Poker Stars Rewards: Marketing stunt or just a bloody waste of time

Given that I can get the same or higher rakeback than the Pokestars baseline elsewhere,

...but you dont get soft tables like on P* elsewhere.

i get this month over 60 % rakeback with chests and challenges which i can clear 5 times. 400 $ challenges for 5000 points.
Its just great compared to the old stars. the more i play the more rakeback i get. I dont know about NL 10 tho its not that juicy.

Originally posted by EmiyaKiritsugu

Given that I can get the same or higher rakeback than the Pokestars baseline elsewhere,

...but you dont get soft tables like on P* elsewhere.

Originally posted by LMcrow
i get this month over 60 % rakeback with chests and challenges which i can clear 5 times. 400 $ challenges for 5000 points.
Its just great compared to the old stars. the more i play the more rakeback i get. I dont know about NL 10 tho its not that juicy.

Good for you. I really mean it. I can only report what I have received.
I got from PokerStars for over a year only challenges that I can never make. Then I got 1 time (One Time!) a challenge which I cleared on the last day of the month for the only time, then the follwing months again at least 25% above my average monthly rake - so unreachable!

Originally posted by EmiyaKiritsugu

Given that I can get the same or higher rakeback than the Pokestars baseline elsewhere,

...but you dont get soft tables like on P* elsewhere.

I agree that Stars has best traffic and probably best software. Because of the traffic it has more VIPs, but on average it is definitely not softer than others

To answer the question in the title:
Of course it is a marketing stunt. All rakeback programs are.

It is one of the few ways to attract and keep players.

If it isn't a waste of time on other sites, you are clearly getting the volume in.
All it takes on PokerStars is volume, which is why everyone is applauding the new system.
The old system had a large luck component, which was infuriating, since you almost always did the same volume as others, but got lest.
Also, sometimes the requirements for a silver chest were higher than others -- which seemed grossly unfair.

Under that scheme, my PokerStars volume dropped to near zero.
It is back up now, so I guess their stunt worked for me.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

If it isn't a waste of time on other sites, you are clearly getting the volume in.
.......
Under that scheme, my PokerStars volume dropped to near zero.
It is back up now, so I guess their stunt worked for me.

Hello my dear friend.
In general terms you are totally right.
My volume has been about the same for the last year. About 10-12k hands per month. Before the reform I would receive 200$ challanges which were way out of my league.

In my specific case PS has given me the opportunity of a challenge (750 points for 60$) for exactly two months, which i reached by grinding the last couple of days of the month significantly more than I would usually do. After that, they yanked it up to 1000 points for 80$, which I cannot reach without moving up in stakes or playing more.
I was hoping that they would move me back after missing out last month, they did not.
I will sit back an wait.
I ran up 60$ bankroll at Chico without any deposit - just from the couple of free loterry tickets - so now I can actually play some cash games which I prefer.

Originally posted by bigdog63
In my specific case PS has given me the opportunity of a challenge (750 points for 60$) for exactly two months, which i reached by grinding the last couple of days of the month significantly more than I would usually do. After that, they yanked it up to 1000 points for 80$, which I cannot reach without moving up in stakes or playing more.

Yeah, I did that last month too, but this time, it stayed at 750 for $60
This month I plan to break down the 750 points into weekly volume levels to even it out.
750 points is $150.00 in rake so rather than bundle it all into a couple of days, I'll spread it out.

I explained a little wrong: It was not that I grinded all the point in a couple of days, I have day job to earn my living. I was up to 650 points until 2-3 days before end of the month, so i had to play more than I usually do.

I wonder how many time I need to miss a challenge before getting one which is realistically achievable.
So far 2 misses have not been enough. And the misses have not even been close.

Well, that's a pity, I will reduce my volume even more then. Used to be 10k+ per week, now only ~3k as I am paying at Stars only in my lunch break, when traffic is low elsewhere.

https://forums.pokerstrategy.com/forum/thread.php?postid=3281952#post3281952