The Many Benefits of Supernova Elite

Supernova Elite (SNE) is the highest level in the PokerStars VIP Club, requiring 1 million VIP Player Points (VPPs) in a calendar year. You must put in massive amounts of play, but the rewards are substantial. In my last column, I discussed the potential downsides of going for SNE, including:

1. You will be forced to play more than your optimal number of tables.

2. The hours required will not leave you with much of a life outside of poker.

3. You will lose some of the value of SNE if you can’t maintain it the following year.

4. You can obtain significant bonuses without going all the way to 1 million VPPs.

But, obviously, SNE has tremendous upsides, so now let’s focus on them. I’ll start with the most obvious:

1. The cash value of reaching SNE is typically between $110,000 and $125,000. That includes the cash value of the Frequent Player Points (FPPs) that you earn, the milestone bonuses that you earn along the way, the tournament packages that you receive upon reaching SNE, as well as the expected value of the various freeroll tournaments that are available just for Supernovas and SNEs. Despite what some pros might have you believe, it’s not easy to make six figures per year in the poker world. It’s not easy to achieve SNE, either, but at least it’s one way to earn that kind of income.

2. The milestone bonuses are especially nice. Seven times along the way, you instantly collect between $3,400 and $5,000. You certainly will hit some downswings on the way to SNE, and having those checkpoints to replenish your bankroll is essential. If all of the benefits came at the very end, many players wouldn’t have the cash reserves to get there.

3. You don’t even have to come out ahead in your play. Breaking even at the tables would still make you six figures. If you manage to profit during play, you could push your yearly income to $150,000 or more. Players who focus on rakeback are already familiar with that concept, but they don’t usually equate it to VIP programs, which are usually less lucrative. PokerStars’ VIP program is its version of rakeback.

4. It gives you incentive to put in serious hours. Many players get lazy after a big winning day and figure that they are entitled to take some time off. If you are treating poker as your job, that logic doesn’t make sense. If anything, you need to play more while you are doing well. The only reasons to take time off are if you have other important commitments, are not feeling well, or need to regroup mentally. Even then, you need to get right back to work as soon as possible, just as you would in any other job.

If you’ve decided to go for SNE, you know that you can’t allow yourself to take excess time off. Most players will need to play for at least 2,000 hours in a year to achieve SNE, and if you can’t effectively play more than five or six tables at a time, you’re probably looking at 2,500 to 3,000 hours. There’s no time to procrastinate. And as long as you’re a break-even player or better, that’s unquestionably a good thing, because hours played equals income earned, plain and simple.

5. The quest for SNE forces you to test your limits. You will learn how many tables you can handle and whether or not you can maneuver between them effectively. You will figure out the highest limits at which you can consistently break even or better. You will discover how many hours per day you can play, and how often you need to take a day off to avoid burnout. In short, you will learn exactly what you are capable of doing in the online poker world.

These all are things that you should have done, regardless, but some people are complacent. They fall into a comfort zone, and rather than leave that comfort zone to see if they can do better, they remain stagnant. You simply cannot remain stagnant when going for SNE. You’ll need to discover all of your limitations and then constantly strive to improve.

6. Reaching SNE will give you a unique sense of accomplishment. Too many players try to set goals in terms of money won, but lots of times, whether or not you can reach that goal is out of your control. If you get lucky and win a big tournament, you might exceed your goal, even though your skills do not match your results. Conversely, you could run badly and not achieve your financial goals, even though your skills have improved and you’ve put in the necessary hours.

But no matter how much you win or lose, you have control over how many hours you work. Therefore, it is more reasonable to set a certain volume of play as your goal rather than money won or lost. And since SNE requires such a tremendous volume of play, it’s a goal that you can be very proud to reach.

7. You might read poker books, look at training videos, and do other things to improve your game, but there truly is no substitute for experience. And with the amount of experience that you will gain on the road to SNE, you will unquestionably emerge as a better player. Even if it doesn’t go as smoothly as you would hope, and you end up being down for the year, you will be much better prepared for your future play. And whether you go for SNE again or just follow your own game plan, you can expect to have better results in the years to follow.

8. Once you achieve SNE, you will get five FPPs for every VPP, and FPPs have a cash value of approximately $1 for every 62.5 FPPs. Depending on the games you play, that translates to 30 percent-45 percent rakeback, and that’s in addition to the other bonuses already mentioned. If you can reach SNE and maintain it, you can earn a better rate of rakeback than most other major sites offer.

As I mentioned in my last column, just make sure that you know your limits. If it takes you until the last possible minute to reach SNE, will you be too burned out to maintain it the following year? Try to be as objective as possible about your chances of keeping SNE status. Then, you’ll know whether the 5-1 FPP conversion rate should be a significant consideration in your quest for SNE.

Since you are probably reading this column at roughly the halfway point of the year, now is a good time to analyze your progress. If you’ve generated 400,000 VPPs or more up to this point, I think you’ve got to go for it. Maybe you’ll have to increase your volume, but it would be a shame to come close and fall short, given the great rewards for reaching the finish line. Good luck!

Matt Lessinger is the author of The Book of Bluffs: How to Bluff and Win at Poker, available everywhere. You can find other articles of his at www.CardPlayer.com.