Imagine if a skin failed becuase of recent events

[Stu Pidasso]

And players lost their money. What kind of negative effects could Party Poker suffer? Heres my best guess.

1. Lower stock price - people would be less willing to invest in online gaming. All gaming stocks would suffer.

2. Increased marketing cost - potential new players would always have in the back of thier minds horror stories about people who lost thousands of dollars when a big online poker site failed.

3. Adverse Legislation - Some nations, perhaps the United States for instance, might pass certain laws or regulations to protect individuals from similar future events.

4. Tainted brand - Party Gaming would forever be known as the bad guys in the online gaming world. A company that doesn't care if its strong arm tactics hurt the players as long as they can sweep aside the competition.

5. Criminal Investigations - If thousands of people lose their money prosecutors are going to be looking for someone to prosecute. All fingers are going to be pointing towards IGM.

I have money at Eurobet. Eurobets cashier is frozen and no one can currently get there funds. I'm not worried because Eurobet is huge and poker is just a small part of thier business. I suspect the reason the cashier is frozen is because Eurobet has poker player money on deposit with Party Poker and Eurobet is waiting to get that money back from Party so they can pay thier players.

If I had my money at a smaller skin I wouldn't feel as confident, but I wouldn't be that concerned either. Even though you deposited your money on a skin, somewhere along the way that money ended up at Party Poker tables. Its in Party Poker interest to make sure all the skin players get paid.

Stu