Tournament grinders will get less rewards for their fees starting this weekend, plus we have a glimpse at future Stars Rewards changes.

On the 18 month anniversary of the Stars Rewards system, Severin Rasset has announced changes to MTT rewards, as well as a glimpse into what 2019 brings for PokerStars grinders.

From February 15, the rewards points for every $1/€1 in tournament fees will be reduced from 100 points to 45 points. All other formats will earn points at the same rate.

Rasset explained the rationale for the change:

This is a reduction in the overall amount of rewards some players will receive, but made in an area that we believe will have the least impact on their experience and enable us to place even more focus where we know it matters most. This includes offering the largest tournament guarantees like the €20m Winter Series guarantee in Southern Europe as well as record-breaking COOPs and Sunday Millions, and providing the most exciting live event experiences in poker.

Expected changes in 2019

In addition to this change, future changes are expected later this year with the aim to simplify the Stars Reward system and make the opening of Chests more meaningful. The expected changes, as per the PokerStars Blog, are as follows:

Adjusting the frequency and value of Stars Rewards Chests. The value of each Chest will be more than tripled, with the frequency of earning them reduced by a similar factor.

Removing the 'boost' feature as an always available feature and transferring the majority of the value customers earned from the boost into the value inside the Chests themselves.

Implementing new, easier to understand rules for how customers move up and down the 6 Chests levels. Moving up a Chest level will be achieved by earning 10 Chests over a rolling 28-day period and every progress bar will have a 28-day expiry to compete (failing to complete will move you down a Chest level).

The addition of a new 'Exchange' feature which will let players who are struggling to complete their progress bar in a reasonable amount of time the option to trade in their partial progress for an immediate rewards

Are you a tournament grinder at PokerStars? Do the rewards factor much to your bottom line? Let us know in the comments: