PokerStars FPPs To StarsCoin Conversion on January 1st 2016
December 29, 2015 2:03 pmThis year, PokerStars stressed that its main priority was to make online poker a more fun and social experience for amateur players. Consequently, the poker room announced a slew of major changes to its VIP program designed to attract greater numbers of recreational players to its online platform. One such change taking center stage is expected to come into force on January 1st, 2016, which is the date when PokerStars implements its wholesale conversion of Frequent Player Points (FPPs) to its brand new virtual currency called StarsCoin. But how exactly will the players be affected by the conversion?
At the start of 2016, each FPP will be converted into 1.2 StarsCoin. Following the upcoming conversion, its lowest tier of players, BronzeStar members who earn less than 100 FPPs per month, are now set to enjoy a 20% appreciation in the cash bonuses they can expect, giving their FPPs an equivalent of $0.01 a piece. This also applies equally to its ChromeStar players, who earn between 100 to 500 VPPs per month. On the other hand, SilverStar players already earn a cash bonus equal to $0.0111 per FPP, so not much change there, although this group’s tournament tickets conversion of between $0.0157 to $0.0159 means unspent VPPs will be devalued by roughly 25%.
Next, GoldStar players whose conversion rate is currently $0.012 per FPP will experience no change in their 2016 average rewards, although FPPs can be exchanged for tournament tickets at a rate of between $0.0157 and $0.0161, meaning its in the interest of GoldStar players to convert their FPPs into tournament tickets before the StarsCoin change over.
Finally, both PlatinumStar and SuperNova players will be impacted greatest by the conversion, with the former expected to lose around 8% the value of their FPPs, and the latter around a 20% loss of value. Therefore, exchanging their FPPs before conversion also makes sense for these group of players. Further details on how you may be affected by the upcoming PokerStars changes can be seen here.