888poker lines up major loyalty scheme changes

Operator plans to introduce its new 888poker Club scheme in the US in the coming months

888poker plans to overhaul its loyalty programme, ending its current rakeback incentive and introducing a new mission-based scheme aimed at attracting more recreational players. [private]

The operator said its new 888poker Club would reallocate the loyalty budget from hardcore players to casual users, providing better rewards for long-term loyalty.

The changes will be rolled out on its dot.com platform by the end of the month, and will be extended to the US at a later date.

“As part of our ongoing strategy to improve the experience of our recreational players, we will be updating our loyalty rewards program towards the end of March,” Itai Pazner, 888 head of B2C, told EGR North America. 

“The new 888poker Club will be more balanced, with greater consideration for players with lower status levels. 

“It will reward players based on different criteria to that of our current rake-based program. The vast majority of our players will benefit much more from the new program, which will be much easier to understand and will give significant weight to long term loyalty with 888poker,” he added.

Users accrue Club points every time they play or complete a challenge, which in turn gives them access to bonuses, cash and prizes.

The more points a player earns, the more levels they unlock; each time they reach a new level they receive Gold Tokens used to claim prizes.

The operator said that any rewards points accumulated under its old loyalty programme would be converted into Gold Tokens under its new scheme.

888 will also fully honour its cashback commitment to all players, including VIPs, who are currently entitled to yearly cashback under the existing rewards plan.

The move comes after a number of operators, including PokerStars and Full Tilt, overhauled their loyalty schemes in a bid to attract more casual players.

The loyalty scheme changes have been part of a wider ecology shakeup at a number of operators, including partypoker, as firms look to reinvigorate the declining vertical.