New Sky Poker Rewards

Ice_Tiger · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Not a snark at all, but at my local (Grosvenor) casino this is actually the case: Players get £1 per hour for playing that they can spend on food, drink and even (I think) can exchange them for chips. Props to the Sky dude fielding all these questions. Splendid stuff, wp.
Posted by SR23

Just what I was thinking. Get a free meal every time I go to Grosvenor.

Sky_JP · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

This is just the start of your rewards scheme – we’re looking for your feedback to make this the best rewards scheme we can, so let us know your thoughts. (taken from the op) I think it would be unfair to make an assumption of how the majority feel. What we do know, is that the majority of customers haven't posted on this thread. (sky JP) In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Only a fraction of 1 percent of the player pool use the forum. Most probably don't know about the changes to rewards yet or understand it if they do. Posted by belsibub Which is the exact point I made earlier. (sky JP) I appreciate your efforts on this thread, I really do,but, Why ask for feedback on the forum and then dismiss it as a small minority just because it is not what the business wants to hear. thanks again for the time and effort replying to everyone.
Posted by dragon1964

Feedback is appreciated, however, some comments have been less than constructive.

When I made that comment, I simply meant that, although there is quite a lot of negative feedback on this thread, it does not mean everyone hates the new scheme.

Apologies if this was taken the wrong way, as all feedback is appreciated.

Slipwater · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Just what I was thinking. Get a free meal every time I go to Grosvenor.
Posted by Ice_Tiger

I'm pretty sure that is the exception rather than the rule. I know most places do free soft drinks/hot drinks while you play poker.

Sky_JP · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

Does a affiliate member still get 30% if they get say 1000 pts in a month so £30. I usually get around 1000 pts and have been thinking about the new scheme. I think it will be slightly better for me as: - The 4 tokens i get will probably be used on dyms anyway, so in the 48 lets say i get in the year i should average cashing at least 24 of them giving me £8 a month anyway. Also the 5 FRs may bring a bonus as well. But heres the thing there is no incentive for me now once i hit 100pts for the week i may as well cut my volume down or play elsewhere for a couple of days and get another bonus from a rival site.
Posted by stuarty117

This is the case, and I can see why this is frustrating for people.

However, this deal has been there for quite a while now, and we're not taking anything from anyone in order to offer this deal.

I think you make some good points around how the new scheme will affect you. In my opinion, I agree that you will be better off.

Additionally, I'd agree that 100 to 500 points per week is quite a big jump. There is an incentive to earn 500 points, but not much for the 200-400 mark.

Once again - taken on board, and appreciated.

Sky_JP · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : I'm pretty sure that is the exception rather than the rule. I know most places do free soft drinks/hot drinks while you play poker.
Posted by Slipwater

I once saved up enough points on my "play card" for a full pint.

Sky_JP · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

A question for Sky JP - did you draw the short straw in the office having to answer queries on this thread?
Posted by Brrrrrrr

I can confirm that there was no official "staw drawing" contest, but looking back, I do seem o be dealing with most!

I do have a week off starting in roughly 57 minutes though, so my presence on this thread is likely to diminish for the next 7 days. (Just as a heads up to anyone waiting for a response).

dub1 · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Hi dub. It does vary depending on games played, but for this example, I'm going to use someone who plays both cash and SNGs 50/50. (I know this is unusual, but it seems a good example). Using this example, you'd pay £2,500 rake per calendar month on cash games, and £1,500 rake on SNGs. You would receive a total of £600 in weekly points payments, and receive a rakbeback payment of £600. This totals £1200. (30% RB). As per the old scheme, you would receive 30% rakeback on the month, earning you a total of £1200. Customers receiving a 30% rakeback deal from an affiliate will receive a total of £1200 per month. In all 3 situations, you end up with £14,400 per year. With the new scheme, you will receive slightly more if you play SNGs/MTTs more frequently, and receive slightly less if you play more cash. This is partially due to more points being earned per £1 reg fee paid on SNGs (which in turn, is partially due to higher rake on SNGs). However, as part of the new scheme, any points based promotions (such as early bird and double points hours) will make a difference to your rewards, whereas these promotions would make no difference in the old scheme, and will make no difference to customers receiving 30% RB as part of an affiliate deal. Hope this helps.
Posted by Sky_JP

Hey JP,

While I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, I still feel you're somewhat avoiding a clear answer.

So from what I understand, for every £1 paid in rake I get 6 poker points (strictly cash lets not confuse with 50% cash, 50% STT's), so if I earn 30,000 poker points in a month; playing only cash games, then I would have paid £5000 in rake per month, of which I get £1500 back at the end of the month (30%).

