So far, so good today. I'm going to attempt to "make up" for my day off by playing two 3-4 hour sessions. The first went fairly smoothly - up 4+ buyins over 34 $12+1 tourneys (+$58)

So. A lot of you have probably wondered how this whole system will work in detail. Rather than attempt to explain this over and over and over again, let me take you through the process and my thinking throughout.

Like most websites that host poker games, Pokerstars has a VIP program for its regular players. Pokerstars will award you VIP points for every dollar they take in rake at their website. For tournament players like myself, the number of points is 5.5 VIP points per $1 in rake.

So, what is rake? Rake is what the website charges you to host each poker game they run. In tournament games, typically the rake is an additional 10% of the buyin or less. For example, at the level that I currently play at, the games cost $12 apiece. The corresponding rake that the website charges is an additional dollar, so the actual buyin costs $13. Only $12 of my dollars are in play - the website keeps the other dollar. However, they give me 5.5 VIP points for the $1.

These VIP points (VPP) have no value, but they correspondingly earn you Frequent Player Points (FPP), which do. Depending on how often you play, you are granted a corresponding monthly level that multiplies the VPPs into FPPs. At the bottom of the barrel, each VPP only earns you 1 corresponding FPP. At the second level, Silver Star, acheived after you earn 750 VPP in a month (pay $125ish in rake in a month), you now earn 1.5 FPPs per VPP. At Gold Star (3000 VPP/$600 in rake paid over a month) you now earn 2.0 FPPs per VPP. At Platinum Star (7500 VPP/$1250 rake) you earn 2.5 FPPs per VPP. The monthly totals carry you over to one month past the month you earned the status at, so that you can maintain a status. For example, if I earn Platinum Star in December, it's good through January 31st, and as long as I earn enough to maintain it in January, I'm good through February.

The big jump is when you hit the two annual levels - Supernova at 100,000 yearly VPP, and Supernova Elite at 1,000,000 yearly VPPs. At Supernova, you earn 3.5 FPPs per VPP, and at Supernova Elite, you earn 4.5 FPPs per VPPs and hit a boatload of other free bonuses. Those two require you to contribute a considerable amount to rake - about $18,000 in Supernova, and about $180,000 for SNE.

I won't take you through all the math, but because my Return on Investment (which incorporates the rake into it) is hopefully positive, the FPPs can be exchanged for cash (at a rate of approximately 1.6 cents per FPP) which will simply add to my bankroll. I can then theoretically play at a higher level, earn more corresponding VPP by paying more rake, acheive another status increase, get more bonuses and a higher rate of FPP return, reinvest, jump another level, jump VIP statuses, and so on.

Provided I am a player with a positive expectation, that is.

I will hopefully start January at the $23 + $2 level. I need more of a bankroll before I can get there - probably $1600 will be enough to start testing the waters. I hope to play 1000 tournaments a month to start, which will take me roughly 1300 hours during the month (4 hours per day). Playing at that level, I will be able to earn 11,000 VPPs to start, which will put me at the Platinum Star level. This will correspondingly earn me 27,500 FPPs per month, a cash equivalent of $400. I can't trade them in until I hit 250,000, but that obviously won't take long. I should be able to move up (if I'm able to earn a 5% expectation at the $25 level) by late March or early April, and begin playing the $39s and paying $3 in rakeback. I get even more VPPs. Even more FPPs. Paying $3 in rake, I would earn something like 40,000 FPPs a month - about $640. By June, hopefully I will be up to $60s and paying $5 in rake, which would then earn me $1100 a month. In late June of 2011, I will hit Supernova, and begin to seriously accrue more FPP and $$$$$.

Using conservative estimates, and reinvesting 100% of my earnings back into poker, I should hit the $119 level sometime in Sept. At this point, I am not going to be counting on making any ROI - I have put in all zeroes (I think I used 1.5% for 60s - allegedly good players beat them at 3%).

What makes ALL THE money is the 49.5 VPPs and 175 FPPs I will be making PER TOURNAMENT. That's right, every tourney I enter, Pokerstars is essentially paying me $3 at that point. You do the math - $3 per tourney, $3000 per month....all I have to do is break even.

Starting with Supernova Status in 2012, I can maintain it as long as I play at a Platinum level every month, which will be easy. At that point, I can jump to $235s and make my final run towards Supernova Elite, which will mean $115,000-$140,000 in bonuses.

For now, I'm still down at $878. However, things are chugging along...I just gotta keep getting it in the center in good spots.