Fellas, can you help me?

Indiana · #1 10-26-2004, 10:40 AM

As a long-time reader of this forum, I have grown to trust your input. I have been approached about a new website lagunapoker.com and am thinking about buying shares in the site. Does anyone know if this is a scam or if the site has any chance of being successful?

Thanks,

Indiana

Lurshy · #2 10-26-2004, 11:54 AM

Picture this. Robot wheeling around, flailing arms in air. Flashing lights, and a computer voice saying 'Danger Will Robinson, Danger'.

boedeker · #3 10-26-2004, 11:59 AM

i agree!

WHOO WHOOO BEEP BEEP. DANGER.

jakethebake · #4 10-26-2004, 12:27 PM

Wrong forum, but does Dutch Boyd's name appear anywhere in the prospectus?

gergery · #5 10-26-2004, 01:29 PM

In most industries you need some sort of competitive advantage or point of difference that allows you to earn a decent return. And latecomers to growth industries need something extra to make them work.

What’s Lagunapoker’s?

PokerNeal · #6 10-26-2004, 05:42 PM

Let's see...

Every new poker site now trys to outdo another by giving you a bigger deposit bonus. Or by signing on a poker champion for endorsements. Or by having a a cooler user interface look or claiming they excel in customer service.

NONE OF THESE DIFFERENTIATORS MAKE THEM STAND OUT.

Momentum is everything. Sites like PartyPoker and PokerStars which have huge momentum and cahsflow can easily outspend these newbees and offer better everything for their users and continue their momentum. I think the chances are poor for an upstart to build another popular site.

TheDrone · #7 10-26-2004, 06:05 PM

Totally agree. Full Tilt Poker is arguably the best new site launched within the last year, yet it has gained little momentum against the big guys.

I would start with the assumption that Laguna is doomed to fail, and then I'd have to be convinced otherwise by a detailed business plan. Very unlikely.

In a way, the current popularity of poker is creating a bubble effect reminiscent of the dot com craze. We all know what happened there. Online businesses with a large customer base, a sound business model, and concrete plans to become profitable were the ones that survived and thrived after the implosion. I would not be surprised if a similar scenario plays out with online poker sites.

Indiana · #8 10-27-2004, 10:40 AM

Thanks for your input guys. I have read the business plan and it seems sound. The selling point of LagunaPoker.com is that they will have a 3% rake on both tourneys and ring games. This is much much lower than party or stars. For $1000 I can buy 1% of the company. Seems like a decent gamble no?

Later,

Indiana

jakethebake · #9 10-27-2004, 10:50 AM

Low price is not a sustainable competitive advantage. Are their costs lower? Can they afford to advertise? How can they chanrge half as much and still maintain margins? If others lower costs, can they still compete? Etc. Etc.

jakethebake · #10 10-27-2004, 10:53 AM

[ QUOTE ]
For $1000 I can buy 1% of the company.

[/ QUOTE ]

Juts how much does it cost to write the program, buy the servers & equipment, pay rent, pay legal fees, perform customer service, initial advertising, etc. etc. for an online poker room? Less than $100K ($1K/1%)??? Sounds like a scam to me. Even if it's legit, they don't have much of a cushion.