Getting to Supernova Elite on PokerStars
Barry Carter and a panel of experts including Dusty Schmidt, Jared Tendler, and Randy Lew discuss what it takes to achieve the most coveted VIP status in poker - PokerStars' Supernova Elite.
| Reaching Supernova Elite - Benefits |
| • $54,310* in VIP store bonuses • $1,200 Stellar Rewards • $43,200 Milestone Cash Credits • $5,200 WCOOP Main Event ticket • $1,220 VIP Tournament tickets Total: $105,130 *Worth $74,000 if you start the year as a Supernova Elite, taking the total up to $129,600 |
On January 1 every year, poker players embark on one of the toughest challenges in the online game.
Every year, usually before March, most of them give up.
I am talking about Supernova Elite status on PokerStars - the most lucrative and coveted VIP tier in all of poker.
It can be worth between $105,130 and $129,600 to those players that get it, but when you consider it requires earning 1 million VPPs in a calendar year, very few do.
The sheer amount of traffic on PokerStars makes it possible to achieve at most game types and buy-in levels. However, 1 million VPPs is equivalent to up to $181,818 in total rake paid, or just over $15,000 rake per month, meaning only the most prolific players need apply.
I caught up with three players who have achieved Supernova Elite multiple times - Randy
'
nanonokoPS' Lew, Roy 'GodLikeRoy' Bhasin and Dusty 'Leatherass9' Schmidt, to find out what it takes to get there.
I also took some time out with jaredtendler, who has coached 11 players to achieving the status level.
$100,000 guaranteed: even for breakeven players
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| ElkY was the first Supernova Elite |
Supernova Elite has always fascinated me, mainly because I cannot comprehend putting in the kind of volume it requires, yet around 300 players a year manage to get there.
Perhaps even more interestingly, it is a rare proposition for a breakeven player to earn a six-figure sum.
Getting to those 1 million VPPs can be redeemed for at least $98,710 in bonuses and cash credits in the PokerStars VIP store alone, on top of some exclusive tournament tickets.
Maintain the status in the next year and it is worth up to $129,600, or 78% cashback.
To be breakeven these days is difficult in itself, but if you manage to put in the volume, you can still win a life changing-sum of money.
 "This comes down to your goals in poker and life. If you want to be playing poker for the longer term then I think if you have a choice between getting Supernova Elite and being a break even grinder or playing fewer tables/hours and working on your game, you should opt for the latter."
"You can always attempt it the next year when you're a better player and perhaps you won't be breaking even then." - Roy ' |
That $129,600 sum is one bigger than most professional poker players could hope to earn in a year, and what's more it is guaranteed.
In theory, if you have the bankroll and you can manage to break even for the year, you will win over $100,000 in bonuses and tickets if you play the required number of hands.
Even the best players in the world can't guarantee they will have a winning year, let alone a six-figure winning year. With this in mind, is it wise for a breakeven player to go for it?
 "I think that having a positive win rate should be a priority. It makes grinding feel more rewarding that you're seeing results as you play more and more."
"I think being a slightly losing player or break even player can be frustrating if you're playing huge volume. While I don't think it's a bad thing for a break even player to go for it, it definitely would be better if they work on their game a little bit more first then go for it." - Randy ' |
Preparation is everything
Supernova Elite requires a monumental effort in volume and at the very minimum the player should already be a high raker - achieving regular Supernova status already.
 "It is extraordinarily difficult to achieve, especially how I went about doing it which was to only eight-table $5/$10 NLHE and above games."
"These days people can play a billion tables at once with a basic default strategy and make it pretty easily. "I thought to do what I did, playing only eight at once, was extraordinarily difficult." - Dusty ' |
1 million VPPs in a year is 83,333 VPPs a month, or around $15,000 rake per month.
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| Andrew 'azntracker' Li made Supernova Elite in just 2 months! |
To put this into context, here are some examples of how much volume it takes:
• 1.25 Million hands of NLHE $5/$10
• 1.5 Million hands of NLHE $2/$4
• 2 Million hands of NLHE $1/$2
• 2.75 Million hands of NLHE $0.50/$1
• 950k hands of FLHE $5/$10 full ring
• 675k hands of PLO $2/$4
• 25,000 $100 buy-in turbo SNGs
• 75,000 $30 buy-in turbo SNGs
• 115,000 $20 buy-in turbo SNGs
• Roughly $181,818 in total rake paid.
| "Achieving SuperNova Elite is definitely a tough task to achieve. You need to have the mindset from day one that you are going to put in lots of volume whenever you get the chance and not take any extended breaks. It takes a lot of dedication and mental strength to cross the finish line."
"Usually in the beginning of the year, I just put it lots of volume without any specific goals. As more time progresses, I like to compare how many VPPs I still need to earn relative to the amount of months I have left in the year. If I'm behind a doable pace, then I'll crank up my volume a bit but if I'm ahead, then I'll just try to play my best and reevaluate my performance later in the year." - Randy ' |
Just like any other New Year style resolution, most people give up quite early.
