This needs to be settled, vote on Empire here

[dabluebery]

I agree with basically everything you say here, Microbob.

I was signed up through an affiliate, and despite the fact that my MGR was approximately break even, considering the bonuses (may have been slightly negative, we're talking under fifty dollars TOTAL, and I cleared at least $500 in Empire bonuses), I was banned.

The real point is, I would have played ball with basically whatever restriction they wanted to put on me. For example, since the Empire banning, I signed up for the stars bonus. I've been playing 3 tables there consistently, and have alternated a fourth table at Party / Pokernow, trying to give action at my other sites.

I am slightly less optimistic that this Empire nonsense isn't the beginning of the end for bonuses, so I'm trying to avoid the "whore" stigma by spreading my rake dollars around.

[danobee]

Empire makes more off of the bonus-only players as a whole than they would without them.

Stupid.

[timprov]

People are being very silly. There's one point and one point only: Empire went and banned people for following their T&Cs. That's bad, bad business. And everyone else should be wondering what it is they're doing that Empire says is A-OK today, but might change their minds tomorrow. It doesn't have to be something rational.

If "bonus abuse" was ever mentioned in the T&Cs, I would agree that Empire was ok to ban those players. But they followed the rules, and got banned anyway. This from a site that can't manage to stop spammers.

I didn't get banned, but I'm not going back to Empire. And I play high enough that bonus whoring is getting pointless, and even if I was playing under bonus, I'd be profitable for them. Also, I'm moving more of my play away from the Party network as a whole. I don't like the trend there, and unlike a lot of people here, I don't have trouble winning elsewhere.