Greater Transparency, Increased Generosity and Volume-Driven New Rewards System: Q&A With PokerStars' Severin Rasset Greater Transparency, Increased Generosity and Volume-Driven New Rewards System: Q&A With PokerStars' Severin Rasset
Key Takeaways
  • On Tuesday, July, 6, PokerStars deployed a trial version of its new rewards system that offers players a chance to earn cashback of up to 65%.
  • It marks a complete U-turn in the ideology the operator has maintained for the last four years, i.e., reducing rewards for high volume and winning players.
  • PRO got the opportunity to sit down with PokerStars’ Managing Director of Poker, Severin Rasset, to discuss the new rewards system.
  • “The PokerStars Rewards trial combines a transparent core loyalty program offering 15%-25% in rewards, plus a Monthly Poker Challenge worth up to an additional 40% cashback.”
  • “We’ve been listening to customer feedback with plans to make improvements for some time now, and this trial is the largest step we’ve taken thus far to address player concerns.”

Last year, Flutter International Plc, the new parent company of PokerStars, signaled a new direction for the company and hinted that it will increase investment and “customer generosity” at PokerStars.

On Tuesday July, 6, that “increased spend” manifested with the deployment of the trial version of its new rewards system that offers players the ability to earn cashback of up to 65%—making it one of the most generous loyalty programs in the online poker industry.

The trial program also addresses many of the concerns players have with the existing rewards program such as a lack of transparency and rewards not being too meaningful.

We have been listening to our players and the insight tells us that they want greater transparency, increased generosity and a program that is easier to understand.

Under the new PokerStars Rewards program, players will earn between 15% and 25% cashback, with a chance to earn an additional 40% cashback thanks to the newly launched Monthly Poker Challenges that encourage high-volume play.

Furthermore, the operator has simplified the rewards program by making the Chest prizes fixed— increasing the program’s transparency as well as standardizing the reward point requirements for all types of players.

More details on the new rewards program can be found on our sister site, pokerfuse

It marks a complete U-turn in the ideology the operator has maintained for the last four years i.e., reducing rewards for high-volume and winning players and redistributing it more to losing and recreational players.

The trial runs for three months until the end of September and is available to select players in the global dot-COM and dot-EU player pool, in the UK and in the European segregated markets in France and Spain. PRO understands that around 20% of the player pool has been randomly picked for the trial.

To understand player feedback, PokerStars will be sending multiple emails to players that have been selected for the trial and ask for their opinion on the new rewards program.

Ahead of the trial, PRO got the opportunity to sit down with PokerStars’ Managing Director of Poker, Severin Rasset, to discuss the new rewards system including the motivation behind such change, the company’s direction, and whether the operator plans to roll out the new version of PokerStars Rewards globally.