This totals: £18,000 in rake back per year.

In your answer you say that cash players would get slightly less and MTT/STT players slightly more, but what I would like to know is the exact £ amount a cash game player who earns 30,000 points a month, distributed evenly over the course of 52 weeks (6923.076923076923 points per week) will expect to receive, per year?

Thanks for your patience.

Donttelmum · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Hey JP, While I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, I still feel you're somewhat avoiding a clear answer. So from what I understand, for every £1 paid in rake I get 6 poker points (strictly cash lets not confuse with 50% cash, 50% STT's), so if I earn 30,000 poker points in a month; playing only cash games, then I would have paid £5000 in rake per month, of which I get £1500 back at the end of the month (30%). This totals: £18,000 in rake back per year. In your answer you say that cash players would get slightly less and MTT/STT players slightly more, but what I would like to know is the exact £ amount a cash game player who earns 30,000 points a month, distributed evenly over the course of 52 weeks (6923.076923076923 points per week) will expect to receive, per year? Thanks for your patience.
Posted by dub1

Hi Dub,

At the mo you would recieve £1500 and the new system you will get £1350.

James

Donttelmum · May 2015

I'm sure you have done the maths but you will recieve £16,200 per year rather than £18,000. Maybe cancel that summer hol and save the £1800.

Donttelmum · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : I once saved up enough points on my "play card" for a full pint.
Posted by Sky_JP

Did you stumble home afterwards?

Ice_Tiger · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : I'm pretty sure that is the exception rather than the rule. I know most places do free soft drinks/hot drinks while you play poker.
Posted by Slipwater

If you enter a tournament, get knocked then play five hours cash, that gets you more ponits than it takes to pay for a £10 meal. At least I presume it does because I haven't paid for a meal for over two years now. This is on top of frew soft drinks.

Sky_JP · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Hey JP, While I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions, I still feel you're somewhat avoiding a clear answer. So from what I understand, for every £1 paid in rake I get 6 poker points (strictly cash lets not confuse with 50% cash, 50% STT's), so if I earn 30,000 poker points in a month; playing only cash games, then I would have paid £5000 in rake per month, of which I get £1500 back at the end of the month (30%). This totals: £18,000 in rake back per year. In your answer you say that cash players would get slightly less and MTT/STT players slightly more, but what I would like to know is the exact £ amount a cash game player who earns 30,000 points a month, distributed evenly over the course of 52 weeks (6923.076923076923 points per week) will expect to receive, per year? Thanks for your patience.
Posted by dub1

No problem. I used that example because it's not uncommon for customers to play both (although it's rarely 50/50).

Without any of the advantages from "points boosting" promotions, playing cash alone, you'd be set to receive around £150 per month less than you currently earn. (£1,350 per month, or £16,200 per year).

I would like to stress that points based promotions will make a big difference to this, whereas these made very little difference previously.

dub1 · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

I'm sure you have done the maths but you will recieve £16,200 per year rather than £18,000. Maybe cancel that summer hol and save the £1800.
Posted by Donttelmum

Thanks for the clear answer DTM.

Just to clarify, a player who sighed up through an affiliate and plays the exact same volume will still be receiving £18,000 in rake back per year?

Donttelmum · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Thanks for the clear answer DTM. Just to clarify, a player who sighed up through an affiliate and plays the exact same volume will still be receiving £18,000 in rack back per year?
Posted by dub1

Yes.

Sky_JP · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : Did you stumble home afterwards?
Posted by Donttelmum

Crawled.

dub1 · May 2015

This is an absolute joke. So this new scheme is affectively a 3% rake increase. New and improved is not how I'd refer to this mockery!

Curt360x27 · May 2015

Really like Ivan's idea of a small % increase for every month you maintain priority status and cap it a 18 months or so. I think this would be a good incentive for those who have been in priority consistently to hit 10k each month as to not lose their improved %.

Similar to priority a few years back under the old system where they had a separate 3+months rake-back rate.

gerardirl · May 2015

I'm really not sure why everyone is complaining......it is new and improved!!! .............for sky! lol

Its a business guys and with a new takeover the aim will be to improve business....unfortunately for us it has meant reducing costs, but in a jazzed up way to make it not seem so clear.

For Skys sake I hope it doesnt backfire.

The cash for points on sky imo was better for the customer. Remember the rake we pay on sky is higher than other sites alreadyso to me this is effectiely a rake increase!

