Anyone else think empire should make a move

scrapperdog · #1 10-09-2005, 09:03 PM

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Maybe you don't understand Party's customer base.
What is the name of your online poker site?

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Discounted services has worked in every major industry in the world. I named car insurance and motels, but this applies to every major industry. If you think people are so dumb they dont understand what "half the cost of other major poker rooms" is then well I think you underestimate people. Everyone is looking for a deal. This includes smart people, dumb people, fish, sharks and my 5 year old. Discounted services has never been tried by a major poker room... yet everyone seems to know it will not work... just like it has not worked for discounted stock broker services, dollar stores, or millions of other businesses. Yes cutting the rake without advertising is nothing but if they advertise in big letters that they take half the money from you that the other poker roooms do well I am not so sure they would not pull in business. Of course it is much better for empire to pack their bags instead of trying something new.

BusterStacks · #2 10-09-2005, 09:07 PM

No.

zerorake.com

you are wrong.

scrapperdog · #3 10-09-2005, 09:10 PM

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No.

zerorake.com

you are wrong.

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Major poker room. Just because discounted car insurance did not work for some guy sitting in his basement by his phone does not mean it would not work for a company that has an established client base, sound business plan, and has the money to advertise.

cardcounter0 · #4 10-09-2005, 09:11 PM

What is the name of your online poker site again?

scrapperdog · #5 10-09-2005, 09:14 PM

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What is the name of your online poker site again?

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Whatever just let it die. You are right, no chance for it to work. And you are wayyy smarter than the average person, who cant decipher what half is.

cardcounter0 · #6 10-09-2005, 09:33 PM

Half? Try zero. I think it has been shown that % of rake is a very small factor of why people choose to play at a particular site.

Automobiles get you from point A to point B. That is their entire function. Yet, people go out and spend way more for a Lexus, when a Honda will do the same thing. In fact, they will buy the newest model Lexus right when it first comes out, knowing that it will probably be cheaper in 6 months.

Think those people are going to gamble at one site over another because of 2.5% less rake? Or will flashy comercials and the ability to make side bets have a bigger sway over their choice?

What was the name of your site? I'm interested in that half rake deal.

scrapperdog · #7 10-09-2005, 09:43 PM

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Half? Try zero. I think it has been shown that % of rake is a very small factor of why people choose to play at a particular site.

Automobiles get you from point A to point B. That is their entire function. Yet, people go out and spend way more for a Lexus, when a Honda will do the same thing. In fact, they will buy the newest model Lexus right when it first comes out, knowing that it will probably be cheaper in 6 months.

Think those people are going to gamble at one site over another because of 2.5% less rake? Or will flashy comercials and the ability to make side bets have a bigger sway over their choice?

What was the name of your site? I'm interested in that half rake deal.

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Your right, let it die, no need to ever try something new. A car is a status symbol, where you play on-line poker is not something the whole block is gonna see... but whatever you are right. And these same people that are gonna spend their money on an expensive car will fight tooth and nail to get the best price on it.

MicroBob · #8 10-10-2005, 01:09 AM

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Discounted services has worked in every major industry in the world. I named car insurance and motels, but this applies to every major industry

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I've mentioned this before but I'll bring it up again (because I'm a repetitive kind of guy).

Poker is different from all those other industries in a VERY important way.
In most normal industries (gas prices, groceries, airline fare, etc etc) the consumer IMMEDIATELY can see the difference in price.

If I want to fly to NY and see that one airline is charging $250 while another is charging $350 then I can IMMEDIATELY see how much I save.

In poker...the typical customer (re: fish) knows absolutely nothing about the difference and doesn't care.
You can even spell it out for him and explain how much he would save if only they just took $1 less out of each pot.
You can give him EXACT figures.
He will say "whatever. I don't care. It's only a dollar. It's not a big deal."

THEN....you can give him a $100 bonus and he'll say "whoopeee!!!!!! This is great!!!!!"

Anybody who has played with fish should be able to understand that the fish just don't freaking care...and that most can't even be taught to care.

This is why I have always argued against those who have said that the increasing competition for customers would help drive the rake down....and it's why Empire would NOT be better off lowering the rake.

I wouldn't complain if they did of course.
But if they cut their rake in half there is just NO WAY that they will make up for it by doubling their player-base.

Naturally, I wouldn't argue with them if this is the course of action they wanted to take.
But for THEM to succeed I don't think this is their best course.

Then again, these are the same geniuses that came up with the VIP-points system (with that whle square-root nonsense that actually DISCOURAGES you from playing more on a given day) as well as banning players without warning that they could have kept around if they had more clearly defined what they wanted out of their players who pursue the bonuses that THEY are offering.

So Empire has proven to be pretty freaking stupid in the past.
So lowering rake, raising rake, offering an Empire embroidered tutu or giving away crappo money-clips in the mail are ALL equally possible from these geniuses.

SinCityGuy · #9 10-10-2005, 01:42 AM

You make some good points, Bob.

Also, I don't care how much Empire reduces the rake or continues rakeback, there's just no way to offset the extra BB's/100 expectation of playing on much softer tables at Party. The problem that Empire faces in trying to keep their base is almost impossible. The vast majority of players on there are much more skilled than the Party players. Making an extra 0.5 BB/100 with rakeback or lower rake on Empire doesn't even come close to offsetting that.