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QuadJokers's picture
Pokerstars VIP system or Rakeback on FT or others?

Hi,

I have been thinking about something recently regarding which site to play HU on based on rewards for play.

I currently play approx 20-30 $11 HU games a day on Stars & have just achived my Silver Star.. I have only just began playing HU as a career but I dont have many outgoings each month so winning $30-50 a day is enough for me to live comfortably.

I also produce & DJ trance music & this is what I am trying to get off the ground so playing HU is a job for me at the moment but im not looking at playing at the levels Skates & others play at.

I would like to move up to the 20's soon but at the moment playing the $11 games is working out fine for me for what my goal is right now.

So my question is - am I better off with the Stars VIP system or is Rakeback on Tilt better - I have calculated with my volume of play I would get around $120 a month in rakeback from Full Tilt if I switched - im just not sure how to get the best value out of the stars VIP Programme.

Any advice would be really welcome.

Thanks

Dan

Skates's picture
 Really, you should play on

 Really, you should play on a third party site in my opinion.  Like Cake, or Bodog, or Absolute, or Carbon.  If not, then play on FTP (I think).  Make sure you get rakeback no matter where you go.
Also, we need a link to the trance music.  Kthxbai.

RyPac13's picture
Personally, while I am a

Personally, while I am a long time Stars player, I would probably go with Full Tilt.
The only reason I've stayed at Stars was b/c my friend that initially turned me onto poker started me on Stars, and when I was moving up I wasn't comfortable switching sites, especially when I was having success.
Looking back, for mid to high stakes grinders, Stars and FTP aren't too much different.  However, for low stakes players, or those who aren't grinding enough $50 dollar+ games to get to Supernova on Stars (100k vpps), it's really a better idea to play on FTP if you're comfortable with it.
The turbo structure is definitely faster on FTP, so you can get some more games in per hour.  You also can click the "ready" button to start the game right away and they have a rematch button (I'm pretty sure Stars will have one up by the end of summer as well, don't repeat that as I'm going to say it's my OPINION, but I would bet on it, literally).  And if you're not comfortable playing the turbo speeds on FTP, their regular speed structure is very similar to Stars turbos.
That being said, I came up fine throughout the low stakes games playing on Stars, as have hundreds of other winning players.  The differences aren't exactly huge, but objectively speaking I would go on Full Tilt with the 27% max rakeback (which we offer + other benefits such as free subs for 500 MGR in a month).  Stars fpp rates are much lower for silver or even gold and platinum stars and without getting Supernova you can't cash them in via the consierge option's rate which is a lot better as well.  Basically you end up getting something like less than half the rakeback by playing on Stars until you get to nova, which isn't really attainable for most low and mid stakes players.

RyPac13's picture
Yea, and Cake or Bodog are

Yea, and Cake or Bodog are great options, as Skates said.
I wrote an article on this site about the poker sites that offer heads up sng games.  Here's the link: http://www.husng.com/node/339
 
Keep in mind Bodog only goes up to the $100 level and the action on Cake gets pretty slow once you reach the 100 or 200 dollar level, but both sites offer rakeback (we offer a "VIP package" for Bodog that includes some rb) and I know for sure cake has a very nice deposit bonus.

QuadJokers's picture
Thanks Guys - Some trance also for Skates!

Thanks so much for the really good replies from everyone - I am going to switch over to prob FTP next week. seems a bit of a waste now I have got my Silver Star & prob would have got Gold in May but I got the impression that Stars was only good if you attained Supernova or Elite & with my goals in poker I definately dont see myself attaining that in short term - im basically playing to grind out a small profit each day so I can focus on getting my music off the ground.
 
Anyways - music (for those who like trance) I produce in a group called Neptune Project & we have been going for about 2 years now but its only in the past 8 months or so that we really have started to do well & at the moment we have the world's no1 DJ Armin Van Buuren hammering our latest track called Aztec which is up on our myspace site.
Here is a link for a promo mix I did just before xmas last year - We have been working really hard in the studio & I have not had the time to do an updated on recently but this mix will give you guys an idea of the music we make & play.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5bpas5
Our myspace is www.myspace.com/neptuneproject & our latest productions are on there inc Aztec & a remix of Depeche Mode - The Silence which just came out!
Hope you like it & thank you so much for all the advice given to me - This site has massively improved my game & I really appreciate the effort you guys put into it.
Dan

Skates's picture
Listened to the promo mix

Listened to the promo mix for an SNG grind session.  So solid, thanks for that.
I might be willing to trade some one-on-one coaching for some walk throughs on your setup, programs, etc.  And how you go about producing vocals because I'm absolutely garbage at it and the vocals sounds stellar in your mix.
PS lemme know if you listen to or like any heavier/angrier music.  I'd love to collaborate.  I'm a total trance noob.