Still love sky though and its still my number 1 and I will post a thread later as to why I think this.

Ger

ps JP Im also on a week off but I will make the effort to post on threads during this week.....haha just kidding with ya

.

jams88 · May 2015

Since we are giving our feedback

As someone that works alot of hour during the week i play less than I used to maybe 30mins-1hour at a time predominantly cash.

As recreational cash player it would seem that I get no benefit from this new scheme the chances of me earning 500 points a week seem slim as I usually earn around 1000 a month. It seems I can't actually use the rewards in any way on my prefered dicpline of the game.

It feels like instead of half a buy in at the stakes I play. I will now effectivly recieve nothing back.

Not a fan of the new scheme my 2p worth

unknown_username · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : I believe that the new Rewards scheme will benefit these players more than the old one. 200 points in a month would have earned a £2 bonus previously, which I'd argue doesn't go far when it comes to "feeding the professionals", and doesn't really allow for a lot of poker to be played. It's certainly not enough to withdraw. In the new scheme, 200 points in a month could earn you entry into 20 x £1,000 freerolls, or could be rewarded with 2 x £2.20 tokens, and entry into 10 x £1,000 freerolls, depending on when the points are earned. Even if each freeroll had 2,000 runners, each freeroll would (theoretically) be worth £0.50, which would equate to up to £10 in benefits each month, for players earning a total of 200 points in the month. Additionally, £2 may only allow someone to play poker for 1 day, if they were unlucky enough to lose. The freerolls allow customers a full week of poker for earning 50 points in the previous week. Final point I'm going to make, (trying not to get too off track) is that there's a lot of customers who don't play very frequently. They'll come on and play one night, earning 50-99 points. Previously, these customers received nothing from the loyalty scheme. Going forward, they'll have a week of free poker.
Posted by Sky_JP

You lost me in the first line

If you have the facility to play whenever you want, it may be a result.

but if you have committments and play for fun

Receiving a cash payment gave you the flexibility to choose when to use it.

you could introduce a thousand freerolls but if the player is not able to play at the times they commence what incentive does it give to the recreational player?

I never thought I would say this, but now Personally, I would rather play on competitor sites than Sky poker. Because it appears loyalty is no longer a premium and smaller customers are treated with contempt rather than assets

Snuffer · May 2015

As with all changes the players are going to moan more if they are not better off by the change, that's why this thread is unbalanced in that respect.

I like many others will benefit from the changes so thank you Sky.

VespaPX · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

As with all changes the players are going to moan more if they are not better off by the change, that's why this thread is unbalanced in that respect. I like many others will benefit from the changes so thank you Sky.
Posted by Snuffer

If it aint broke dont try and fix it.

vinny67 · May 2015

It is no wonder that if you log onto sky poker mid morning u will be met by "175 people seated" when other sites have thousands and games filling every 30 seconds...or afternoons "300 people seated" even prime time poker 2,000 seated in the evenings when other sites have tens of thousands.(a lot of these are newbies coming on with the promise of great things from skysports live shows) i think those that are left now have been very loyal to you sky and in my opinion loyalty should be rewarded back. Freerolls like the mayhem are great, but lets be honest here, only around 300 to 400 are playing in them. in the whole of the u.k some 60 odd million people the mayhem freeroll attracts 3-400 people!!! and thats got the added incentive of extra money for heads and also of a vegas package. which by the way is probably why my AKs shove was seen and beated by 7,3o..but thats by the by...a freeroll is not really doing it for me as it seems we are inundated with them anyway. i would like to know however if this £2.20 token each time can be saved up and used,say ,towards a £55 bounty hunter if 25 were saved ?

Snuffer · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

It is no wonder that if you log onto sky poker mid morning u will be met by "175 people seated" when other sites have thousands and games filling every 30 seconds...or afternoons "300 people seated" even prime time poker 2,000 seated in the evenings when other sites have tens of thousands.(a lot of these are newbies coming on with the promise of great things from skysports live shows) i think those that are left now have been very loyal to you sky and in my opinion loyalty should be rewarded back. Freerolls like the mayhem are great, but lets be honest here, only around 300 to 400 are playing in them. in the whole of the u.k some 60 odd million people the mayhem freeroll attracts 3-400 people!!! and thats got the added incentive of extra money for heads and also of a vegas package. which by the way is probably why my AKs shove was seen and beated by 7,3o..but thats by the by...a freeroll is not really doing it for me as it seems we are inundated with them anyway. i would like to know however if this £2.20 token each time can be saved up and used,say ,towards a £55 bounty hunter if 25 were saved ?
Posted by vinny67

I'm guessing you would prefer a freeroll with 5000 players and a min cash of 12 cents....each to their own I suppose

QUICKFEET · May 2015

i reckon it was just a ploy to increase activity on the forum!

