Problems at Empire Poker? Links inside.

[GeoffM]

I disagree.

I said at least 20 raked hands a day. That would normally bubble to over 400 on the weekends, and if I'm not chasing a bonus, I will always play at their site solely.

With that being said, I was also comped by them before. Now it was only $12, but by all means they could have just given me $3 (remember that post). Seems like peanuts, but they DO indeed want to keep their players happy.

When I was comped at the time, they also looked into my bonus status and this is when I was still clearing the April reload at the time. Stacked on top of that was the COMPBONUS which I never should have gotten. They could have easily removed that bonus from my account but instead said nothing about it.

As well, me playing so much on their site, they obviously know I have many other friends playing on that site that would just as quickly pull their money if I was screwed.

Believe me, I use to work in customer service and customers always seem to think this is the case, but they will value 1 customer just the same, and would not want to lose any future business I may bring to their site.

Edited to add: They know the online poker sites are popping up daily, and they have tons of competition. Would they want to lose a player that plays a high volume of hands simply because I am making a couple of bucks from their sister site? I guarantee that answer would be NO.

[2Tone]

At first I wasn’t very concerned with this, assuming they were weeding out dual account holders and the like. But the 2+2 posts grew and grew, and it has become apparent they closed large number (I wonder what the scale really is – hundreds? thousands?) of accounts of players who simply took advantage of every possible bonus, which is exactly what I do at Party. And that sounds pretty ominous.

If certain promotions cost your money than you make, don’t run ‘em anymore. If you want to run bonuses for some players and not others, make them account specific. That’s fine too. But to close the accounts of loyal customers who have done nothing but take you up on offers that you emailed them in the first place is unfair.

[ChipFish]

I do believe this may be incorrect.
I don't think they have done anything of the sort.

[badblood44]

Well, I wouldn't exactly use the term "loyal", but I was an affiliate for them with a big banner add on my web page.

I still think this is bad business and short term thinking.

It's similar to preventing anybody who's used coupons or rebates from buying retail items.

[ChipFish]

I don't agree with the move at all. (If indeed this is why they were closing accounts, which it seems it is.)
But, as it stands, this is what is happening....
I am inclined to believe that PartyPoker has had more to do with this than you think (flexing their muscle).

[GeoffM]

I agree with you Chip.

But why then wouldn't Party close down accounts of whores as well? Makes no sense, they run a reload every month and I'm sure there are a ton of people that only play during that reload period.

Perhaps these accounts being closed has something to do with Party knowing these people have accounts at both sites and these people are merely flip-flopping their money back and forth getting bonuses and not playing in non-bonus period.

[2Tone]

If this is true, and the only people who are having accounts closed do indeed have accounts on both sites, I'm not worried. And it's hard to get upset about that -- while it was great while it lasted, it's not unfair to stop giving people continual reloads on the same money.

But at least some people are saying their accounts were closed solely for playing during the bonus periods only.


If true, that strikes me as bogus -- no fair offering something, and then penalizing people who take advantage of it without advance notice.

[bdawg31]

I was wondering if anyone had actually contacted Empire regarding this?

I believe there are two people on this string that have had their accounts closed - and both got this message. I have not noticed that anyone has actually called to find out what was going on - badblood specifically said he would NOT call (as a side question - why is that?).

There seems to be more people that have not had their Empire accounts closed that use Empire and Party than have had their account closed.

[GeoffM]

It also seems as though your money won't get stuck in there, as they pointed out in one email to a fellow that his account was at $0 when it was closed.

I'm not worried about this bonus, but as I said, I think I'll play a few hours a month on their site just so I can still take advantage of these bonuses in the future, even though a 10X bonus is the norm among all sites. I just like the fact it counts the raked hands for you.

I'm sure we'll hear more about this at some time in the near future though, but for now anyone who hasn't been closed yet appears to be safe.

Edited to add: I wonder if COMPBONUS will work there ?

[badblood44]

Because I already know the answer. I've read the 2+2 forum and bonuswhore.com forums and know exactly what to expect. I feel it would be wasted effort on my part to even try to get at the bottom of this issue. My reason for not calling has nothing to do with any shady practices on my part, just a personal penchant for not wasting time.

[bdawg31]

I didnt think it was 'shady practices' - i just figured you weren't calling out of frustration or something, was just wondering if there was more to the story.

[GeoffM]

I think they are using shady practices.

I somehow managed to drop 25 BB in about an hour last night. Thank goodness for the bonus, I should still be able to make a little profit.

[bdawg31]

I have been getting crushed chasing this bonus too.

[SirFWALGMan]

Just a comment on Empire. I used to play there ALL THE TIME. I find though that they suck. The MTTs and freerolls and special features are not even close to Party. Now they hassel you, etc.. I see this as spelling the end of Empire. I really think they just do not get it.

[GeoffM]

Even their bonus is nothing to brag about, 10X. Every other site is like that, except for Party. If anything I think that it should have been Party that got more strict. Makes no sense to me.