One of the best things about PokerStars is their creativity when it comes to rewarding people for playing on the site.
Last year they started VIP Club Live, a series of parties for PokerStars players taking place in major cities around the world. This summer they brought the party to my neck of the woods: Vancouver.
The party was hosted by the Imperial, which is at the corner of Main and Cordova. I’ll admit that I was a little surprised at this location choice, since it is affectionately known as “Crack Town” amongst locals.
PokerStars has yet to steer me wrong, however, and I was soon on my way to my first party as a Very Important Person.
I got to the party a little late, so unfortunately I can’t tell you whether or not the food was any good. The drink service was excellent, though, especially if you were smart enough to tip the bartenders.
I think some people were worried that PokerStars would skimp on the service and there would be huge lines if you wanted to take advantage of the open bar. This wasn’t the case and drinks flowed aplenty all night.
The live music of the night was by a jazz band called Rosie and the Jugheads. I’m not much of a jazz band connoisseur, but they seemed decent and I liked the tuba player.
In between the band’s sets, there was a DJ mixing it up for us. The main entertainment for the night was a pair of female acrobats that bent in all sorts of crazy shapes for our viewing pleasure.
No poker was played at the party, but other casino games were available: Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, and Baccarat. Everyone was given chips to wager, and chips could be traded in for tickets for prize drawings at the end of the night.
I blew my entire chip allotment in one hand of Blackjack, but the smarter people ran their chips up and won prizes from the PokerStars VIP Store.
Overall the party was a lot of fun. I saw some people that I haven’t seen for a long time, spent time with people that I really like, and got to chat with a few people I’d never met before. I would definitely go to another VIP Party in the future, so hopefully PokerStars runs another one in or near Vancouver next year.
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