[_dave_]

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PartyGaming indicated that one of the problems this year had been a reduced frequency of play among their bigger players. It seems reasonable to assume that some of these players have been playing more actively on third-party sites where they get some of their rake back.

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It seems "reasonable to assume" that PartyGaming shot itself in the foot when they cancelled the rakeback affiliate's MGR trackers not so long ago. Of course if their most active players are suddenly cut from their rakeback, they will move their play to one of the skins. Was this a surprise to party management?

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The challenge to PartyGaming’s management is to find an incentive structure which players find as attractive as rake back without the explicit strategic threats that it represents.

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What exactly is this "strategic threat"? Rakeback offers an incentive to play a ton of hands, with no hand count cap, as there is on bonuses. For every hand that a player earns rakeback on, Party earns more than twice as much! Why do they not want this, and want it a lot?

I really have great dificulty in understanding PartyGaming's thought process behind their actions during the last year.

Enjoy!

Dave.