Thoughts on Empire Poker and the Zoo

[BusterStacks]

Ok, this is really getting out of control. First of all, those of you who are debating whether or not it's safe to keep money on Empire are truly imsinformed. Empire (or any IGM) skin that has suspended a player for having multiple and thus breaking the terms and conditions of the site has NEVER confiscated that players money.

Second, I read through the other thread of getting to the bottom of the closures, and it seems like there is a good case for each of them. Who is getting closed? Blonus whores and people who don't play there? It should be obvious that if you sign up for a site with the intention of whoring it, you don't get to complain when they catch you.

Thirdly, and this goes to everyone, rakeback is not "about to end". I have no doubt it WILL end, probably somday soon, but there are no indications it will be this month, or even this year. iGM skins are still the most profitable even without rakeback. And you know who is to blame when rakeback does come to a screeching halt? People getting rakeback in the first place. Sure we all do it, but we are not entitled to it, and I think some people forget that. You guys act like Party will not get your business anymore if they stop paying affiliates. Where else are you going to go? Full Tilt? Lol, not likely. The worst players have always been on Party and will be long after your rakeback check is a fond memory.

It's not like one skin can "go crazy" and the others will not. It's all the same network!!! It's like what we saw with PokerNOW: that site literally went out of business and not ONE person lost what was in their account. Those of you who remember Zero Rake should be thankful for that.

Everyone just relax. Nothing is "about to happen" and the sky is not falling.

[J.R.]

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It should be obvious that if you sign up for a site with the intention of whoring it, you don't get to complain when they catch you.

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why is it wrong for me to have one account and to use that account to take advatage of the whorring opportunities empire offers. Empire made an offer I agreed to, the terms of which are I play x raked hands and I get a bonus. now all of the sudden there are extra terms not part of the original "agreement" or I have doen soemthign wrong by "whoring" them in just accepting and completing the terms of their offer?

[BusterStacks]

The point of these bonuses is to give players an incentive to play poker there. If you are playing strictly for the bonuses, you are a detriment to the business, and Empire is certainly a business. This agreement you speak of is not legally binding anyway, and I suspect that if you were in charge of Empire Poker you would do the same thing. I know I would.

[skp]

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It should be obvious that if you sign up for a site with the intention of whoring it, you don't get to complain when they catch you.

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I only play at Empire and don't bonus whore so perhaps, I simply don't understand all the nuances of bonus whoring.

But why does empire offer reload bonuses in the manner they do, if they don't want bonus whores? Where in their rules, does it say that it is wrong to bonus whore? How does the question of empire "catching" anyone ever arise, if what is being done is not against the rules. I mean, they offer a $100 bonus or whatever if you play x number of raked hands. A player plays the required number of hands, gets his bonus and then goes to play elsewhere. What has he done wrong?

[Nato76]

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.

[PokerBob]

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The point of these bonuses is to give players an incentive to play poker there. If you are playing strictly for the bonuses, you are a detriment to the business, and Empire is certainly a business. This agreement you speak of is not legally binding anyway, and I suspect that if you were in charge of Empire Poker you would do the same thing. I know I would.

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I agree, but I don't see how they could freeze my account or deny me a bonus that I am currently registered for. I can, however, see them denying any FUTUTRE bonuses. Which is basically saying, "We no longer want your business."

[BusterStacks]

Ok look, when empire gives you a bonus and you clear it at .5/1 or whatever, they lose money on that deal. Over time it becomes clear that you are only using your Empire account for these bonuses and thus are costing them money over time.

Now, you are trying to have claim to your bonuses on a technicality, but you fail to understand that the bonus only exists in the first place as a loss-leader. It's there to encourage further play. When you can reasonably assume that a player does not intend to continue playing beyond the bonus, the smart thing to do is not allow him to play there.

It's like car stereo stores that give away a pair of speakers to you just for coming in. If you did that every time and never bought anything, eventually they would stop offering that deal to you and possibly not let you even come in. As well they should.

[PokerBob]

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[ I mean, they offer a $100 bonus or whatever if you play x number of raked hands. A player plays the required number of hands, gets his bonus and then goes to play elsewhere. What has he done wrong?

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Nothing. But any business is well within their rights to turn customers away. The customer's defense is always, "I'll take my business elswhere." In this case, they want you to.

[BusterStacks]

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I agree, but I don't see how they could freeze my account or deny me a bonus that I am currently registered for. I can, however, see them denying any FUTUTRE bonuses. Which is basically saying, "We no longer want your business."

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Yea I agree that is kind of shady, maybe they wanted to make sure you got the point? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I don't claim to know anything about the inner workings of IGM other than it is run by chimpanzees.

[PokerBob]

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I don't claim to know anything about the inner workings of IGM other than it is run by chimpanzees.

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