What is Supernova Elite?

Its a question I get asked alot by my non-Poker friends. Since its the central theme of my new blog, I'll attempt to address it in this post, for those of you who are new to all this.

Supernova Elite (SNE) is the highest rank of the PokerStars VIP club that a player can achieve. In order to obtain SNE, a player must collect at least 1 million VIP Player Points (vpps) in a calendar year - no simple feat. Out of the thousands that started out their SNE chase/quest each year, only a few hundred manage to cross the finish line. In 2010, I was amongst only 342 players worldwide to achieve this status.

So how do you collect VPPs?

Simple - you get points for playing real cash poker games on PokerStars. The speed at which you collect points depends on the stakes and games you play. Higher stakes games will net you vpps much faster, however the games are obviously much tougher than lower stakes. To give you an idea of how much poker we're talking about, I estimate that I played approximately 2.5 million hands chasing Elite last year mainly at small stakes.

Fortunately, online poker allows you to play multiple tables simultaneous (aka multi-tabling). Last year I was multitabling upto 24 cash game tables for hours on end. Good hand-eye coordination, a decent multi-monitor PC setup and high levels of concentration were required for this feat. A typical day would usually be 6hrs+ of poker and over 8000 hands.

What are the main benefits of achieving Supernova Elite?

The net value is approximately $110k usd. This consists mainly of cash bonuses, but also includes live and online tournament packages/tickets worth about $20-30k, depending on the packages you opt for. Cash bonuses are purchased in the PokerStars store, using fpps...

Wait, I'm confused, what are fpps!?

Frequent Player Points (fpps) are basically the cash equivalent of vpps. You rate at which you collect fpps is based on the VIP status you have at PokerStars:

1). Bronze Star - 1 fpp per 1 vpp

2). Silver Star - 1.5 fpps per 1 vpp

3). Gold Star - 2 fpps per 1 vpp

4). Platinum Star - 2.5 fpps per 1 vpp

5). Supernova - 3.5 fpps per 1 vpp

6). Supernova Elite - 5 fpps per 1 vpp

As I'm a Supernova Elite, I get 6 stars, which I can choose to show off at the tables...

...but I choose not to because I don't want the fish knowing that I'm a Pro!

So you got SNE last year, what now?

Well, heres the interesting part. When you obtain SNE the previous year, you get to keep your Elite status provided you collect a minimum of 50k vpps per month (allowing 1 month off) until October. However, when you start the year off as a SNE, you're starting the year with a higher fpp multiplier and hence generate cash at a much quicker rate (43%) faster than a normal Supernova VIP. So obtaining SNE a second time around will net you ~$130k.

Summary

The benefits I've outlined above are just a base of what can be achieved, thats if you breakeven at the tables for the whole year. The amount you can earn per year can be much higher, but this depends on how much money you make on the tables. Since poker is primarily based on skill rather than luck, over the long term and a sufficient sample of hands a winning player will be profitable, as skill will overcome the shorter term variance of the luck element of the game.

I hope that I've sufficiently explained Supernova Elite for anyone who's interested, since I'm always talking about it! If you want more information, you can find full details on the PokerStars website  http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/supernova/elite/ or you can ask me in the comments section below.

Happy Chinese New Year and gl at the tables!