Thoughts on Empire Poker and the Zoo

[Art Vandelay]

Good post. I think we as online poker players (and I'm not a pro by any means but I certainly am a bonus whore) have taken a lot of things for granted. Rakeback and bonuses don't have to be offered by sites or affiliates, and a large percentage of us abuse these priveleges (myself included). It's only a matter of time before the sites wake up and realize they are costing themselves a lot of needless money by allowed whores like myself to basically get paid to play (when you play at certain levels, it's entirely possible to have >100% rakeback if you only bonus whore).

Part of me is happy to see rakeback/bonuses coming to an end. IMO there are a lot of players that use rakeback and/or bonuses to keep afloat. These players probably aren't winners, but they think they are because of bonuses. Without the life preserver of rakeback and bonuses these players will dry out and possibly the games will get a little better. I'll certainly miss the extra cash, every month I get at least $500 in bonus money that I use to pay bills or buy crap.

Empire can close my account if they like (they may have already, I haven't checked in a while). I'll find other places to play and if it comes to the worst situation, I know I can still play winning poker and make money the old fashioned way at the tables, by outplaying my opponents.

I also could go without FLFishon giving us a "I've won 943 consecutive days thanks to all of my bonuses" thread.

[Greg J]

Perhaps I misread previous posts (or trusted unreliable people) who state thier money has been confiscated.

[William]

Dude, we are here to complain about Empire. stop bothering with your "can't you see they are doing what is best for them" attitude?

Where you the nerd with squared glasses back in school? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[BusterStacks]

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Perhaps I misread previous posts (or trusted unreliable people) who state thier money has been confiscated.

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I would say you did unless you have a link to it.

[barongreenback]

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I agree. Why give out bonuses and then penalize players for taking advantage of it? It's kind of like coupons. They are their to be used.

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Yeah. There's too much discussion of Empire's profits in the various threads. That doesn't avoid the fact that they are out of order, whether its good for them or not. They can't offer incentives to play and then complain when people take them. It's their responsibility to organise a bonus scheme that works for them (greater number of raked hands or higher limits play etc).

They have to work with players not against them. Take the skins usual 7 day bonuses. They probably think that by making things harder for players they're making it better for themselves but because I'm hurried when doing these bonuses and am mutitabling I only play low limits. At Paradise, where there's no time limit I play 5/10. Guess who gets the most rake out of me.

[JordanIB]

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Part of me is happy to see rakeback/bonuses coming to an end. IMO there are a lot of players that use rakeback and/or bonuses to keep afloat. These players probably aren't winners, but they think they are because of bonuses. Without the life preserver of rakeback and bonuses these players will dry out and possibly the games will get a little better.

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Ummmm....don't you want these players in your games?

[PuckNPoker]

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Ummmm....don't you need these players in your games?

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FYP

[joeski19]

Yeah these bonuses must really be killing them. That's why they offer them every month. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[BusterStacks]

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Yeah these bonuses must really be killing them. That's why they offer them every month. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

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are you retarded?

[barongreenback]

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Part of me is happy to see rakeback/bonuses coming to an end. IMO there are a lot of players that use rakeback and/or bonuses to keep afloat. These players probably aren't winners, but they think they are because of bonuses. Without the life preserver of rakeback and bonuses these players will dry out and possibly the games will get a little better.

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Ummmm....don't you want these players in your games?

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Online poker is big business and the sites have to compete with each other and this will usually mean some form of incentive. It's up to them to work out the form that comes in.

Personally I'd rather do without the regular Neteller shuffle. It'd better for the site if I just left my money with them but got a bonus/rakeback/whatever anyway.