Party Poker Millions satellites are a ripoff for many...

[TheHawk]

OK, I will start with a disclaimer, my site of preference is usually Pokerstars. I have played a lot at Planet (another good site), and lesser amounts at most of the other major sites. When I have played at Party, aside from finding their software highly irritating in a number of ways, I generally find that they are not a player friendly site (for example, the 10% adm fee they deduct from the bad beat jackpots, which basically means they figured out a creative way to increase their rake), and my most recent experience reinforced my belief. I attended a WPT event in
January(compliments of a pokerstars satellite), and enjoyed the experience thoroughly and hope to attend other events. Since I am only marginally interested in the EPT, and WSOP satellites at pokerstars dont start for a while, I cruised other sites for satellites to WPT events. The two I
focused on were Paradise (Shooting Starts) and Party Poker Millions event. Over the weekend I played in 6 or 7 of the one table 32 dollar (29+3) satellites at Party poker. I was fortunate enough to win 2 of them, so I had a couple of shots in their semi-final events. The prize money for the one table satellites is distributed as follows: 290 total,
32 for 2nd and 3rd (in the form of a freeroll in another one table satellite), with the balance of 226 going to 1st, which is an entry into their semi-final tournament, which costs 210+16. Stupidly, especially when risking my hard earned bankroll at Party, I did not read the fine print before entering these satellites. The semi-finals reward one seat for each 60 entrants, with the seats valued at 12,600 (which is 60*210). Obviously I assumed I would receive a full 210 in equity for my first place finish, and would have a 2 separate 1 in 60 chances to qualify for
the cruise. Now I read the fine print. For my first place finish, I get 1000 chips to start the tournament. However, people who play at their site a lot will be given extra starting chips, up to 3000 total. If the average stack to start the tournament is 2000, my odds of winning arent 1
in 60, they are more like 1 in 120 (ignoring differences in skill for the moment). And the prize that I paid for and won isnt really worth 210, it is worth half that amount. The remainder has been taken from me and given to players who log more hours than me at Party poker. When Pokerstars
rewards their loyal players with frequent player points (FPP's), the reward is usually the opportunity to play in some sort of freeroll, fully funded by Pokerstars. That is the way it should be, and represents a very fair way to reward players for their play. When Party rewards their
players for frequent play, they do it not with their own money, but by stealing from players like me, who log most their hours at other sites. In order to get the fully equity that I thought I won in the satellite, I am forced to log many additional hours at the tables at Party. That is not right, and in my estimation highly unethical on their part. I emailed my concerns to Party and got a series of ridiculous form letter responses. So, I will take my 1000 chips and play in two of their semi-final events. I have already withdrawn all other funds from Party. After the semi's are done, I will uninstall my Party software and will never, ever, play there again. From now on I plan to stick to playing at sites where I dont feel required to reading the fine print before entering
a satellite.