucked and the next hand being dealt has also been reduced by one second per hand.

The delay prior to dealing the first hand of a session at a table has been reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.

The changes to ring games will not have a significant impact on the number of hands played per hour at this point in time. PokerStars is considering further changes that may include changes to the amount of time players have to act on their hand.

Comments about playing experience at ring game tables are appreciated. In particular, if there is anything about the ring game experience other than players’ time to act that seems too slow or too fast we’d love to know.

Request for Comments

While PokerStars never stops considering player feedback, in this case we are particularly interested in response to these changes. Additional tweaks are possible if desired by players as a whole. Thanks in advance for any constructive suggestions.

Thanks to all players who have already provided input that helped us make this round of changes. Special thanks to all of those who helped test these settings on PokerStars.test and provided helpful input.


Dylan C

more than 24 tables please

[Penneywize]

Rake at nano stakes / micro stakes PLO is ridic high, what up with that?

[Nekrogovner]

It would be really cool if you made some options/shortcuts for:
1. closing only tables at which I'm sitting out
2. closing tables where number of players is less then X (like if there is 3 players in 6max game close that thing)

[scott_owen]

Rake at nano stakes / micro stakes PLO is ridic high, what up with that?

rake at any game micro/nano is ridic.

is pretty easy to argue that if the rake was say 3% vs 5% more people in the 5nl 10nl games would be winners and move up, leading to equivalent or more profit for pstars and a bigger player pool generally since it would be easier to win consistently and many losers would become break even.

and even if it reduced pstars profit they'd still be rolling in cash..

[bikes]

thx stars for getting rid of the redic delay when ai for the turn and river. was abso pointless

[celtic123]

What about dropping the dollar symbol ?

[Penneywize]

rake at any game micro/nano is ridic.

is pretty easy to argue that if the rake was say 3% vs 5% more people in the 5nl 10nl games would be winners and move up, leading to equivalent or more profit for pstars and a bigger player pool generally since it would be easier to win consistently and many losers would become break even.

and even if it reduced pstars profit they'd still be rolling in cash..

yeah but the consensus is that rake is generally worse at nano/micro PLO than it is for NLHE

[PokerStars VIP]

What about dropping the dollar symbol ?

You mean in all tournaments and Sit n gos?


I appreciate all the input guys. Not going unnoticed.

[Imthenewfish]

i think he meant removing USD from the site because people in the U.S. can't play but i could be really wrong :s

[Nekrogovner]

i think he meant removing USD from the site because people in the U.S. can't play but i could be really wrong :s

Are you guys insane? And what will you play in? I sure as hell ain't leaving my money in Euros. Unless you want to risk a chance of losing much of it.

[Penneywize]

nah i think he did mean the dollar signs from tourneys i.e. in spots they really shouldn't be

[DoubleJ]

Hi Dylan C

Change Request - please have player options/preferences stored as part of their account settings.

Cheers!

[dneureiter]

^^ depending on how easy that is to do technically it would be a huge help for grinders who play on their laptop and desktop

[rpm]

+ all player notes on opponents being saved to accounts, not computers!

[PokerStars VIP]

Going to pass this feedback on to the Poker Team. Thanks for the suggestions.

Dylan C

[Micro2Macro]

props to Dylan C for staying on top of this thread

[DoubleJ]

+1

btw - is it worth making this a sticky?

[jyms]

I will sticky it for sure as soon as I get back to my computer in a couple days. I will actually be "sticky"ing the few threads of poker room VIPs. I just don't like to log into the mod panel from my phone or tablet.