A PlatinumStar Ultimatum

Posted by icemonkey9 on Feb 28, 2010 in pokerstars | 1 comment

I accomplished both goals I set a few posts back of getting the $50 Stellar Bonus as well as achieving PlatinumStar level of PokerStars.  This marks the first time I have reached this VIP level, so that's something to acknowledge.  See:

So there it is, finally.

The ultimatum I am issuing is of course unofficial and in no way something to reflect my professional standing as a writer in the industry.  But as a player and consumer, I do get to choose where I play online.  If PokerStars does not address the shortstacker issue as they say they will make an announcement about (either way) in mid-April, I will move my entire roll to Full Tilt Poker and play there for the foreseeable future.

Here's some of the criteria that have made me think about this decision:

1. The RakeBack at FTP and the VIP System (at Platinum) at Stars is about a wash
2. Cash game players are perceived by many to be slightly worse at Full Tilt
3. There are no shortstackers at Full Tilt
4. Full Tilt plans to revamp their VIP system to something kind of awesome (allegedly)

Those are just the first four thing off the top of my head.  It's not to say that PokerStars doesn't have a lot of attractive things going for it.  Such as:

1. Best table software / more reliable software
2. Biggest pool of players
3. SuperNova > rakeback at Full Tilt
4. SCOOP & WCOOP > FTOPS (in my opinion)
5. Better customer service

But the shortstacker issue really seems to be the kicker in this situation, so it's really what is going to sway me to one side or the other.