Back in the games after a 2 month poker vacation!

[Zapatos80]

And it's good to be back! I've been very busy with RL these past 2 months, with my master's degree taking most of my time. A lot has a changed on Pokerstars lately, and that meant some good news and bad news for me personally.

Of course, the worse news is the very significant VPP/hand drop. I'm down to about 0.18VPP/hand at 100NL, about 25% less than before. However, there have been a lot of significant benefits to these changes. First of all, they gave me an extra month to focus on getting started with school, so thanks Pokerstars! I realize the extra month you can take off is insignificant for most Supernovas but for me it was quite a nice boon.

They also reduced the monthly VPP requirement to 6500, so about 14% less. Doesn't quite make up for the VPP loss per hand so i'll still have to grind more than before per month to keep Supernova, but it's not that bad. You also don't need to reach 100,000VPP this year if you're already a Supernova, so I can basically grind only 6500VPP/month until the end of the year and still keep it going into 2013. I may or may not need this but as a mostly "casual" player now, it's always nice to have the option.

But the two major benefits i've noticed are these ; first of all, a significant rake reduction (roughly 10% across the board with a slightly dropped rake cap at 100NL, not bad at all!). This should help my small winrate which is always nice, especially since i'll need to play more hands/month. The other thing i've noticed is that the number of shortstack leechers has dramatically dropped. I only played a quick 2500 hands session today so take it for what it's worth, but that's still amazing news for game quality!

Overall I think the changes were necessary, especially considering Zoom poker is just around the corner. To have the Zoom pool polluted with 8/6s and leeching shortstackers would have made for some unfun/bad games all around, so overall this was a much needed change by Pokerstars. With all that they've given to make up for it, i'd say things are looking good for 2012, and i'm pretty psyched to be back in the games. Best of luck and see you at the tables!

[Pokerpingu]

8/6s? And what are the changes? They didn't change anything specifically for shortstackers right? GL with the pokers!!!

[Zapatos80]

http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/pokerstars-announced-vip-program-and-...

8/6 referring to total nits 8VPIP, 6PFR. Basically with weighted contributed, nits and shortstackers barely get any VPPs since the amount of VPPs you get depends on what you contributed to the pot.

[Pokerpingu]

8/6 ssers cant beat the games ever anyway? or?

[Zapatos80]

Not sure what you mean? Basically, a majority of these players were playing ultra-tight and/or shortstacking because they didn't know how to play "real" full-stacked poker. They had very marginal (or losing) winrates, and made most of their profits from VPPs. The thing is, they were really leeching other people's rakeback since the old system rewarded VPPs equally among all people who were dealt a hand.

 

Now that you only get VPPs proportionally to what you put in the pot, these players are now getting a ridiculously low VPP/hand. So even though their "normal" winrate hasn't changed, their profits took a huge hit since many of those are now making 60-80% less VPPs than before. Coupled with a very marginal/small losing winrate, these players now make basically no $/hour. As a result, getting rid of those leechers improves game quality significantly.

[Pokerpingu]

8/6 shortstackers will even loose more than a 8/6 fullstacker i think? 8/6 is insanely tight... ssers are often way more loose since they shove way more. Init?

[Zapatos80]

Most 8/6 play fullstack since their strategy is pretty much overpair/setmine only. Most shortstackers play a 40bb game and essentially force a "preflop all-in" strategy in a lot of hands. Not only were they syphoning a lot of other player's rakeback, they also profited from fullstackers making each other fold in later streets in cases where they would go all-in preflop or on the flop. Getting rid of the majority of those players will make the games much more healthier.