Controversy in the blogosphere

2Tone · #1 05-11-05, 08:07 PM

For those of you follow the incestuous and entertaining world of poker blogs, check out
. He make some interesting points, and the comments feature some articulate back and forth.

My two cents on this is you should make every effort to support sites you enjoy (like this one), and that’s it is not unreasonable for TP or any other content/community provider to be compensated for his trouble.

That said, I still caution against Noble, which I believe (though can not be 100% certain) comes bundled with ad-ware.

Talking Poker · #2 05-11-05, 09:26 PM

Fair enough.

Let's say Noble Poker does go broke, and they steal your $20 (which I think you will agree that while possible, is unlikely - of all the poker sites out there, there is exactly 1 with this history). Regardless - I'm giving you $50, so do you really care about the $20?

I don't know anything about the Spyware. I can only speak for myself, but my system is clean.

2Tone · #3 05-12-05, 12:20 AM

No doubt -- I think it is highly unlikely that Noble will steal your money. And $50 on Pokerstars is sweet, so there's essentially no risk here. But I find the debate overall interesting.

There's a difference between Ad and Spyware. I'm not saying Noble comes bundled with anything that is going to empty your accounts. But my version at least came with an extra reg key identified as adware.

badblood44 · #4 05-12-05, 01:02 PM

Here are some of my thoughts on the matter.

Yes new sites pop up every day and the market is becoming saturated. I have to believe that it takes a good amount of time for these upstarts to eventually become profitable - perhaps months or even a year or more.

I also believe that these new sites understand this and realize that business goal number 1 is to attract new players and keep them.

Given the above, I think it's actually SAFER to play at some relatively new sites because they know and understand they will lose money initially.

With that said, I also believe that you must exercise some caution as well and not wantonly deposit money into a new site that could literally disappear overnight.

Even sites like Party and Pokerstars with a wealth of players could disappear overnight. That's the risk of online poker.

omahilo · #5 05-12-05, 03:09 PM

I dont think these 2 sites are going anywhere.

PS has had the last 2 WSOP champs and are sending about 1/3 of the field this yr so I dont think stars will be going nowhere for a long time to come.

Aequitas58 · #6 05-12-05, 03:56 PM

Stars is sending 1/3 of the main event field? I find this really hard to believe. Where did you hear this?

omahilo · #7 05-12-05, 04:08 PM

well they are going to be sending about 1500 thru the qualifiers + whoever else buyin with W$.

so it will be close to 1/3... maybe closer to 1/4.

Talking Poker · #8 05-12-05, 05:17 PM

It's true. Maybe not quite 1/3, but a lot. A HUGE percentage of last year's field came from online qualifiers, and I expect it will be even higher this year.

omahilo · #9 05-12-05, 05:37 PM

I think someone on 2+2 figured that stars will be giving about 1500 seats out to the WSOP and Im also counting people that buyin thru stars since they pay the hotel room and such if you wear the PS gear.

so I would venture maybe 1700-2000 will be from stars. so close to 1/3 since the field will be 6600 and change if they have alternates.

junYUN · #10 05-12-05, 05:50 PM

i havent had any problems with noble yet, but we'll see...

Aequitas58 · #11 05-12-05, 06:33 PM

Given what you and TP replied, all I can say is: wow. I didn't think it was that many. Shit. I guess we'll expect to see a lot of PokerStars gear this year.

Branching off of that, it's well-known that Stars is great for MTTs and satellites, etc, but what about some of the other sites? UB, for example? TP is always talking about their MTTs, but do they offer any WSOP packages?

Full Tilt is following the path of Stars with their satellites and WSOP promotions, but because of their limited player field, I suspect only a few hundred make it to the WSOP via FTP.

Talking Poker · #12 05-12-05, 07:57 PM

I doubt it will be that many. I'd guess 100, max.

Yes, UB had WSOP satellites - pretty much everyone does. Just log in and you'll find them under tourneys.

Aequitas58 · #13 05-12-05, 07:59 PM

Just about every site has WSOP sattys, and I'm sure UB does as well... but... are they sending alot of poeple to the WSOP as compared to Stars? I don't have UB or I would have a better understanding.

2Tone · #14 05-12-05, 08:38 PM

From

As of this moment, more than 575 PokerStars players have qualified for the WSOP main event through PokerStars.

Aequitas58 · #15 05-12-05, 08:53 PM

Oh ok.

Big difference compared to 1500-2000.

junYUN · #16 05-12-05, 10:23 PM

theres still plenty more qualifying to do..

Talking Poker · #17 05-12-05, 11:20 PM

Right.... I would think it would just be picking up now and really get into full swing in about another month...

omahilo · #18 05-13-05, 05:10 PM

lol 600 already WITH 54 days till the WSOP ME starts...

so you could easily expect 30-40 more days of sats.

someone already figured it to be about 1500 or so assuming PS keeps running its normal # of sats.

I know FTP is guaranteeing 30 seats in a tourney so thats 30 from FTP aleast.