Empire Building

The Problem

Empire Poker seems to have pissed a lot of people off. Well, not people specifically, but bonus whores. Seems there was an abundance of people who ONLY played at Empire when they were working on a bonus, and played a different Party Poker skin when they weren't. Empire was unhappy with those people, and unceremoniously BANNED them from playing at Empire Poker ever again.

The arguments over whether this is a fair move or not are pointless. The T&C dictate that it was LEGAL, and therefore fairness doesn't enter into the equation. Was it a good business move? Some say yes, some say no. Party and her skins do not have a reputation for good customer service in the first place, so it's not like they are going to take a CS rating hit. They are pissing off players that they never made money on in the first place, so there's no downside there.

What makes it seem unfair is that these people were only following policies that Empire Poker established themselves. Rather than alter the policy so that people cannot take advantage of the site, Empire decided to eliminate the people who were taking advantage. I fear they are not looking at the bonus offerings as a whole, instead to look at each individual customer on a case-by-case basis. If the policy, looked at as a whole, was making money for Empire, then it is a good policy and should have stood. If the policy, looked at as a whole was losing money for Empire, the policy should be changed. They should not examine individual cases of how the policy affects certain players, because if they lost money on 10% and made money on 90%, then it would be silly to change the policy.

This is probably the case, and Empire simply wants to lower that percentage. But if it makes people afraid of using Empire bonuses for fear of getting banned, this could have a backlash effect on Empire that they hadn't counted on.

The net effect is that cyberspace is FILLED with people looking to replace Empire as their bonus whore site of choice.

The Solution

I propose Absolute Poker. They offer up to 50% match bonus up to $500 for the first deposit through neteller, but that's immaterial because they offer 20% bonuses FOUR DAYS A WEEK. You can ALWAYS be working on a bonus at Absolute. Just deposit your bankroll and withdraw it three days later. Then work on your bonus, which is released into your account $10 at a time every 100 hands, unlike Empire who required you to unlock the entire bonus at the same time, usually THOUSANDS of hands.

So you will make $.10 per hand just playing at Absolute Poker.

Not good enough?

Okay, how about 27.5% of your rake back? And unlike EVERY OTHER RAKEBACK DEAL I HAVE EVER HEARD OF, you can generate rakeback AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU WORK ON YOUR BONUS. So if you generate $100 in rake while earning $100 in bonus, you will have made $127 in 1000 hands.

If you are a bonus whore, you should have just said "HOLY SHIT!" Because that is the best deal in online poker, BAR NONE. Because you make more money per hand at any level, and this deal NEVER ENDS. If you are playing poker somewhere else and not getting paid for it, you are a CHUMP.

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