Thoughts on Empire Poker and the Zoo

[Nato76]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

are you retarded?

[/ QUOTE ]

HAHA

[Greg J]

Admittedly I have read mainly secondary accounts of confiscation, so perhaps I jumped the gun in earlier posts. I am still somewhat uncomfortable about this whole situation though. I guess I never expected this from IGM sites. Any any event, the bonus gravy train might be over, and if it is I'm okay with that (since I do win). But the way Empire seems to handling this is just making me useasy.

[busguy]

[ QUOTE ]
Ok look, when empire gives you a bonus and you clear it at .5/1 or whatever, they lose money on that deal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Buster,

Good post. You make some good points (and I whole heartedly agree with "the sky is not falling" stuff) but I think you may be a bit off on this particular point.

I'd be very surprised if anyone ever got banned from a Poker site for only having one single account with that site and only playing it when they are offering a deposit bonus. I say this mostly because I'm pretty sure that most poker bonuses are on average a breakeven proposition for a site. They may lose a little on .5/$1 and $1/2 players but they still make money on anyone above that. If an affiliate is eating some of the bonus ( - MGR) then they would lose even less.

If you were correct that it cost a site a fair bit with these bonuses then it would be virtually impossible for a site like Absolute to "make it". Think about it. Absolute pretty much has a 365 day a year bonus and I would assume that by far the majority of it's players would constantly be clearing a bonus.

If this is the case (that it costs them very little), why would they want to chase someone away that may at some time in the future choose to make that site their home. If after 5 years of whoring them you still hadn't switched some of your regular play to them then maybe . . . .

I own my own business and can tell you that it would make no sense to me from a business point of view to chase away any potential future customers if it was costing very little every time they "visited" my site.

busguy

[Art Vandelay]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

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.

[/ QUOTE ]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not talking about the super fish loose passives or the LAGs. I'm talking about the guy that is break even at best that sure you can make money off of, but when the guy is a 10 VPIP rock it makes the tables worse more than better. Seeing less of these 8 tabling rock fests woulnd't make me too mad no.

[Nato76]

[ QUOTE ]
Admittedly I have read mainly secondary accounts of confiscation, so perhaps I jumped the gun in earlier posts. I am still somewhat uncomfortable about this whole situation though. I guess I never expected this from IGM sites. Any any event, the bonus gravy train might be over, and if it is I'm okay with that (since I do win). But the way Empire seems to handling this is just making me useasy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think they are going to stop offering bonuses. Players much rather play at a poker site that offers bonuses and incentives. Bonus whoring is here to stay.

[joeski19]

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

[/ QUOTE ]

are you retarded?

[/ QUOTE ]

Quit pretending like you know the business inside and out. When you in fact know nothing of Empires accounting, or treasury department. And yes apparently I am retarded for arguing on the internet with yet another armchair know-it-all CFO of Empire.

[BusterStacks]

As an affiliate, I can tell you that on the past $100 reload, i had a guy leave after generating around -$60 MGR to clear it.

[Greg J]

I did not mean to imply anyone would stop offering bonuses. The thing is, for me, I don't play nearly as many hands as many of you, so when I do play it is often to clear bonuses. When I'm not clearing, it's usually at Empire or Stars (for tourneys), so I guess I fit the bill as a bonus explioter or whatever. It's pretty lucrative for a very part time player like me. I might be able to do this much longer, but if not, I'm okay with that.

[ckmj23]

[ QUOTE ]
Admittedly I have read mainly secondary accounts of confiscation, so perhaps I jumped the gun in earlier posts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Email from Empire to guy who's funds were confiscated. Accoring to him, the amount is not small

[ QUOTE ]

> --- VIP customer support <vip@empirepoker.com>
> wrote:
> > Dear xxxxxxx
> >
> > Thank you for your e-mail.
> >
> > The Company reserves the right to cancel your
> > EmpirePoker.com account and any balance of funds
> > will be forfeited. You can read the full Terms
> and
> > Conditions here:
> >
>
> http://www.empirepoker.com/about_us/...formation.html
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Louise
> > VIP Customer Support Team
> > www.empirepoker.com
> >

[/ QUOTE ]

[BusterStacks]

I'd like to know the whole story on that closure, and I would bet $ that it's not for multiple accounts or bonus abuse. I believe they only do this for chip-dumping.