Oh my, I’m still laughing the morning after. Funny story… I received this email from a guy who claims to be a member of CheckRayz. I am quite certain he forgets that I recall where he came from… In any event, I’d like to post his complete email here (because I‘m “that guy“), along with my response… and then some further commentary.
First *for background information:
my blog entry on freerolls from this weekend,
Original announcement on the CheckRayz Challenge
Now, email from this “member”
Hi Mike,
I see your so called "freeroll" has entry requirements of drag hands. A "freeroll" by definition is FREE entry. That means no drags, player points, coupons, money fee, etc. You are advertising an event as a "freeroll" when it is anything but that, due to your entry requirements. What you are doing is called a "bait and switch". Saying you have one thing, get people to your site and then say "oh, by the way, our freeroll is not exactly free because .................."
Mike, as you well know, what you are doing is dishonest and a total scam. You should read what the players say on the poker forums about your kind of "special" freerolls.
In a way it is kind of sad that you have to resort to these kinds of tactics in order to lure players to your site.Just a suggestion, try running honest freerolls (no entry gimmicks) and I bet you have more players than what you get doing things in a dishonest manner.
Mike
(note, its not me talking to myself, he is also named Mike, it would seem).
My word for word response:
There is nothing dishonest in the celeb tournament. I am clearly stating that there is a $500 freeroll with a 50 raked hand requirement. This is no different than sites such as Poker4ever, which if I recall correctly, you joined us from there via another forum who held a special 500 freeroll for peeps who qualify...
I am not sure that I can agree with you regarding being dishonest, because I am certainly not a dishonest person. If you read my blog, you'd clearly see my take on freerolls both in general and specifically.
Thanks for your "concern" and "take" on this matter.
Mike
I think I went above and beyond the call of duty by even responding to this "member," but anyways… I didn’t want him whining that I didn’t get back to him.
That being said, we get some commentary on the matter.
“As I well know, what I am doing is dishonest?” As I well know? Oh my god, this guy has me soiling myself in laughter. You might want to start by going back to “your little corner of the internet” and re-assess whether or not I am an honest person. Wait, wait wait… let me back up here, as I am getting way way ahead of myself.
Let’s do a play by play on his letter to me…
1. "I see your so called "freeroll" has entry requirements of drag hands." - You see this because I properly disclosed such a requirement in my announcements and on my blog.
2. "A "freeroll" by definition is FREE entry." - I am not charging anything… It is a free entry, for those who qualify as stated.
3. "That means no drags, player points, coupons, money fee, etc." - No, that means that you are charged nothing to get in… said another way… Let me spell it out for you Mike… You contribute N-O-T-H-I-N-G to the prize pool… Got it? Was that slow enough for ya, Mike? That being said, there is nothing being charged for the entry to the $500 event. There is a hand requirement, which has been stated each and every time all day long since day 1.
4. "You are advertising an event as a "freeroll" when it is anything but that, due to your entry requirements." --- so, when a given “forum” has an event somewhere such as I don’t know, say Trident Poker for example… If the freeroll has a password, its not a “freeroll?” I mean after all, Mike, there is an entry requirement, you must have a password. (let me guess, “wait a minute, wait a minute… that’s different”). Of course it is Mike, of course it is.
5. What you are doing is called a "bait and switch". Educate yourself on what “bait and switch” truly means. Here, let me help you. Click on this thing called a “link” I put there to help you "better understand" what a "bait and switch" truly is.
6. Saying you have one thing, get people to your site and then say "oh, by the way, our freeroll is not exactly free because --- once again, I stated from day 1 there were hand requirements. I stated exactly what those requirements were… from day 1. And once again, is there an entry fee?
7. Mike, as you well know, what you are doing is dishonest and a total scam. - no, it seems very straight forward. I’m offering a nice, private, $500 promotional freeroll. I set requirements, which is within my right, 'as you well know.' No scam, nothing dishonest… Or do you mean "dishonest" in that you don’t rake hands?
8. You should read what the players say on the poker forums about your kind of "special" freerolls. - I really have no interest in what people on “the poker forums” say about this. Really, I don’t.
9. In a way it is kind of sad that you have to resort to these kinds of tactics in order to lure players to your site. - I hate to burst the bubble here, Mike. This promotional freeroll was not designed to “lure” peeps to my site. It was designed to reward my players who are raking it, playing the buy-in events, supporting the cause, so to speak. If it were to "lure" people to my site, I'd perhaps offer that size of a freeroll with no requirement and act like I hold "these types of events" all the time?
10. Just a suggestion, try running honest freerolls (no entry gimmicks) and I bet you have more players than what you get doing things in a dishonest manner. - I am running “honest” events. I have no intentions of running a freeroll now or in the future to give away cash prizes. All promotional money that I work to obtain goes towards the cash players and the buy-ins. Which, I really hate to break it to ya, Mike… These are the players that the poker rooms want. They are also the players I want playing with CheckRayz. I don’t think any of us are truly interested in full-time freerollers who have no intentions of depositing and playing. None of us wants the players who constantly have their hands out with no intention of contributing and no desire to work towards anything.
You obviously have me confused with someone else.
Once again, there is nothing wrong with asking questions, peeps... however, come correctly. This assclown "member" accusing me of being dishonest and misleading? Telling me I should read what "they" say on other forums regarding a promotional freeroll that has a requirement of sorts to gain entry? Are you f-ing kidding me? I care what "they" say? Actually, the people who's opinion I care about (in this topic) are my depositing players at CheckRayz. I don't care what "they" say (they being "other forums")...
Dude, thanks for the laugh. You get your thirty seconds of fame and now I'm done...
Nuff said,
Mike
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