Recent changes to the BRP bonus structure

[Gaming Club]

Before we begin responding to your posts we hope that you all had a great festive season celebration. We’re also very busy going through PM’s and posts so if you don’t receive a response immediately, we kindly ask if you could exercise some patience. We’d be most grateful.

In any case, onto business.

As were sure you’re all well aware there was a recent change to the BRP bonus structure and the aim of this post is just to make a few things clear on it as there are quite a few individual threads on it and we’d prefer to have it in one place.

We want to make it clear that for those of you that took advantage of the sign-on or reload before December 23rd 2004 will continue to clear the bonus under the old bonus structure requirements. Sign-ups for the reload or as a new player after that point are subject to the newer bonus structure requirements.

Why was it changed?
Because this is very new ground for us as far as bonuses are concerned, we need to see the effects of it and gauge what it has done in terms of player experience and for business in general.

We took this initial period as a test to see what the take up would be like as well as to see how viable running a structure like this would be (the feedback was great for us and we're not discounting any of it). The change came sooner than expected/scheduled and as a result, I was not available in office to notify you of this change. Apologies for this, but it was beyond my personal control (to let the Zoo know) at the time.

We will continue to review the current bonus structure until we find that we’ve got the right mix of everything based on alot of the feedback and comments we’ve received over the past few weeks. Rest assured that if there are changes to the structure in the future we’ll do our best to keep everyone informed.

How do I check BRP’s per limit if I fall into the new bonus structure?
Our developers are creating a tool right now so that you can see BRP’s earned at the designated limits for the bonus. We’ll also let you know once it’s available.

Thanks in the meantime for your patience. We’ll do our best to respond to individual posts as soon as possible.

[Bytestream]

[ QUOTE ]
Why was it changed?

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I'll take a stab at this. I played only .5/1.00 NL (due to complete lack of full 2/4 limit games) and I payed $155 in rake to clear the entire $300 bonus. So this was essentially a 200% rakeback.

I think the most viable change would be if the bonus was dispersed in $10 increments (instead of $20) for 300 points. It would take twice as long to clear, however it cleared pretty fast, so twice a long wouldn't be too bad. Based on my limited data, I assume that it would be no worse then break even and most likely slightly profitable for the house in rake and still very profitable for the player in bonus $. Im not sure exactly how much traffic increased during this new bonus structure but I would think generating more buzz and attracting more players to the site is more valuable then a few extra rake dollars, and the reason for promotions like this. Of course my data is based only on my experience, I am interested in how others may vary.

Overall, I liked TGC, and as long as the bonus structure stays favorable I will continue to make it a priority to play there during all reloads, and even between reloads from other sites.

Bodog has that "botomoless bonus" but the structure sucks. Done right, I don't see why a site wouldn't be able to make this a very valuable promotion for itself (and its players)..hint..hint...

[kiemo]

Here was my response way back on the 24th

--BEGIN

I kinda figured something would change as the the first change made it was too easy for players to clear the bonus, however this change is not very well thought out.

The best thing TGC could do here is change how many BRPs are accumulated at each level.
For example:
.25/.50 - leave at 1 BRP or lower to .5 BRP
.50/1 - lower to 1 or 2 BRP
1/2 - lower to 2 or leave at 3 BRP
2/4+ - leave at 3 BRP

Under the current change a player will need to play 700 raked hands at the 3 levels to clear the first $100 in bonus money. And if they arent comfortable or have the money for 2/4, too bad about the rest of the bonus, which means they will leave probably cash out. How is this good for TGC?

If they just changed the BRP values, players would accumlate a little slower at lower levels, but still are not shut out of the full bonus and will stay on the site longer. Will the extra rake generated by more hands offset the extra bonus money paid out?

Why would TGC force players to play higher limits in order to clear bonus money? Do the micro players just not generate enough rake to cover the bonus money and if so why not just make the mircos play a few more hands as I outlined above?

Personally I am a comfortable playing at .5/1, however I figured I would give 1/2 a shot at TGC and I havent fared very well as I am barely break even with the bonus money added, so why would I want to move up to 2/4?

TGC has demostrated in the past that it really doesnt have a desire to attract more micro players and this recent change fully supports this perception.

--END

Oh and open some more 1/2 full limit games. 13 people on the waiting list for the one table running is not good.

[flair1239]

I agree with the lack of full ring 1/2 tables. I had to play shorthanded to clear the bonus. Also it does not appear that you can clear the .25/.5 portion of the bonus by playing 1/2.

Anyway at one point all the full ring 1/2 games were full there were 10+ people on the list for all tables, and no new table was opened.

Even when I have sufficient bankroll to try to clear the 2/4 portion later this month, I do not think I will go back, just because the software also seems sub-standard.

[PugX]

Hi TGC!

I had a really nice time at your site cleraring the bonus. The bonus was nice, the games where good and the cashout was fast. I will come back more times.

One thing that I think about is that the rule with "Maximum BRPs that can be earned per Bet Limit" is rather hard for a "No limit"-player. 2-4 NL is a rather big game, a lot bigger then 2-4 fixed limit. Pots is bigger and rake is bigger. Most NL-players play below 2-4.

Anyway, thanks for the experience.

//PugX

[BBill]

I am certain that the BRP "cap" at certain levels will negatively affect the intention of the bonus offering.

Putting a level of BRPs at a lower limit is assuming that the player will be a winner at that level and have the money to move up. This is not always the case even with good players and certainly not with new players.

I think the following BRP schedule would be more suited to getting people to play longer or at higher limits.

Fixed Limit (No Cap)
.25/.50 - 1 BRP
.50/1 - 2 BRP
1/2 and above - 3 BRP

Also No-Limit generates more rake at lower blinds and requires special consideration

No Limit (No Cap)
below .25/.50 - 1 BRP
.25/.50 - 2 BRP
.50/1.00 and above - 3 BRP


And I reiterate what was said previously, if you want people more people to play at 1/2 fixed limit (Full table not 6-max that has plenty of tables) there should be more than one or two tables available especially when they have waiting lists of 9 or 10. I emailed support about this last week and there were more tables for a day and them it was back to 2 tables with long waiting lists.

thanks again

[Mobed]

Well the cap is a big turn off for me. I plan to clear up to the $1/2 max then i'm out. The software is rough, hard to find good games.

[AncientPC]

I think BBill has some good numbers for BRP given per level.

I jumped up to 2/4 limit and 2/4 NL to clear the bonus. 2/4 NL is obviously a much bigger game than 2/4 limit.

[Gaming Club]

Thanks to everyone for their candid and constructive criticism. It's definitely been heard and we're discussing many of the points raised with the rest of the organization.

[Insp. Clue!So?]

I hope in particular the fact that the blinds for pl/nl games don't reflect the actual pot sizes (compared to limit games) sinks in.

Insp.