For all those players who haven't yet reached the status they want at PokerStrategy.com there's now another option. As of today, it's possible to buy StrategyPoints and upgrade your status.
If you have any questions or comments, please post them here and we will come back to you with a reply as soon as possible.
Just a though. Ppl have a lot of life time SP's collected, they are of no use. So maybe they could be spent to buy like a video or a strategy article for a certain number of SP's.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the questions and comments.
@biogas/jasonforan:
We will first measure the success and then we can think about some really cool iterations and innovations to make the offering even better. Since we've been asked for this feature *a lot* in the past, we just wanted to get a base product to market as soon as we could.
On the other hand, we only get paid once for the lifetime points that you earn, so from a business perspective maybe it doesn't make too much sense to 'sell' them later. It would make more sense, for example, for you to be able to pay for a subscription with Tell-a-Friend money, which is certainly something to think about.
@ihufa:
You most certainly can buy Diamond status, but, you're right, only in 12 month packages. We believe this adds the most value to the status without diminishing the exclusivity of the package. Bear in mind though, that since you're already platinum without having bought points, you could certainly buy the platinum package and (probably) become diamond, depending on how many SPs you already have in a typical month 
Originally posted by hormuz
Hi,What about the business model :
Yes. It is completely free for you.
?
Of course we stand by this statement. It's as true today as it ever was.
It is still possible to achieve even the Black Member status without ever spending any of your own money. Simply receive the free $50, work hard at your game and climb the ranks by earning StrategyPoints whilst playing in a partner room.
All we've done today is added an additional option for those who would like to avail of it.
Originally posted by MarcPS
Originally posted by hormuz
Hi,What about the business model :
Yes. It is completely free for you.
?
Of course we stand by this statement. It's as true today as it ever was.
The correct statement should be : "It can be completely free"
And why shouldn't we see this offer as a first step ? When will we see special promo for only paying members ?
Originally posted by hormuz
The correct statement should be : "It can be completely free"And why shouldn't we see this offer as a first step ? When will we see special promo for only paying members ?
I disagree here. It is completely free because nobody is forced to make a purchase to access the content.
Regarding the second point, I don't see that ever happening because basically we'd just cannibalize our own product which makes absolutely no sense.
The pricing structure is absolutely ridiculous. Sure you want to retain the exclusivity of Diamond but it's beyond belief that you think people are going to pay $3990 to access content which cannot be justified.
Lets break down your competitors
Competitor 1 - $278.40
Competitor 2 - $300
Competitor 3 - $360
Competitor 4 - $359.88
Competitor 5 - $299
All of these sites offer things PS doesn't and no disrespect to the diamond coaches but there are far better coaches elsewhere and the ones that happen to be good don't have exclusivity with PS and they also make videos for the competitor websites. You could get a subscription at all of those sites and also get 10hrs of coaching from Balugawhale at his post black friday price.
I would lay a pretty good price on a prop bet so Skype me 
Originally posted by MarcPS
Originally posted by hormuz
The correct statement should be : "It can be completely free"And why shouldn't we see this offer as a first step ? When will we see special promo for only paying members ?
I disagree here. It is completely free because nobody is forced to make a purchase to access the content.
Regarding the second point, I don't see that ever happening because basically we'd just cannibalize our own product which makes absolutely no sense.
Ok, I mean, here it is :
100x Hold'em Manager 2 license
The first 100 PokerStrategists who buy a 12 month package for Gold status or above will not only receive their StrategyPoints, but will also get a Hold'em Manager 2 license worth $95. This promotion is valid for the month of September and all winners will be notified via ticket.
Originally posted by TobyCS
You could get a subscription at all of those sites and also get 10hrs of coaching from Balugawhale at his post black friday price.
I just told THESHade that on Skype!
[4:41:31 PM] EmanuelC16: hmmmm.. if I would have to choose between 1 year of diamond on ps.com and 10hrs of Baluga private coaching and bronze status on ps.com I'd go for Baluga...
hormuz: this is basically the same kind of promotion as a first depositors' freeroll and I don't think anyone would argue that these are a bad thing.
The point is that we won't differentiate between 'paying user' or 'playing user' for promotions in general. We may, and do, very well differentiate by status, as we've done so for a long time now.