QuadJokers's picture
Hey Skates

Hey Dude!,
 
Thanks for having a listen to the CD - I have a few more if you ever want any.
My production partner Jules is a total wizard when it comes to producing music outside of trance, as well as being in Neptune Project he is part of a rock band & has a great deal of knowledge when it comes to vocals & probably the stuff you are looking for.
With regards to walk through's on setup & programmes etc - I can definately get you started with the right bits of software & how to get the best out of them - programmes like Ableton & Cubase can be used for any genre of music.
Can defo help out with vocal production as well!
Not sure if you use msn messenger or not but my msn is danwillis007@hotmail.com - my AOL is pvdlegend@aol.com but I use messenger more than anything.
Drop us an e-mail if you want & we can chat further.
Cheers for now
Dan

fatrat's picture
don't mean to come off as a

don't mean to come off as a ignorant prick or anything but the laugh I got from mr skates offering pokercoaching for tranceproductioncoaching was well worth the monthly fee

PrimordialAA's picture
hey, haha, both have a

hey, haha, both have a valuable skillset that the other has an interest in, I was paying $60 / lesson in tennis and my gf thought it was outrageous and I should just go out and play and learn on my own, but wtf, people pay us alot for poker coaching cause it's a very valuable skillset that we've worked hard over a long period of time to gain, so why should I be hesitant to pay someone else any amount for something im genuinely interested in. And I agree w/skates, if I was interested in learning to play the drums for instance, I would trade poker coaching for drumming lessons without hesitation, or currently, i'd trade poker lessons for real estate lessons from a great realtor, etc., etc.

RyPac13's picture
I'm supposed to be trading

I'm supposed to be trading somebody poker coaching for golf lessons this year.
You can't beat the good ole system of barter!

xSCWx's picture
Trading Coaching

There have been some big discussions on 2+2 over these coaching trades lately between chess and poker. From what I have seen, most of the chess coaches are offering like 4:1 type ratios between chess coaching and poker coaching hours. You can live off of one skill set much easier than the other, so it seems reasonable to me for it to be this way.
You guys need to work on your negotiating skills!
Edit: Definitely a site with rakeback for low stakes players.

Skates's picture
Man, why the hate :(.

Man, why the hate :(.  Honestly, there aren't that many things that interest me, so when one comes up, it makes sense for me to jump at it.  Yea I could trade things on a per hour basis, and monetarily I'll probably be selling myself short, but if I don't care, why should you?  When you get down to it, he would be trading an hour of his time for an hour of my time, or even better, it could turn into something where each of us can get continuous feedback.
If I thought about everything in terms of hourly rate all the time, I wouldn't be able to sit back and watch children's movies all night, because I'd be stuck thinking "man, this is costing me $xxxx".
Alternatively, you could think about it like this; I would probably spend 6-7 hours learning what trance d00d could teach me in one, so as far as time efficiency goes, it's way better than learning things myself.
PS I decided to make a thread!  http://www.husng.com/node/553

RyPac13's picture
Well, the golf guy doesn't

Well, the golf guy doesn't play heads up sng, so my skills are worth much less in other poker forms, but he's clueless so I'm sure it's somewhere in the ballpark of equal value for his golf coaching services.
Decent golf coaches seem to start at around $30 an hour, I think this guy normally charges $50, so even if I'm teaching him husng I'm not sacrificing that much at all even in that scenario.
If anybody else wants to offer stuff to trade for husng coaching I'm all ears :)

QuadJokers's picture
Music Producing & Poker Trade

Skates,
Would be good to know what your goals are with music - I definately feel we can get something going with feedback
Im not going to badget you all the time with hand histories etc etc, but what would really appeal to me is an 1hr or so of you watching me play & then going through any common error's or spot's that im missing out on etc etc & then I would of course be happy to give you as much time as you want with music production.
I feel I have alot to offer when it comes to music & producing/DJ'in & engineering music - so I would definately be happy to chat further about it etc.
Drop me a message whenever is best with you mate.
Cheers
Dan

xSCWx's picture
Time

That time spent on the couch IS costing you potential money. That doesn't mean that relaxation doesn't have value though!

Mattutaylor's picture
Haha I produce trance

Haha I produce trance aswell!!! Small world

Skates's picture
 Link link link,

 Link link link, Mattutaylor?  PS try not to win every all-in vs. me kthx :).

cymonguk's picture
VIP - Bodog

What is the VIP thingymebob for Bodog on the rakeback site it doesn't mention it?
 
Simon
 
PS Any good sites for Mac users? 

RyPac13's picture
We offer a Bodog VIP

We offer a Bodog VIP package, I believe it equals around 25% of your fees returned to you and has a 110% bonus up to $500 when you deposit.
You can check out our bodog rakeback offers at rakeback.husng.com 
Make a username and log in to see all available offers.

cymonguk's picture
ok

thought there was something else :) 

RyPac13's picture
What did you think they also

What did you think they also offered?
FWIW we can't mention the words rakeback and bodog, we can mention VIP and I think I can say "the VIP offer is around 25% of fees returned" if you follow?  Just checking.
Anyways, if you just make a free account and login on our rakeback page you can see it all for yourself.

cymonguk's picture
no problem

normally you have rakeacks but i can blatantly see that this is a vip scheme not r***back