What is a Loyalty Programme?
A loyalty programme is a system that businesses use to reward their customers for repeated engagement. In the world of online casinos, loyalty programmes are designed to offer perks such as bonus cash, exclusive promotions, rakebacks or special rewards based on players’ activity.
It’s essentially the casino’s way of saying, “Thank you for playing – here’s a little something extra to enhance your experience!” Players usually earn points for activities like placing bets, paying tournament fees, or participating in promotions. Let’s take a look at the PokerStars programme in more detail.
What is Rakeback in the Loyalty Programme?
To understand PokerStars’ rewards system better, it helps to know what ‘rakeback’ is. The rake is a small fee charged by the casino or poker site for facilitating games, taken from each hand in cash games or added to tournament fees. Rakeback is a way of giving players a percentage of the rake they’ve paid back to them as cash or bonuses. It’s really a cashback system that uses an offset to balance the cost of playing while giving loyalty rewards.
For example, if a player adds £10 in rake during a game session and have a 20% rakeback deal, they’d receive £2 back.
Tiered Rewards & Rakeback Systems Explained
‘Stars Rewards’ is the loyalty programme operated by PokerStars, which uses a tier-based system to allow players to accumulate points. By gaining points, a player moves up a level, similar to Space Invaders or Pac-Man style levels. By moving through different levels, players can pick up perks and prizes at each stage.
Here’s How The Loyalty System Works in Practice:
- Earning Reward Points: Players accumulate points by playing games and paying rake (the small fee mentioned earlier).
- Unlocking Chests: Once enough points are earned, players unlock chests filled with prizes and rewards. These prize chests range from Blue (beginner level) to Black (elite level), with higher tiers offering bigger prizes and greater % of rakeback.
The Chest Levels in Detail in Grid Form
The loyalty system features six main Chest levels, each tied to a specific number of points and offering different rewards:
| Chest Levels | Points Required | Rewards | Approx Rakeback |
| Blue Chest | 2000 | £3 in rewards | 15% |
| Bronze Chest | 6000 | £10.50 in rewards | 17.5% |
| Silver Chest | 20000 | £40 in rewards | 20% |
| Gold Chest | 50000 | £125 in rewards | 25% |
| Diamond Chest | 120000 | £360 in rewards | 30% |
| Black Diamond Chest | 250000 | £1000 in rewards | 40% |
What’s Inside the Chests?
The chests contain various rewards, such as:
- Cash Rewards: Exactly what it says it is.
- Tournament Tickets: Players have access to new and exclusive game tournaments.
- Free Spins or Bonuses: Ideal for casino or slot game players.
- Personalised Rewards: Offers, perks and rewards tailored to a player’s playing style.
For High-Volume Players:
PokerStars also offers exclusive schemes for its most dedicated players:
- PokerStars Select: Rewards players who contribute £50,000 or more in rake or tournament fees annually with up to 50% rakeback in cash rewards, paid daily.
- There is PokerStars Select+ which provides players who contribute over £100,000 annually with up to 60% rakeback for select games.
Why Players Enjoy a Loyalty Programme
The tiered rewards system is well-liked for its transparency and flexibility. Whatever type of player you are the programme offers options that scale with your level of activity.
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