Deal or No Deal
Last month I made Silver Star over on PokerStars. This month I haven’t done much at all with my newly-minted status, other than accumulate FPPs at a higher clip. Haven’t entered any of the tourneys or bought any items in the FPP store that are reserved for us Silvery types. Am actually closing in on maintaining my Silver Star status through May, though I have to admit it doesn’t strike me as something I need care about all that much.
I’ve got a question for you. I’m a part-time player (or, perhaps more accurately, a “recreational” player who puts in a lot of hands). I almost always play ring games, only very occasionally jumping into a SNG or MTT. I have a little over 5,000 FPPs sitting in my account at the moment. As a Silver Star, I can, if I wish, trade 5K worth of FPPs for $50.00.
Should I make the trade?
Now, I know the forum guys generally rate a single FPP as worth more than penny (in terms of its value for entering tourneys and/or buying certain items). I’ve trolled through a few of the discussions (such as this one on Pocket Fives & this one on the Full Tilt Poker forum) and the most frequent number I see is something like 62-63 FPP = $1.00.
Of course, once you get to the higher levels (like our buddy bigbamboom), the FPP-for-cash offer becomes gradually more attractive. For example, at Gold Star one can trade 25,000 FPP for $285 (or 87.7 FPP per $1.00). And those who reach SuperNova can trade 100,000 FPP for $1,500 (or 66.7 FPP per $1.00). Getting closer, but still not down to that 62-63 FPP = $1.00 level . . . .
A big factor for me, of course, is the fact that I don’t really play a lot of tourneys. (I should also probably add that $50 isn’t going to make that big a difference for me bankroll-wise.)
So, even though it’s not necessarily the best deal, should I trade 5,000 FPP for fifty bucks or not?
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Comments
I don’t think you should. I’m in a similar situation – silver star, recreational player, 50 dollars won’t make or break my BR. I was just running some numbers on this a few weeks ago and here’s what I came up with:
PokerStars FPPs:
Sklansky Miller book: 2000 points/30 dollars retail 67 points to the dollar
Sunday Million entry: 13500 points/215 dollar 62 points to the dollar
$1000 Travel certificate: 60000 points/1000 dollars 60 points to the dollar
Canon SD850 digital camera: 25000 points/285 dollars 88 points to the dollar
The travel certificate is the best deal I can find. Of course you need to be gold to get that. But having researched this further, I think the gift cards (Neiman Marcus, Expedia, amazon) at the gold star level are worth waiting for. Assuming we get to gold star eventually, which might happen if we start playing more tables or higher stakes.
Thanks for the feedback. Am leaning toward hanging onto the FPPs for now. I actually ended up making it to 1,500 VPPs again in April, so I’m a Silver Star for at least another month & thus don’t have to decide now, anyhow.
Very good question, as I’ve been pondering that myself. It all relates what you want to do with the money. If you are happy to add it to you bankroll then cash it out. If you want to take a longshot, then go play a tourney. I think it will still be a penny a point, since the better payout per point in relation with skill level will even out in those tourneys. Plus you are spending time playing them, so that is detrimental to your winrate. So I do think that the penny/point is correct. I’ve cashed my points out, better to have the money on hand…
FWIW, I’m a LIMIT ring game player and a huge tournament donk, so that’s why it applies that way to me. If I were a NL or PLO cash game player, then perhaps my edge at those NL tournies and SnGs might be higher.