Many poker players cry foul as PokerStars announced its new VIP reward program, which changes the way Frequent Player Points (FPPs) are earned.

The new “VIP Steps” system will replace PokerStars’ traditional program, aiming to “improve player engagement with the VIP rewards” by encouraging players to hit certain targets each calendar month.

Under the new program, FPPs will only be released when players finish a step within a VIP level completed rather than the current practice of adding them to a player´s account in real time. The Steps progress bar will also display notifications when approaching a new VIP Status, and alerts when risking loss of VIP status due to the end of the month approaching.

The VIP levels are being broken down into smaller steps, and the size of each step depends on how far you’ve already progressed up the ladder, with the steps getting bigger as you get further each month/year.