A solid and workable rewards scheme is one of the most attractive features of any poker site, especially for those customers who tend to play through a large amount of money on a poker site. Indeed, for many of these high roller players, the value of the rewards scheme can directly influence whether they sign up for a site or not.

In a real world casino, players can receive ‘comps’ as a bonus and also as an incentive to play at that casino. These comps tend to range from free drinks, meals and perhaps a room in a hotel, up to free private jet transfer, limosine use and use of presidential suites and similar for the real high rollers.

In the online realm, it is not possible for a poker room to offer these incentives, so instead many have their own rewards scheme.

These schemes reward players both for their loyalty and in proportion to the amount of money that they spend on the site (provided that they spend a minimum amount each week or month, depending on how the rewards scheme is organised).

Bet365 Poker’s VIP Rewards scheme is one such scheme and for many punters, it can offer great value. However many of the sites players may be missing out on potential rewards because they don’t understand how the scheme works, or they are not quite playing enough on the site each month to trigger the lower level rewards.

So in this article, we’ll explain how the Bet365 VIP Rewards scheme works and how you can maximise the benefits to you and look at a few examples of how much you could earn as a relatively low level and higher stakes player.

Of course you’ll have to register an account at Bet365 in order to begin reaping the rewards. Join today and use our Bet 365 bonus code no deposit in order to get the best possible welcome bonus.

Understanding the Bet365 Poker VIP Rewards Scheme

The first thing to know about the VIP Scheme is that the cornerstone of the scheme are Merit Points. These are the points that all Bet365 Poker customers earn when playing any real cash game on the site and which they collect over the course of a month.

You can easily keep a track on how many Merit Points you have earned at any point by clicking on the My Account section where a running total is displayed. You can also see your Merit Points balance when you play any cash table game.

How you earn merit points is dependent upon the type of games that you are playing. On the Cash Tables, you earn Merit Points depending upon how much of the rake (the percentage of each pot the casino takes as its share) you contribute.  In Tournaments and Sit & Go games and similar, the amount of points you earn depends on how much you pay in tournament fees.

Regardless of whether you play on the cash tables, tournaments or sit & go games, you earn merit points at the rate of 15 for every £1 or €1 paid in rakes or tournament fees.

So, for example, if you enter a tournament and the buy in is £10 + £1 in tournament fees, you have contributed £1 in tournament fees out of your £11 entry fee, and you would therefore earn 15 Merit Points for participating in this tournament.

On cash tables, you can earn up to a maximum of €2.50 in rakes on any single hand, so a single player can earn up to 37.5 Merit Points on any single hand.

What you get for collecting Bet365 Merit Points

Now that you understand how you can collect Merit Points on Bet365 Poker, the question now has to be what are you collecting them for?

To answer that we need to look at the VIP Rewards Scheme in more detail and explain how the rewards to customers are paid out and at what levels the rewards start and also increase.

The first thing to note is that the Bet365 VIP Rewards scheme is a monthly scheme and that in order to achieve the lowest level of the scheme, an individual player must earn 1,000 points per month. There are four Monthly VIP Levels that you can qualify for depending on how many Merit Points you earn:

• Bronze – 1,000 to 4,999 Merit Points Required
• Silver – 5,000 to 9,999 Merit Points Required
• Gold – 10,000 to 24,999 Merit Points Required
• Platinum – 25,000+ Merit Points Required

Once you have reached one of the four levels outlined above, what you then need to do is maintain this level on the site for a minimum of three months. So, if in your first month of membership on Bet365, you qualify for a Bronze Reward, if you put in a claim it would be unsuccessful as you have not maintained that level for three successive months.

Wait a further two months while earning between 1,000 and 4,999 Merit Points and after the third month, you can make a successful claim to the VIP Reward scheme.

However, what is interesting is that there are actually three different types of awards available that you can claim for:

• A cash reward
• A bonus reward
• A Tournament Token reward

Cash reward

A cash reward is paid into your cash account and in order for your claim to be successful you need to have maintained the VIP level required for a minimum of three months, plus have enough VIP points in your account to activate the bonus.

The bonuses available for each of the four VIP levels are as follows:

Bonus reward

Alternatively, you can elect to activate a Bonus Reward with your Merit Points provided you have maintained the required VIP level for three months minimum and have the required number of Merit Points outlined below in your points balance.

The Bonus reward cash is not added to your balance immediately, but is drip-fed to you over the course of 30 days as you earn merit points, however it does offer higher potential rewards. Any Bonus reward not activated within 30 days will expire.

Tournament Tokens

If you prefer you can take your Rewards in the form of tournament tokens usable on any of Bet365 Poker’s tournaments and sit & go games.

Again you must have maintained the VIP level for three months or more and have the required number of Merit Points in your balance in order to successfully claim this award.

Loyalty Rewards

If you achieve Platinum level membership for six months successively, then you can claim a Loyalty Reward with Bet365, which could be worth up to €500 in cash.

To claim this reward you need to meet the criteria outlined above and contact Bet365 Poker direct to make a claim.

How much can a lower stakes player earn?

Let’s say you are a lower stakes player who has maintained a Bronze level of membership over three months and has a balance of 7,500 merit points in your account.

You could opt to claim: the €75 Cash Reward (which you would receive immediately) for 7,500 Merit Points; the €150 Bonus Reward (drip fed to you over the course of the next 30 days) for 7,500 Merit Points or the €50 in Tournament Tokens for 6,250 Merit Points.

With this final option, you’d carry forward a balance of 1,250 towards your next VIP Scheme reward.

How much can a higher stakes player earn?

Now, let’s say that you have held Platinum Status for six months and have amassed 400,000 Merit Points.

Now you can claim the €3,750 Cash Reward or the €7,500 Bonus Reward, but in addition you can contact Bet365 Poker and start the process to make a Loyalty Rewards claim for an additional cash reward that could be worth as much as an additional €500.

Want to make even more of your Bet365 account? Read our guide to the always-available sports promotions on Bet365.

Full Terms and Conditions – Bet365 Reward Scheme

All Bet365 players are automatically members of the VIP Scheme.

In order to accumulate Merit Points, players must fulfil either of the following criteria in real money poker: contribute chips to any pot from which rake was taken on a cash table; pay a fee for entering any Scheduled tournament or Sit & Go. The number of points awarded is stated in the Play And Earn section.

In order to qualify for a VIP level, players must accumulate the relevant number of Merit Points during a calendar month, as stated in the Improve Your Status section. According to the number of points accumulated in each month, the level of all players is updated on the first day of the following month.

The following types of reward have a corresponding VIP level as stated in the Get Your Rewards section: Cash Rewards, Bonus Rewards and Tournament Token Rewards. To be eligible to claim any of these rewards, players must have qualified for the relevant level, or a higher level, in each of the four calendar months preceding the month in which they wish to claim.

To claim any of the following types of reward, players must select Claim Now from the appropriate entry in the Get Your Rewards section and follow the onscreen instructions: Cash Rewards, Bonus Rewards and Tournament Token Rewards.

The following types of reward are awarded in exchange for the relevant Merit Point amount: Cash Rewards, Bonus Rewards and Tournament Token Rewards. For a reward claim to be successful, the player must have sufficient points in their balance at the time the claim is made. As a result of a successful claim, the relevant amount is deducted from the player’s balance.

In each calendar month, players may receive a maximum of the following: one Cash Reward or one Bonus Reward; and one Tournament Token Reward. Should multiple reward claims be made in any month which meet all other requirements for success, only the first claim for each type of reward is accepted.

In order to redeem Bonus Euros credited as a result of a successful Bonus Reward claim, players must accumulate Merit Points. Dependent on the value of the relevant reward, a cash installment is released to the player’s account for every specified number of points accumulated subsequent to Bonus Euros being credited. Where the value is €150, a €30 installment is released for every 450 points accumulated; where this is €400, an €80 installment is released for every 1,200 points accumulated; where this is €1,000, a €200 installment is released for every 3,000 points accumulated; where this is €2,000, a €400 installment is released for every 6,000 points accumulated; where this is €4,000, an €800 installment is released for every 12,000 points accumulated; where this is €7,500, a €1,500 installment is released for every 22,500 points accumulated.

To be eligible to claim a Loyalty Reward, players must meet both the following criteria: have been in the Platinum VIP level in the relevant number of consecutive calendar months, as stated in the Get Your Rewards section, preceding the month in which they wish to claim; be in the Platinum level in the month in which they wish to claim.

To claim a Loyalty Reward, players must Contact Us by 23:59 GMT on the fifth day of the calendar month in which they wish to claim.

All calendar months up to and including September 2016 can be used as part of a Loyalty Reward claim. Any month can only be used as part of one successful claim. Claims must be made by October 2016 at the latest.

For a VIP Reward claim to be successful, the player must provide their Username, password and email address. These details must match exactly those held in their account.

Should any VIP Reward claim fail to meet any of the requirements stated above, it is rejected.

Following a successful VIP Reward claim, the relevant reward is credited to the player’s account within 48 hours.

Bonus Euros must be redeemed within 30 days of being credited. After this time all unredeemed Bonus Euros expire.

Should a player pay no rake or tournament fees for a period of 13 weeks, their entire Merit Point balance is forfeited.

Regardless of player activity, all unused Merit Points expire after 12 months.

Any prize/bonus amounts offered will be calculated using the current currency multiplier table as determined at the sole discretion of Bet365.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, Bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus. In addition Bet365 reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All Bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and Bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

All customer offers are limited to one per person, family, household address, email address, telephone number, same payment account number (e.g. debit or credit card, NETeller etc), and shared computer, e.g. public library or workplace. We reserve the right to withdraw the availability of any offer or all offers to any customer or group of customers at any time and at our sole and absolute discretion. Offers only apply to customers who have made an actual/real money deposit with Bet365.

Bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.

Bet365 reserves the right to use first names, nicknames and/or alias in any announcements about tournament results, recipients of any promotional bonus and Progressive Jackpot winners.

Employees, officers and directors of Bet365, its promotional or other agencies, licensees and licensors, service providers and any other associated or affiliated companies shall not be eligible for the promotion. The same terms shall apply to the direct families of such persons.

Bet365 reserves the right to refuse payment to any player who is found colluding or slow playing. In addition, where a player’s account is frozen or they are excluded from the poker room for whatever reason, the player will be removed from all aspects of this promotion.