Ultimate Poker’s VIP Program taking shape

As Ultimate Poker’s “field trial” period comes close to a close (Thursday was the official day that their field trial ended when the Nevada Gaming Commission gave the company the go-ahead), the first and only licensed online poker site in the United States is readying the launch of their new and improved 2.0 software, which will feature a number of enhancements along with the launch of the highly anticipated Ultimate Poker VIP Loyalty Program.  In this column I’ll take a look at the “Color UP” VIP Program as we currently know it to exist.

Winner Take All Rake Method

One of the most interesting aspects of the Ultimate Poker VIP Program is the way the site will award rake to players. Generally speaking there are two rake allocation methods used in online poker:

• Dealt: In the Dealt method any player dealt a hand at the table will receive an equal share of the rake at the end of the hand. Dealt is the preferred option for mass multi-tablers and tight players.
• Contributed: The Contributed (usually called the Weighted Contributed) method of rake allocation divvies up the rake based on the percentage of the pot you are personally responsible for. Most poker rooms have moved toward this method as it rewards looser “action” players.

There are other methods in between the two, such as any player who puts money in the pot (no matter how little or how much) receives an equal share of the rake.

And then there is Ultimate Poker. UP has decided to go with the “Winner Take All” method, which will credit the winner of the pot with the entirety of the rake. This method goes even a step beyond the Weighted Contributed method, rewarding looser players, while severely punishing tight players who play few hands and win fewer pots.

Color UP Tiers

Some details of the Color UP program at Ultimate Poker have been revealed, including the monthly and yearly tiers –which are modeled on the chips used in casinos around the world. Unfortunately the site hasn’t revealed the monthly requirements to reach each of the monthly levels. However, since we know that the first yearly tier is at $10,000 in rake we can hypothesize that the monthly tiers will likely resemble their chip denomination:

• Tier 1: White Chip
• Tier 2: Red Chip
• Tier 3: Green Chip
• Tier 4: Black Chip
• Tier 5: Purple Chip
• Tier 6: Yellow Chip
• Tier 7: Orange Chip
• Tier 8: Cranberry Chip

So, while I can’t be sure, it would seem that to reach Cranberry (A $5,000 chip in a casino) you would need to reach $5,000 in contributed rake each month.

Here is my best guess at the monthly requirements:

• Tier 1: White Chip = $1 in rake
• Tier 2: Red Chip = $5 in rake
• Tier 3: Green Chip = $25 in rake
• Tier 4: Black Chip = $100 in rake
• Tier 5: Purple Chip = $500 in rake
• Tier 6: Yellow Chip = $1,000 in rake
• Tier 7: Orange Chip = $2,500 in rake
• Tier 8: Cranberry Chip = $5,000 in rake

As I mentioned above, there are also two yearly tiers a player can reach in the Color UP program, which Ultimate Poker has released the requirements to reach:

• Gold Plaque: $10,000 in total rake
• Platinum Plaque: $100,000 in total rake