Sir-Gary · May 2015

This is just effectively a rake increase isn't it? I have just compared the payouts and virtually everybody is worse off. I have compared the levels of play and the points people might earn and find there are a few levels where they may get the same (but they have to even it out over the 4 weeks or they could lose out). It would appear the very low levels will get nothing now, some of the medium high bands will lose a lot and what Sky get from that alone will pay for the freerolls many times over. The only real gainers seem to be those that can arrange to make exactly 401 points a week they get 4 tokens worth £8 the other 80p is rake which goes straight back to sky, whereas they would have recieved £4 in rakeback. Is this substantionally correct someone?

vinny67 · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards : I'm guessing you would prefer a freeroll with 5000 players and a min cash of 12 cents....each to their own I suppose
Posted by Snuffer

Not sure where you got that impression from and what you were actually reading... especially seeing as i said do we really need more freerolls when we seem to be inundated with them.. unless of course u replied after beer oclock in which that would explain your ridiculous responce..

jonjo75 · May 2015

I am really interested that SKY have said that they expect the total cost of Sky Poker rewards to stay the same or increase.
Why has nearly every post said thay would be worse off under the new system?
Who exactly is better off under the new system? Examples please?
What is the new system designed to do and who is it designed to reward?

Below is part of Essex Phils post earlier that I hope he wont mind me using.

50 points per week/200 per month-current system, £2, new £0
300 per week/1200 per month-current £12, new £8,80 in tokens
750 per week/3000 per month-current £45, new £30
1250 per week/5000 per month-current £100, new £62.50
1750 per week/7000 per month-current £140, new £105

So if this is right and you expect the total cost of the rewards to stay the same or even increase for SKY who is the extra cash going to under the new system?
If this is wrong then please explain where it is wrong.
Thanks
Jonjo

Nuggy962 · May 2015

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

I am really interested that SKY have said that they expect the total cost of Sky Poker rewards to stay the same or increase. Why has nearly every post said thay would be worse off under the new system? Who exactly is better off under the new system? Examples please? What is the new system designed to do and who is it designed to reward? Below is part of Essex Phils post earlier that I hope he wont mind me using. 50 points per week/200 per month-current system, £2, new £0 300 per week/1200 per month-current £12, new £8,80 in tokens 750 per week/3000 per month-current £45, new £30 1250 per week/5000 per month-current £100, new £62.50 1750 per week/7000 per month-current £140, new £105 So if this is right and you expect the total cost of the rewards to stay the same or even increase for SKY who is the extra cash going to under the new system? If this is wrong then please explain where it is wrong. Thanks Jonjo
Posted by jonjo75

Maybe just me, earn about 100-150 points per week

Current deal I get max £6 rake back

New deal means £8 tokens (minus rake sky make back again) so plus £2

boom!! You lot got to suffer to fund me don't you know

plus I will probably win at least 4 free roles a week

I think earlier posts have summarised well, it's the micro loose out, low stakes recs like me playing 2/3 evenings a week mtt's (main mini plus a half 9 etc) gain, 500 points a week gain, it's just the inbetweens that fall short. Very surprised prio loose out though.

noobtrino · May 2015

Very dissapointed with the new system. This is going to affect a lot of players in a bad way.

In Response to Re: New Sky Poker Rewards:

So if this is right and you expect the total cost of the rewards to stay the same or even increase for SKY who is the extra cash going to under the new system?

It'll go towards covering the new 15% Tax rate that UK Poker site operators now need to pay.

These (negative) changes were always coming - Sky just took their time implementing it.

The new UK taxation law gives online poker operators a very simple choice. They can either apply for a license and pay the new tax rate, or cease acceptance of UK players

https://www.gov.uk/gambling-tax-reform-new-rules-from-1-december-2014

I should note that Sky isn't the only poker site that has had to make some negative changes.

PokerStars had to reduce the VPP (player point) rate.

Mansion Poker and many other sites had to leave the UK market because they didn't want to pay the extra tax.

Obviously Sky need a way to make up for the added tax they are now paying as it's already eating into their profits.

They could either increase the rake or punish player rewards, which is exactly what they have done.

These changes were to be expected but I didn't think they would be this drastic, they are significantly worse and it is an insult that they are labeling it as new and improved when other poker sites have come clean and been honest about the changes.

New Sky Poker Rewards

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