Anyone think that this has more to do with the phrase....

[mtdoak]

"Rakeback" then anything else? Notice the most adamant against rakeback have been Empire and Party, the two publically traded online poker rooms? How many times do you think this conversation has taken place:

Investor: "I hear you offer 25% rakeback to new signees"
Party Poker: "Well, not exactly"
Investor: "Remind me how you make money again?"
Party Poker: "Rake"
Investor: "And you give 25% of it back"
Party Poker: "Well...."

here are my thoughts. Party doesn't want to have 'rakeback' because its hard to explain to investors, but it doesn't want to lose the high volume players. Solution? Offer a volume player deal where player agrees to play x # of hands in a month and gets a better "deal" the more hands they play. It'll probably be less than the standard 25% (though, i doubt it'll have a % attached to it at all)

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]


Investor: "I hear you offer 25% rakeback to new signees"
Party Poker: "Well, not exactly"
Investor: "Remind me how you make money again?"
Party Poker: "Rake"
Investor: "And you give 25% of it back"
Party Poker: "Well...."



[/ QUOTE ]

Party Poker: Ever heard of a Labor Day "sale" at Macy's?

Investor: Of course, my wife shops there.

Party Poker: And you know how they mark their already-overpriced clothes down 25% so you as a consumer feel like you're getting a deal?

Investor: Yeah...

Party Poker: Our rake is higher than the other sites. We give rakeback, so our customers feel like they're getting a deal.

Investor: They are getting a deal.

Party Poker: Exactly. And we still collect a good amount of rake. It's win-win.

Investor: Brilliant, in my opinion. Where do I sign?

[Fryguy]

YOU R TEH WINNAR! nh
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Investor: "I hear you offer 25% rakeback to new signees"
Party Poker: "Well, not exactly"
Investor: "Remind me how you make money again?"
Party Poker: "Rake"
Investor: "And you give 25% of it back"
Party Poker: "Well...."



[/ QUOTE ]

Party Poker: Ever heard of a Labor Day "sale" at Macy's?

Investor: Of course, my wife shops there.

Party Poker: And you know how they mark their already-overpriced clothes down 25% so you as a consumer feel like you're getting a deal?

Investor: Yeah...

Party Poker: Our rake is higher than the other sites. We give rakeback, so our customers feel like they're getting a deal.

Investor: They are getting a deal.

Party Poker: Exactly. And we still collect a good amount of rake. It's win-win.

Investor: Brilliant, in my opinion. Where do I sign?

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Investor: "I hear you offer 25% rakeback to new signees"
Party Poker: "Well, not exactly"
Investor: "Remind me how you make money again?"
Party Poker: "Rake"
Investor: "And you give 25% of it back"
Party Poker: "Well...."



[/ QUOTE ]

Party Poker: Ever heard of a Labor Day "sale" at Macy's?

Investor: Of course, my wife shops there.

Party Poker: And you know how they mark their already-overpriced clothes down 25% so you as a consumer feel like you're getting a deal?

Investor: Yeah...

Party Poker: Our rake is higher than the other sites. We give rakeback, so our customers feel like they're getting a deal.

Investor: They are getting a deal.

Party Poker: Exactly. And we still collect a good amount of rake. It's win-win.

Investor: Brilliant, in my opinion. Where do I sign?

[/ QUOTE ]

NH

[Inthacup]

Notice the most adamant against rakeback have been Empire and Party, the two publically traded online poker rooms?

Party has been against rakeback for years. They only recently went public. I don't think that's the reason why they have been against it.

[IndieMatty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Investor: "I hear you offer 25% rakeback to new signees"
Party Poker: "Well, not exactly"
Investor: "Remind me how you make money again?"
Party Poker: "Rake"
Investor: "And you give 25% of it back"
Party Poker: "Well...."



[/ QUOTE ]

Party Poker: Ever heard of a Labor Day "sale" at Macy's?

Investor: Of course, my wife shops there.

Party Poker: And you know how they mark their already-overpriced clothes down 25% so you as a consumer feel like you're getting a deal?

Investor: Yeah...

Party Poker: Our rake is higher than the other sites. We give rakeback, so our customers feel like they're getting a deal.

Investor: They are getting a deal.

Party Poker: Exactly. And we still collect a good amount of rake. It's win-win.

Investor: Brilliant, in my opinion. Where do I sign?

[/ QUOTE ]

excellent.

[Catt]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Investor: "I hear you offer 25% rakeback to new signees"
Party Poker: "Well, not exactly"
Investor: "Remind me how you make money again?"
Party Poker: "Rake"
Investor: "And you give 25% of it back"
Party Poker: "Well...."



[/ QUOTE ]

Party Poker: Ever heard of a Labor Day "sale" at Macy's?

Investor: Of course, my wife shops there.

Party Poker: And you know how they mark their already-overpriced clothes down 25% so you as a consumer feel like you're getting a deal?

Investor: Yeah...

Party Poker: Our rake is higher than the other sites. We give rakeback, so our customers feel like they're getting a deal.

Investor: They are getting a deal.

Party Poker: Exactly. And we still collect a good amount of rake. It's win-win.

Investor: Brilliant, in my opinion. Where do I sign?
Party Poker: Enjoy!

[/ QUOTE ]

[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
Party has been against rakeback for years.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't really agree with that. It's been against the rules but for a long time it seemed like a don't-ask-don't-tell policy applied. As long as Party rakeback affiliates were discrete they were left alone even though everyone knew who they were. They could have easily caught them by answering ads and running "I need rakeback" posts on 2+2 and other major forums.

Rakeback is problematic for a publicly traded company because it is difficult to compute revenue properly when doing earnings reports. Rakeback is a discount that should be deducted when computing revenue. Affiliate payments are marketing expenses that are not deducted from reported revenue. They are subtracted at a later stage when net income is computed. Unfortunately Party has no accurate way to know how much the affiliates are keeping and how much the customers are getting.

For a private company that does not need to answer to ignorant outsiders this is a completely unimportant difference. But stock markets are extremely fixated on revenue growth or the lack thereof and it's a big spin control issue and possibly a legal issue too.