[dux]

I recently was thinking about a strategy for online cardrooms, that appeared in a post regarding Party Poker's rake. In small limits, the rake system is used for the house take. Now, in higher limits, and to my knowledge only in brick-and-mortar casinos, you pay a set fee on the hour or half hour, to play the game for that period of time.

My idea for online poker, is to charge users using the time share system, but over a much longer timeframe. You could charge over any sort of period - weekly, monthly, yearly deals could be made. For a site like PokerStars or dynamite, which are mainly tournament based, you could simply have the time charge as an option - if you play a $10 + $1 tourney, those who pay using the time charge system do not pay the entry fee, those who don't use it pay the fee.

This system could be used by a new or small poker room operator to attract customers. Promotions such as your first week or month free (or at a % price) could be used to attract new users.

The way I see it is there are many benefits for players. You know how much you are paying, and you have a better chance of winning in the games themselves. As for fish - with no rake you can play more hands, and with more money in the pot you can call more. Operators now must offer the games and limits people want to play, not the ones that make the most money. Operators also have no interest in altering the randomness to their favour (not that I believe any of them have done so).

For the operators, I think there would be an increased loyalty with it's users, and many would defect from other sites because they would save $100s in rake - you are not losing money from their rake if they would have never played at your casino anyway.

Well, that's my idea. I never said it was a good one however. I'm sure if there was a simple way to increase casino profits, it would have been thought of. But I felt like mentioning it.