Rakeback at PokerStars Calculated Out

Posted by icemonkey9 on May 19, 2009 in moving | 3 comments

So the tables are going pretty well, although I have put in an anemic amount of hands in.  I was chatting with Custo via emails and he said he's going SNG pro, which is cool.  He said that 5-8% is the ROI all had by the "big shots" so I decided to have some fun and 4-table $5 9-man SNGs.  OMG it was the most frustrating experience ever.  I bubbled in 4th in 3 of them and won the 4th one.  $22 in buy-ins and ended up taking home $22.50 for a +$0.50 effort.

I would have made more ITMs but there was a cataclysmic collapse as chip leader at one table.  It was seriously the weirdest thing I have ever seen.  As the big time chip leader at like 7,000 a guy with 1,500 goes all in preflop and I call with QQ, and he shows KK and it holds up.  Then I am playing and back up to like 6,000 and get it all in with AA against the 2nd in chips who had like 4,500 who shows ... KJ offsuit.  Flop comes JJ4 and I am down to 1,500.  Then I get it in with KK and the villain shows ... GET THIS ... f'ing 36 offsuit ... and he hits an f'ing straight.  So that was that particular SNG and I think anyone that plays them professionally (Custo you better read this) had better expect a lot more gray hair on their head (or for it to fall out completely).

There's been some talk about hidden rakeback deals and affiliate deals, etc etc going around.  People are basically tired of PokerStars if they are not SuperNova and I am definitely amongst them.  So I did some calculations of my own to figure out what my amount of volume gets me.  I play roughly 20,000 hands at 100nl which unfortunately is enough to be GoldStar but not PlatinumStar.  So....

20,000 Hands @ 100nl on PokerStars (grants GoldStar Access)

= ~$1,200 amount in rake paid

= 12,400 FPPs earned (0.31 VPPs/hand * 2 @ Goldstar)

= 49.6% FPPs earned towards the $285 25k FPP bonus
->> Approximately $142.50 Paid in Rakeback per month

GoldStar @ PokerStars = ~12% rakeback

Bleh.  12% kinda sucks, although in May (and rumored for June) were the instant cash bonuses at the conceirge rate which was awesome.  That definitely bumps it up, but I didn't calculate how much.

To put it in perspective, at Absolute Poker, the rake rate looks about the same (at least for non-jackpot tables) as it's $0.05 for every $1 in the pot up to a max of $3 at a 6+ player table.

With Rakeback ...  35% @ Absolute = $420

Also keep in mind that Absolute runs reload deposit bonuses regularly and has a $500 first timer deposit.  If promotions like the current $500 reload bonus were a regular thing (it is btw), I might be looking at ~$900 a month just in "rakeback+bonuses" plus there's a points-for-cash system at Absolute as well.  Meaning that if I played breakeven I could take in a grand a month ... AND the competition is wholeheartedly softer than Stars (confirmed with multiple sources who have played 100nl+ games).

I think I just gave myself a damn fine argument to move sites.  However let's think of the things that PokerStars does better than a site like Absolute Poker...

• Solid History of fine customer service (however AP now has 24/7 live chat customer service)
• Solid History of not having multi-accounts or huge scandals (although that's in the past and from what I hear from a source in Costa Rica, AP is *extremely* dedicated to security now)
• Best site software in the business
• Best site add-ons for customizing tables and decks, as well as neat features like table highlighting/betpot

So I guess I am asking myself, after I burn my current cache of FPPs, is what incentive do I have to stay at PokerStars.  Are the positives worth more than the positives of another site?  That's the big question I'm pondering, and I feel myself leaning in one definite direction.