Only 318 players achieved it last year and 348 the year before that. So what did those who made the cut do differently to stay on course?
| "I prepared by figuring out how many hands I needed to play per month for the whole year. Then I figured out how many I needed to play per month to make it by the end of November."
"Then I added 20% to that number. That was my monthly goal. I have a series of articles on the topic posted in my blog on this very topic where I expand on my thoughts." - Roy ' |
Building mental muscle
I have had a fascinating and unique insight into what it takes to become a Supernova Elite working alongside mental game coach jaredtendler.
Jared has successfully coached 11 players to Supernova Elite, including Leatherass. I asked him what some of the biggest errors players make on their way towards it:
 "The biggest mistake players make is play too much too soon and this causes burnout. Making SNE is not a sprint it’s an ultra-marathon. A majority of the players going for SNE need the whole year to get it. This means to get SuperNova Elite, you need to earn a little more than 83,000 VPPs per month."
"Commonly players who averaged around 40,000 or 50,000 monthly VPPs last year think it’ll be easy to jump up to 83,000 (or more) in the first month. That’s a huge increase in capacity. An increase that can be made, but the only way you can make this increase hold up throughout the year is to build it steadily." "Mental capacity works in much the same way as physical capacity. You wouldn’t expect to be able to double your maximum bench press or the distance of your longest run overnight, so you shouldn’t expect to do the same thing with your online volume either. What I get my clients to do is to steadily increase their capacity, so they eventually can start averaging way more than the required 83,000 in a month." - jaredtendler |
The long haul
So the beginning part is probably quite easy (relativley), as the players are full of motivation, and likewise the end part is probably easy (given the challenge is nearly over).
But how do the players cope with the long, arduous middle part, in particular when facing downswings and the issue of their non-poker lives getting in the way?
| "When it's a grind to put in volume but I know I have to do it (like right now) I just look to the finish line. This year my fiancee and I are leaving on the 21st of December to go to Singapore and India for a holiday and to see my family. The thought of cocktails by the pool in Singapore and seeing my nieces (and rest of the family) in India is what keeps me going."
"When I'm going through a downswing I try to take breaks and work on my game, focus on playing better and studying where things are going wrong and what can be improved. What also helps me personally is looking at my lifetime graph to see just how absurdly insignificant the downswing is in the grand scheme of things." "When the two happen together - a big downswing and no motivation to grind - it makes for a bad recipe It's not easy. You can't take a break or step back because you HAVE to grind, but you also can't continue to play bad and downswing or you'll just be destroyed." "It's times like these you find your motivation wherever you can and the short breaks you do take really have to be worth it. You have to have confidence in yourself." - Roy ' |
| "That's why I think it's important to work on your win rate because when times get tough during downswings, you can remind yourself that in the long run, you are a winning player.
"It helps refocuses your mindset that you are in it for the long run not the short run variance." - Randy ' |
| "One of the most important things to being able to endure the process is rest. One of the other reasons so many players burn out early on the quest for SuperNova Elite is not factoring in proper breaks."
"A lot of people think you need to have no life to get to SuperNova Elite, but that’s not the case. Rest is critical because it’s during that time when the brain neurons grow to support the increase in grinding ability." "Proper rest means taking a day off per week. Although during stretches of time you can go without rest and be fine, if you push yourself too long without rest, you hurt your brains ability to keep growing. I recommend taking one day off per week and 5-6 days off per month. Ideally, you’ll also have a couple times throughout the year where you take off 3-7 days in a row." "Another way you can rest properly is by putting poker out of your mind after you’re done playing. Once a session is over and after you’ve done any evaluation, you need to stop thinking about poker. If you keep mentally grinding on poker, you don’t give your brain the ability to recover and you waste energy." - jaredtendler |
Good luck in 2013
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| Jason Mercier won EPT San Remo after getting Supernova Elite |
Perhaps the main reason Supernova Elite fascinates me is because as much as I admire the guys that get there, and the guys that try, in equal measure I pity them a little and am glad I don't have to consider putting in the volume they do.
Probably the biggest myth around Supernova Elites is that they are robotic rakeback grinders whose only talent is putting in volume. Nothing could be further from the truth, very few of these guys are break even players and I think the fact they are profitable even without the VIP status is a key to how they are able to acheieve it.
We already know how good players like Randy Lew, Dusty Schmidt and Roy Bhasin are. Some other famous Supernova Elites who have gone on to prove themselves beyond their ability to grind include Dario Minieri, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Jason Mercier, George Lind and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom.
To those who are considering taking on the challenge starting next month I say good luck. If you get there you will deserve it and likely be a much better player at the end of it. But please take heed at what some of our experts are saying today and truly ask yourself whether you are capable of it right now, because if you get it wrong it could be very costly, especially when it comes to the most valuable commodity of all - time.
By Barry Carter
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