Poker players are perhaps a little more guilty than most of liking our status symbols. Many of us like our gold watches and expensive cars. Full Tilt Poker is now offering a new kind of poker status symbol for online players called the Black Card.
In order to earn a Black Card, players must average 500 points a day or more over a rolling period of 100 days. If this sounds like a lot, it is. Likely, only higher stakes players will be able to earn this many points for this long. Making it even more difficult, however, is the fact that players must also MAINTAIN their 500-point daily average in order to continue as a member. If a player’s average drops below this amount, they have only 50 days to bring it back up before their card and status is cancelled.
Of course, the difficulty in earning and maintaining the Black Card status only makes it more of a status symbol for players able to earn it, but what are the benefits? First, players have access to a private Black Card Store, where they can use their points for cash bonuses and limited edition items not available anywhere else. Players also receive personalized customer service from the support team with any problem they may have. Players also earn 2x Full Tilt Points on the site.
During live events, players with a Black Card can enjoy preferred treatment and access to the Full Tilt Poker pros, as well as access to the Pro’s Choice WSOP suite. For many, this alone will likely be worth the difficulty in earning the card.
Since the program is only a few months old, it remains to be seen how good these benefits will be, and whether they will encourage players to remain loyal to Full Tilt Poker, which is the site’s ultimate goal. Early reactions are good, however, and if new benefits continue to be added, it may turn into one of the biggest status symbols available for online poker players.