[somapopper]

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What makes a person a VIP.

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The VIP team consists of a small group of people that have poker experience and is headed by someone that I feel is dedicated to making it work. They are currently in the process of putting together a dedicated VIP support team.
The offers/promotions that many of you are receiving are the first to go out, and will help to define the future of the program. Nothing is concrete and everything will be evaluated as the program stabilizes. There will be new offers/promotions in the future. As the program matures there will also be higher levels.
Whether you currently play at PartyPoker.com, used to play or have never played you will be considered equally. You don’t need to be “inactive” or “super active” to get a better deal. There will be minimum requirements to stay a VIP and those that don’t meet it will be replaced.
If you are looking for something to replace rakeback this isn’t it. Rakeback was never allowed at Party (or through the skins) and I don’t believe it ever will be.

If you haven’t been contacted by someone in the team you can email them at vip@partypoker.com.

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Thanks for the info, Mike.

Whether one views it as a "replacement for rakeback" seems immaterial. To echo Stu's point the fundamental issues are: (1) what incentives will Party offer to attract high volume players to the site, and (2) how does the expected value of those incentives compare to the incentives offered by other rooms? Whether Party is or is not unalterably opposed to something that walks like rakeback and talks like rakeback (but isn't rakeback), it cannot change the underlying econmic drivers of the potential relationship: high volume players generate higher revenue for Party; high volume players are aware of the revenue being generated by their play; and high volume players expect incentives commensurate with the revenue they generate. If the nascent VIP program is merely an extension of a points system whereby we can all use points to buy more beanies or tourney entries, then the incentive value is very low, and high volume players will naturally drift to roooms that offer comparable games and better incentives. I'm sure this must be obvious to these folks running VIP and I would presume that if they want to make it successful they shouldn't really try to pick a fight with or otherwise ignore the underlying economics driving the issue. That's a losing battle.

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Very nice hand sir.

Also, I think we can lay off the enjoy thing just a little bit. Party didn't have to implement this program, but they did, and hopefully if it runs smoothly for everybody party and high volume players will both be taking home sacks full of cash.

Deciding that we would all just play there anyway wouldn't have been the most profitable course for party, but I think they should be rewarded for their good behavior (or at least cut some slack). I mean they have support people who speak English now?!

This in no way means I don't think party and stars should get into a price/ services war. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]