[HesseJam]

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If Party paid me $10,000 a year to play there it would be a bargain for them. I have paid $33,000 in rake this year and they have raked $465,000 off all the tables I've played.

How much in Marketing costs would it take to replace a customer like me. A hell of a lot more than $10,000.

Party is right that the skin and affiliate system sucks for them, but they need to comp the multitabling high volume players.

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Very well put. I think this is the most solid statement posted since the news broke.

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I quote another poster who, I think, was taking your side of the argument with the following: "Fish is nice. but they dont play that often and you need very many of them to keep the game constantly going. besides, it is very costly to recruit new fish." (emphasis added)

I think this very well illustrates that the logic "winning multitablers are very valuable customers" is flawed. The cost to provide them with a soothing environment might very well be higher than what they pay in rake. Add the growth dynamics to this - multitablers tend to stay, fish tend to be replaced if they stay fish, some fish survive and turn into additional multitablers - you'll see the problem once the growth of a poker room hits a wall. As long as the multitablers move up this problem is less severe. If they stay at the low levels they create a bottleneck at the lower end of the food chain. They kill too many small fish before they can grow. Party understood this, hence the beginners tables.

A poker player who improves his skills in B&M usually moves up because this is the best way to maximize his profits. Online, many of the better players simply add tables to maximize their profits. If I were Party I would just limit the number of games one can play per month at .5/1 to 2/4 to encourage moving up. For big losers rake is a non-factor, hence rake is high at the lower levels. Winners should move to levels where the rake is lower.

Thinking more about this, I could see rb at medium or high levels as a smart move. But certainly not at the micro level.