Published on July 4th, 2007 10:03 pm EST
The rake free poker era is over.
WSEX made a big splash about a year ago when they announced that they would no longer be charging for rake in their poker room. The idea was that players from all over would clamor to sign up and play at WSEX because it would be much cheaper to play there. Poker would be a loss leader, and WSEX would funnel these players into sports betting and casino games, where they would be able to monetize these players.
Well it didn't work out, and WSEX has just now announced that they will be charging 25% of the normal rake, instead of 0%. So you will get refunded 75% of your rake instead of 100%.
Why didn't this idea take off? Because the people that joined WSEX were joining just to collect their rakeback. This made for TERRIBLE games, as everyone would just play like a rock in order to get their rakeback. Most people just tried to play break-even poker and make their money through rake, which made for some very boring games. People who joined for the novelty of rake free poker soon left, bored with the dull and lifeless games.
Kudos for WSEX for trying this out, but it just goes to show you that players want to play where the action is, no matter what the rake is.
The rake free poker era is over. WSEX made a big splash about a year ago when they announced that they would no longer be charging for rake in their poker room. The idea was that players from all over would clamor to sign up and play at WSEX because it would be much cheaper to play there. Poker would be a loss leader, and WSEX would funnel these players into sports betting and casino games, where they would be able to monetize these players.
Well it didn't work out, and WSEX has just now announced that they will be charging 25% of the normal rake, instead of 0%. So you will get refunded 75% of your rake instead of 100%.
Why didn't this idea take off? Because the people that joined WSEX were joining just to collect their rakeback. This made for TERRIBLE games, as everyone would just play like a rock in order to get their rakeback. Most people just tried to play break-even poker and make their money through rake, which made for some very boring games. People who joined for the novelty of rake free poker soon left, bored with the dull and lifeless games.
Kudos for WSEX for trying this out, but it just goes to show you that players want to play where the action is, no matter what the rake is.