Originally posted by EmanuelC16
Originally posted by TobyCS
You could get a subscription at all of those sites and also get 10hrs of coaching from Balugawhale at his post black friday price.I just told THESHade that on Skype!
[4:41:31 PM] EmanuelC16: hmmmm.. if I would have to choose between 1 year of diamond on ps.com and 10hrs of Baluga private coaching and bronze status on ps.com I'd go for Baluga...
Of course it's quite clear that the diamond status is exclusive. That's a deliberate choice. Additionally, the diamond status is about a lot more than just the really cool content that is there.
Originally posted by TobyCS
The pricing structure is absolutely ridiculous. Sure you want to retain the exclusivity of Diamond but it's beyond belief that you think people are going to pay $3990 to access content which cannot be justified.Lets break down your competitors
Competitor 1 - $278.40
Competitor 2 - $300
Competitor 3 - $360
Competitor 4 - $359.88
Competitor 5 - $299
All of these sites offer things PS doesn't and no disrespect to the diamond coaches but there are far better coaches elsewhere and the ones that happen to be good don't have exclusivity with PS and they also make videos for the competitor websites. You could get a subscription at all of those sites and also get 10hrs of coaching from Balugawhale at his post black friday price.
I would lay a pretty good price on a prop bet so Skype me
I have to agree with this - your pricing is out at the top end. The pricing for Platinum and Diamond is way too high, and I don't believe you will be successful selling your product with this strategy. Good luck with it though.
For a number of years, in a number of communities, we've been asked by users if SPs could be purchasable.
Purchase is an option for those who aren't tracked on the sites where they are currently playing.
This is all we've made possible: adding another way for those users to access content. We of course consider, therefore, that the vast majority of you will continue to 'play' for your status, as before.
We deliberately and carefully took steps to ensure that we didn't sell the VIPs statuses out. For that reason, the prices for Platinum and Diamond have been deliberately set high, in order that the exclusivity of those statuses is protected and guaranteed.
The status which we expect to be purchased the most is Gold. Here, we've positioned ourselves below the price level of the typical subscription sites as mentioned in this thread already. Next to the videos, we also offer coaching and hand evaluations, and for many of you, offer content in your native language.
On top of that, with the Silver Status we have a really attractive offering at an excellent price. The use case here would be those of you who don't have a huge amount of time to play poker, but would still like access to good content, or for those of you who are close to the Gold status every month, and need to extra 100 StrategyPoints to get over the line.
I hope that this clarifies things a little,
M
I want to check I understand the system correctly...
For the purposes of a hypothetical argument let's say I hit exactly 400 SP / month from tracked accounts but have earnt nothing in August:
1) September 1st I am currently a bronze member
2) September 2nd I buy a 3 month silver package
3) I have 100 SP deposited immediately and upgrade to silver status
4) 200 points are left 'in reserve' for subsequent months
5) September 30th I earn by 400th SP and have a total of 500 for the month (100 bought 400 earned from play)
Here are my questions:
On September 30th am I still silver or am I now gold?
On October 1st am I still silver or am I gold?
On October 1st do I need have 100 points from my reserve deposited into my account or does that stay in reserve until a month in which I have not earned sufficient strategy points in the previous month to earn silver status?
I will try and check in on this thread to see the answers but if possible would love to get the answer by PM or email?? The reason I ask is because this is a very hot issue with people airing their (valid) opinions and I don't want to miss the response amongst 200 other posts
Hey supergaijin,
Let's work through the logic together.
On Sept 2nd you purchase a three month silver package, so 100 points are deposited and you are upgraded. You enjoy that status at least for nearly 4 months.
However...
when on Sept 30th, you make your 400th point in September, you're upgraded to Gold status.
Of course, following our status logic, because you achieved enough points for Gold Status in September, you retain that Gold status in October.
On October 1st, the Silver package points will be deposited and you'll need to earn just 400 points to maintain your status in November.
Similar logic then applies on November 1st.
Does that make sense?
Best,
M
I think it will be better if you put a price $ for 1 strategy point so everyone can buy the amount SP they need for their status.
Originally posted by arsenalpz
I think it will be better if you put a price $ for 1 strategy point so everyone can buy the amount SP they need for their status.
That's certainly something we can consider in the future, but for now our aim was simply to bring a product to market as quickly as possible.
