Please note that as of January 1, 2016 FPPs no longer exist on Pokerstars. The new player points are called StarsCoin and I have written a followup article for that here:
How to Spend Your Pokerstars StarsCoins
I will leave the old FPP article up below for historical purposes.
This article explains the best way to spend your Pokerstars FPPs if you are not Supernova.
Supernova players should just buy the cash bonuses in the VIP store of $600 for 40k FPP or $1600 for 100k FPP. These equate to 1.5c and 1.6c per FPP respectively.
However, the vast majority of the readers of this blog likely aren't Supernova or even close to it. So how do you get the best value for your FPPs?
The best way to spend them in my opinion is to play the 235 FPP hyper turbo satellites (You will find these at Sit & Go > Satellite > FPP in the Pokerstars lobby). These 6max sit n go's award an entry into the Sunday Storm (an $11 value) if you finish in the top 2 spots. 3rd place is awarded a largely meaningless 10 FPP and everybody else gets nothing.
A completely average player (cashing 1/3 times) would get 1.6c per FPP playing these things which is already equal to the best Supernova rate so the value here is fantastic. That said, there is a time component that must be factored in as well (you have to play them!).
Generally I will wait until I have at least 10k FPP sitting around in my account. I should be able to blow through this by 4 tabling these satellites for a couple hours.
Since you only start with 10 big blinds and blinds increase every 9 hands, at a first glance these will look like one big stupid shove fest to you. Truthfully they are pretty ridiculous (channel that inner degen!). However there is definitely still some skill involved in them by following a few strategy guidelines.
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235 FPP Hyper Turbo Strategy
During the first level (25/50 with a 10 ante) only play 88+ and AQ+ (always shove of course)
Don't get caught up with all the random idiots shoving any two cards. Stay alive and just be patient. Usually 1 or 2 people will be eliminated during this stage.
During the second level (50/100) shove any Ace, pair, broadway or reasonable King
You have to start moving the chips around a little more now although I might still fold the very bottom end of this range in early position (i.e. hands like A2/22/QT/K9). Stealing the blinds is very important. But again, stay patient, don't worry if you only have like 3 big blinds. It's ok.
End Game
Again stay patient. Do not shove any two. But you will need to add most Queens and suited connectors to the range above now. Stealing the blinds is of critical importance. But you also don't want to finish 3rd.
I have played a lot of these things over the years. I have been able to maintain a 1.8c or 1.9c per FPP win rate by following the above strategy. This is a higher rate of rakeback than even the top cash bonus for Supernova.
It kind of goes without saying that there is heavy variance in these satellites though. Expect to see some crazy, crazy stuff. I am sure I have gone like 20 in a row before without even cashing.
You can definitely improve your chances though by studying some advanced poker strategy.
What To Do When You Win
I should mention just in case anyone wasn't aware. I don't actually play in the Sunday Storm all that often if I finish in the top 2 spots in the satellite (although you can if you want).
I un-register and have $11 in T$ (tournament money) credited to my account. I then go to the 2+2 marketplace thread and trade it for real money at a rate of 99.5%.
Example: I have T$100. I make a post on there offering it for $99.50. Somebody pm's me (usually very quickly) and we do the trade through the Pokerstars software. There is no scamming or BS possible. Both parties must agree to the trade price and then Pokerstars (usually within minutes) approves it. Easy as that.
One last thing, you might be able to achieve the best results in these satellites by playing them on the morning of the actual target tournament which is a Sunday. People may be more desperate to get a spot and play even worse than normal.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below.
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