Power Path solves a big satellite problem

Barry Carter is a big fan of the new PokerStars satellite system that is flexible but off-putting to tough regulars.

This week PokerStars announced Power Path, a new four-step satellite system. The big difference between this and previous systems, like STEPS, is that in order to play the final $109 stage, you need to play and win the previous $11 step before it. 

The official system is as follows:

• Step 1 – $0.50 Spin & Go
• Step 2 – $1 Sit & Go / $1.50 MTT
• Step 3 – $11 MTT
• Step 4 – $109 MTT (no direct buy-in)

The $109 MTT final step will be to win one of the following prizes:

• BRONZE POWER PASS – $109
• SILVER POWER PASS – $2,500
• GOLD POWER PASS -$10,300

The Bronze Pass is a $109 Sunday Million buy-in. The Silver Pass can be exchanged for live packages to regional tours like Eureka or multiple online MTT entries. The Gold Pass can be exchanged for an EPT package with multiple buy-ins, or something like all of the UKIPT Main Events. 

Solving old problems

This new system solves a few problems that have been abundant in the PokerStars ecosystem for a while. 

Previously you used to be able to unregister from the target satellite and take the Tournament Dollars (T$) instead. This incentivised good satellite regulars to play the satellite, but not the target event. It created liquidity for the satellites and ensured they got running, but it meant that all the seats were won by people who didn't want them, and made winning them beyond the reach of recreational players. 

This was a particular problem with STEPS from PokerStars, where if you made it to the final stage you had crushers like Stephen Chidwick buying in direct waiting for you. 

PokerStars overadjusted and made most of their satellites 'must play' satellites, meaning you could not unregister and take the money. This stopped the regs from playing them and reduced liquidity, not just because you had to play the target event but because you had no flexibility of when to play it. 

Flexible but off-putting to tough regulars

The new system is good because forcing the players to play at least two steps means that more casual players will win the packages. Playing two legs will hurt the hourly of a good satellite reg too much to participate. Leg 3 is $11 which is too low for a lot of the tough satellite regs to bother with. 

However, the new system has some flexibility. Not only can a package be used for multiple events, there is also the chance to exchange a package for something like this:

This means that Stars will have recreational players playing in the marquee events they want them to play in, but gives them the all-important choice. I personally like the idea because I personally prefer playing satellites a few nights before the target events, I don't like being forced right into them. 

My favourite system is probably the Unibet token system, rather than T$ or mustplay. This new system from Stars is essentially a version of that, with the added benefit of putting off the good regulars who can afford to play the target events anyway. 

Whether it works will remain to be seen, but at a minimum, I expect to see some quite soft satellites and possible overlays over the next few months at Stars. 

Double Action Freerolls are BACK!

Another full edition of our Double Action freerolls lies ahead and as usual PokerStrategy.com tracked first time depositors at PokerStars PokerStars.uk PokerStars PokerStars.dk PokerStars.be PokerStars.ee PokerStars.pt are rewarded with access to several exclusive freerolls—but this time around you or your friends can win tickets to the most popular regular online tournament.

That's right! We're switching things up and are giving away eight tickets to PokerStars' iconic Sunday Million in each Double Action freeroll. Each of these tickets is worth $109, upping the value of a single freeroll to $545!

You have until Thursday, June 29 to make your first deposit in order to access all eight Double Action tourneys coming up. Any deposits after this date will count towards all remaining freerolls.

In addition, new players will of course also profit from the usual welcome bonus that is offered to new members by PokerStars.

Deposited before? No problem!

For those of you that have deposited already, there's no need to feel left out—we have a bonus for you too.

If you refer members via our Tell-a-Friend programme and they go on to win one of the $109 Sunday Million tickets in our Double Action freerolls, you will receive the equivalent amount in cash in your Tell-a-Friend account.

This means that the more players you refer, the more you stand to win yourself!

The Freerolls can also be found in the PokerStars client under Tourney -> Private.

For full participation details, click here.

Rewards of up to 65% Rakeback

While jumping into the Double Action Freerolls, don't forget that a new rewards system at PokerStars worth 65% rakeback was made available to all players.

PokerStars Rewards scored a 78% jump in customer satisfaction for the 20% of players who tried it. The new system aims to be more generous and transparent. 

You can get up to 65% rewards in the form of a baseline rakeback up to 25% and up to 40% more in the form of Monthly Challenges. All formats earn the same points including high stakes cash games, sports and casino. 

The rewards are all fixed value rather than random, as per the previous Chests programme. It will still be in the form of Chests which are Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and Black respectively.

These are the benefits you can expect from the new system:

The new PokerStars Rewards program is available for players on .BG, .COM, .CZ, .EE, .ES, .EU, .FR, .PT, .RO, .SH, .UK. Monthly Challenges are not available in the Czech Republic or Greece due to local regulation.

Do you like this new satellite system? Let us know in the comments: