Supernovas explode in month of May

I'll admit, back when PokerStars introduced the PokerStars VIP Club, I wondered just how many people would make it to the then-highest level, Supernova. Even though I understood there were a lot of people who would aim for the stars, if you will, I wasn't necessarily sold on the idea that we'd see a galaxy full of 'Novas.

As my dad likes to say, "I've been known to be wrong before."

In the year and a half since PokerStars kicked off its VIP Club, Supernova membership has gone crazy. And no month was more crazy than May 2007. During PokerStars Ten Billionth Hand celebration, players had the opportunity to earn double VIP Player Points. That, in turn, made achieving Supernova a slightly easier proposition.

So, what happened? Well, I asked Scott Y., guru of the PokerStars VIP Club.

"We had 172 new Supernovas during the 10 Billion promo," he said. "May 19th and 20th saw 21 new Supernovas each day. We had not seen daily totals like this since the last week of December. Every email I received from a VIP for the last 2 weeks ended in something like 'LOVE this promo!'"

Not only that, but two players earned 400,000 VPPs in just the first 21 days of the month. One of them, BigJoe2003, became the second person to achieve Supernova Elite status.

As you might expect, with so many new Supernovas, there are a lot of people looking to spend their Frequent Player Points.

"Last year only one player purchased the WSOP Main event package," Scott said. "We already have 12 total orders. We have never sold so many big screen TVs! I normally get 1 or 2 emails a month asking details on the Porsche. I'm getting 1 or 2 a week."

No doubt, the Ten Billionth Hand promotion was one for the record books. With it now behind us, Supernovas are now looking toward Supernova Elite status in the long term. In the short term, I've already heard about a lot of Supernovas who will be out at the World Series. We'll be keeping an eye on them there, too.

Congratulations to all the new Supernovas!