- Big increase in WSOP VIP program, with rakeback increased 50%+ on many tiers.
- Aggressive “loyalty match” program targets Ultimate Poker’s high volume grinders.
- Month-long “grinder celebration” adds up to 30%+ rakeback for reaching daily targets.
Regulated Nevada online poker room WSOP.com has announced a permanent increase to the points earned in its “Action Club” loyalty program. Players on many tiers will now receive 50% more rakeback than before.
Players at the “silver” level now receive a 4x multiplier for “Action Poker Points,” where it was previously 1 for 1. The top tier, “Seven Stars” now receives a 15x multiplier, up from 10x.
The new system means the maximum effective rakeback is 30%, up from 20% previously, ignoring other deposit bonuses or promotions that may run—although this requires a player to rake $200,000 in a calendar year. On the platinum tier, with a more reasonable monthly target of $600/month in attributed rake, effective rakeback has doubled from 7.5% to 15%.
The entry level silver tier, which requires just $100 in attributed rake, now gives back 8% in effective rakeback, compared to 2% before.
In addition, the poker room has launched an aggressive “Loyalty Program Matching” promotion. From now through December, players who have a VIP status at a competing online poker room can have that matched immediately with a comparable VIP tier on WSOP.com.
If there was any doubt that WSOP.com was focusing on high-volume players to increase liquidity on the online poker room, it has also announced a one off “Grinder Appreciation Month.” Running until the end of November, players who rake 100 hands on at least 15 days during the month will score an extra 10% rakeback; 200 hands in 20 days nets 20% extra; and anyone who hits the tables for all 30 days for 500 hands gets a 30% boost.
WSOP.com still slightly trails Ultimate Poker in terms of 7-day cash game traffic, although the latest data suggests it will overtake its Nevada competitor early this week.
The full VIP changes, with effective rakeback equivalents, are shown below.
| Tier | Points target/month | Old multiplier | New multiplier | Rakeback Equivalent |
| Silver | 200 | 1 | 4 | 8% |
| Gold | 400 | 2 | 5 | 10% |
| Platinum | 1200 | 3.5 | 6 | 12% |
| Diamond | 3500 | 5 | 7.5 | 15% |
| Elite | 50,000 (annual) | 7 | 10 | 20% |
| Seven Stars | 400,000 (annual) | 10 | 15 | 30% |
2 points are awarded for every dollar of rake paid in cash games and tournaments. Rake is attributed using the weighted-contributed format.
