General Information:
PokerStars has a special tournament dollar system. When you qualify to any event through a satellite (excluding the W$ events discussed below), you have the option to unregister from the target event and receive ”Tournament Dollar”, abbreviated T$. Exempted from these are the W$ events described below. T$ can be used to register in any PokerStars tournament or combination of tournaments, including Sit & Gos, special events, and satellites.
If you win multiple seats to the same target event, the value of these seats will be automatically credited to your T$ account.
T$ differ from real money, because they cannot be used in ring games - only for buying into tournaments. To check your T$ balance, you have to visit the cashier window through the lobby.
In addition to the Tournament Dollars T$, special W Dollar W$ are also offered. W$ can be used to register into any qualifying special PokerStars event. These special events include the EPT, the WCOOP, WSOP or also the APPT amongst others. A more detailed list of the current PokerStars events can be found on the PokerStars site.
When you win a seat in one of the W$ special events, you will be required to play the event and will not be allowed to unregister. If you win multiple seats in the same event, the value of these seats will be automatically credited to your W$ account. If you win a seat to a satellite for a W$ special event, you have the option to unregister from the satellite and receive W$. W$ can be used to register in any W$ special event. To check your W$ balance, you have to visit the cashier window through the lobby.
Tournament Dollars can be used to register into regular and special events; W$ can only be used for special events.
T$ / W$ Exchange option:
As a special service, PokerStars gives registered players the option to exchange Tournament and W Dollars amongst each other. The transaction will be processed directly, securely and automatically via the PokerStars software. There is no need for an escrow service, third players or PokerStars employees. You can only exchange T$ / W$ into US Dollars and vice versa. An immediate exchange of W$ into T$ is not possible.
The possible options in the PokerStars Lobby are described below now. Basically, each necessary feature can be reached via the following menu points.
Menu point "Requests" - "Trade T$/W$"
+) I own Tournament Dollars / W Dollars and want to sell them:
Sub-Menu point: "Sell T$/W$..."
Here you can place an option for the sale of your own T$ / W$. In a first step, you pick if you want to sell T$ or W$. Afterwards, the PokerStars account name of the buyer is required. The sum of T$ / W$, as well as the US Dollars amount you want to have for them, have to be entered as the last information.
+) I want to buy Tournament Dollars / W Dollars:
Sub-Menu point: "Buy T$/W$..."
Here, the procedure is identical to the one of selling T$ / W$. Here as well, the account name of the seller, the requested T$ / W$ sum as well as the agreed upon US Dollars amount are required.
Important: With both procedures, it is required that both the buyer and seller enter identical information (amounts), except the different account names, or else the exchange cannot be completed. If both buyer and seller have entered the correct information, the transfer will be shortly checked by PokerStars, and then automatically cleared to finalise the exchange.
+) I currently have a request for the buying / selling of T$ / W$, but I have changed my mind:
Sub-Menu point: "Cancel Request..."
Each current buying / selling offer will be listed and the chosen request can be cancelled.
T$ / W$ Exchange market:
Here in the PokerStars sub-forum, PokerStrategy members can search for swap mates amongst themselves. So far, the following procedure has proven itself.
1) Members who have T$ / W$ for sale...
create a thread with the info of what (T$ / W$) and how much they want to sell. Optionally, one can also add how much one wants for them. If this information is missing, the other members who want to buy T$ / W$ can bid for it. It is up to the seller whose offer he wants to pick. To remain fair, however, it should be the bid of the member who made the highest offer first.
2) Members who want to buy T$ / W$ from a posted offer...
reply to or quote the opening post respectively. If the seller hasn't indicated a desired amount, an offer should obviously come from the buyer. If the seller's desired amount is too high for the buyer, the latter one has the option to post a counter-offer. Furthermore, the potential buyer should also post his Stars nick (or another way to be contacted).
For reasons of fairness, no more members should post after a buyer already showed interest in case of a concrete offer by the seller (amount X for amount Y), even if the offer would be a better one.
3) If the seller likes an offer...
he should initiate the sale to the buyer's account name in the PokerStars software, and let the buyer know in the thread together with the own PokerStars account name.
4) If a seller has agreed to an offer...
the buyer should also initiate the process with the identical information so that the exchange can be finalised.
Open queries:
Naturally, members who are always looking for, or search for bigger T$ / W$ amounts, can post queries in this thread with exchange rates.
T$ / W$ Exchange rates:
Similar to the market economy, the exchange rates are mainly determined by supply and demand. With W Dollars, it also depends on the special events which will take place in the (near) future.
Reference:
http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournaments/
