how to start a skin ?

[Bubu]

Hi,
How does one start a skin ? Is there any hardware investment ?
How much does it cost initially and in monthly dues ?

I am just curious. Personally I think the market is pretty saturated with all these new sites

Bubu

[RevAgain]

Depends no doubt upon the skin but I suspect the main cost will be advertising, and you can spend as much as you want on that.

I'm interested to know about how the costs are structured myself, for Prima, Party etc. - do you pay a percentage of the rake you generate on top of any other fees?

[GrannyMae]

while there are probably lots of skins you can buy into, party is not one of them. if you were able to purchase a party skin, you would already know. meaning, it does not take only money to do this, you have to know someone.

i'm not saying that if you offered them $20,000,000.00 they would not sell you a party skin, i'm just saying that it would have to be an obnoxious amount of money that would probably take a decade to make back.

OTOH, many other places openly market skins and you could easily find one. just not a party one.

[Losing all]

I wonder how many of the sites opening in 05 will be around, or making money in 07. I guess skins are a different story, but still mostly destined to fail.

[GrannyMae]

but still mostly destined to fail.

i agree. i think there will be some huge acquisitions, then it will be hard for a new site to enter the new landscape of these new, larger conglomerates.

if i were going to try and purchase a skin tomorrow, i would only consider prima and crypto because that way you have a shot with the power of the network.

[La Brujita]

Gran,

Just curious what do you think is the ballpark price for a crypto skin?

[DenverPokerClub]

saw something on the dobrosoft (or whatever it is) software that you can get a skin starting at $3,000 - not the best software or name but it gives you an idea - not really sure what you can get for that $3K but you can go to their website and check it out

[ArthurD]

http://www.dobrosoft.com/

Pretty interesting reading. Would be very fun to open a site. Anyone looking for a partner? /images/graemlins/grin.gif Hrmmmmm

[Losing all]

I'd like to see stars, paradise. ub skins just for the whoring/possible rakeback. They're probably too smart though.

[Caruso329]

[ QUOTE ]
We are currently running on a Windows 2000 platform. The software requires at least five servers: a minimum of two game servers, two data base servers, and a web server.

[/ QUOTE ]

Add a rough estimate of $4000-$7000 to pay for those servers. Not to mention the monthly internet bill if you're running them from home.
Avg cost of a T1 connection: $500-$800/month

I sent this question to dobrosoft to see for myself.

[ QUOTE ]
Are there additional costs (besides marketing) for a person signing up under the franchise system? Example: This is found under your software link, "We are currently running on a Windows 2000 platform. The software requires at least five servers: a minimum of two game servers, two data base servers, and a web server." If I signed up as a franchise would I be required to buy these five servers and run them?

[/ QUOTE ]

Beware of hidden costs, results of the question soon.

[Bubu]

hmmm,

I had not heard of dobrosoft. Looking at their website it seems that they are selling you the software to start a site from scratch. In the case of opening a sking I am not sure whether you need the same level of hardware/software investement. From Zabulos's posts it seems that a large part of the skin expense is in the licensing of the software.

Bubu

What are the available poker networks ?

cryptologic
prima
party (which Granny says is closed)
tiger
apex ?

But what are the ballpark startup costs ?

[daveymck]

[ QUOTE ]
but still mostly destined to fail.

i agree. i think there will be some huge acquisitions, then it will be hard for a new site to enter the new landscape of these new, larger conglomerates.

if i were going to try and purchase a skin tomorrow, i would only consider prima and crypto because that way you have a shot with the power of the network.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the crypto skins may increase traffic once the gambling bill goes through UK parliment. Most of the crypto skins are UK based B&M bookmakers, once the government allows online gambling under licence they will come back from Gibralter and push the fact they are officially licenced by the UK which may bring in more punters who think their money is safer.

Its not based on fact just my opinion on what will happen.

[sellthekids]

Following the links on the DobroSoft site takes you to http://www.onlinegamingconsultants.com/ which is pretty interesting. Here are some quotes:

"Our first job is to discourage you. This is an extremely competitive business that requires a thorough knowledge of the gaming and internet industries. If you think that internet gaming is a quick scheme to get you rich you are four years late and a dollar short."

"For an online casino we suggest an initial year marketing capital of at least $200,000."

They offer a turn-key casino solution for 195K. So for ballpark poker room figures for an unknown network, this probably gives you a pretty good idea for the curious.

BTW, dobrosoft is hiring a poker room manager . . . all you need to do is relocate overseas if you're in the US /images/graemlins/grin.gif.