New ideas for Freerolls

We have had some problems with players not playing a buy-in after they place in our freerolls.

I have a few ideas and would like input from the members. We would still have a few freerolls that would be ok for all to play after all we offer the events to get new players to download using our links. We not only need buy-in players the hosting sites also look to see if we bring in new members.

Idea #1
We can offer freerolls just for the buy-in players. The one problem with this is that it the buy-in only gets 10-15 players the poker rooms usually set the minimum numbers of players higher for freerolls.

Idea #2
In our freerolls we could offer coupon entry to the buy-in instead of the cash payout. So the first week of the month we would host a freeroll with 20-30 seats to the buy-ins which would have money added. The coupon would be good for one of the following buy-ins that month.

Idea #3
Drop the freeroll winnings to the minimum amount and add more funds to the buy-ins. So a freeroll might only be $5 but the buyins would have $50 added or more.

well, I really don't care. Because I am past the freeroll whore stage of my poker life. I still seek and play freerolls tho. But I have enough money to play the buyins.

I do remember when I was only a freeroll whore tho. I sought them out and played everyone of them, making the minimal forum requirements to do so. Now the pw thieves dont even make the minimal requirements. but this is a problem that afflicts all poker forums.

The deal is that there are a lot of freeroll whores out there. thousands, they come they go....and like panning for gold, every once in a blue moon a nugget of gold falls through, that is, a freeroll whore starts to re-think their poker life and starts to play to win with the great value, low buy-in, money added, low turnout games that we offer.

so, freerolls, are one of the few tools that any small forum has to attract new members. and that searching for the nuggets will always entail winnowinig a hell of a lot of dross. so if you go to $5 freerolls, well pffft, you have just shut down any chance of finding that nugget. and if you just give the freerolls to peeps who play the buyins, then it will stay a small circle. unless you bump up the payouts in the buyins by a substantial amount. another forum is doing that and gets 40 to 50 regs with $30, 40, $50 added games with 1.10, 2.20, 3.30, and 4.40 buyins. also they allow low re-buys. and then they throw the occasional $50 freeroll out. But then consider, they have the same 40-50 regs for the last year. lol

Look, this forum building stuff is a hard business, and I'm just a player. I really have no idea. I have noticed that peeps really do not like long drawn out leagues. we live in a instant gratification age. So I suggest you put the thinking cap on and look to making original games and payouts. Or offering prizes like free IM sessions with Bucnright, witchy, sumer, or vex to offer some free coaching on playing poker with newbs that win our freerolls.

Or here is a controversial idea. Only one poker forum does this now. They set up crews of six, and allow the crews to IM and chat their hands, and allow them to chip dump to crew mates during a crew game. Wild? hell yes. but are they drawing players? hell yes. they get 130 to 150 players for that. No the ethics of that will be a big problem, but then look at the fact this site holds many buyins that are not crew games and they get 20-80 that will play those on a regular basis.

Oh well, I am drunk as usual. as I started off saying, I don't care, as I got some $$ and will always be a TW man forever, whatever you do. gl

I do not have a problem offering freerolls. Many players including myself started playing poker online in freerolls. One of the first forums I joined I played freerolls they offered when I did place I would play the buyin also. Now the average forum freeroll player will not return and play the buy-in the following week, day or hour.

I for one like option 2 which would still offer players a chance to try a site. It would make them return and play the buy-in the next week, day, or hour to get any value from the freeroll. I am already working on the return of Better than buc and will be working on a few other things. If you remember in the better than buc game you had to place higher than me to win a seat to the next level. It all starts with a freeroll and ends with the heads up game verse me.

Since the cash in the shop comes from Buc and me, I am not sure I understand how this would replace freerolls?
I invested over $100 of my money in funding accounts via the shop for BCP - a site that no longer provides games due to the lack of play from members of TW/FRT/PFP.

I too started off playing fr to build my bankroll. That was a long long time ago things have changes dramaticly. There are new rooms popping up everyday and forums all looking to get the dl. Where as before there were a select few rooms that you played at and the poker rooms were willing to fork out the money to forums for the fr. Times have changed. FR are hard to come by now as sites dont see the value in them on there end. The min buy in player. That said does this forum want new players that join just for fr or want players that will bring rake to the forum. i think be more benefical to have a core group of players that brought in rake than freerollers that play and leave never to play the site again and not deposit. You want depositors, players that play on the sites you are promotiing. The problem i have with all these new rooms is i have my money spread all over the place. id much rather have a few sites i played at constently. But every month there a new room to be dl and I just cant keep depositing every site that comes up. I prob have 10 merge sites with money on each one. I dl deposit then the forum changes rooms. Is the mentality to dl make your money withdraw and change to new room? I understand the sites promote at first and then seem to say your on your own now so you have no choice but to move to a different site because the funds have dried up. But look at it at the players point of view. Idl hoping the games will stay there and they be better games to come. Im no longer in this to build my bankroll 1$ at a time. Im looking for added money games i can increase at 10 or 20 at a time. This forum has plenty of members think maybe try to bring those members back to better paying games. Why you want new dl that wont do anything for the forum. Consentrate on you already members because your probably losing them to other forums that offer the better pay outs. The core group of players in any forum is what keeps it going. ok Ive rambled on enought anther 2 cent worth.

One of the differences with TW and some of the other forums we like to stay with just a few rooms and only bring on new rooms that have an attractive offer for the members

Texaswheel - Monday was Carbon, Wednesday was Iron Duke, Thursday was G2G etc

Unfortunately many rooms have not fared well in the post UIGEA environment. They have cut back or have been sold or folded up the tent entirely

TW/FRT/PFP are trying to get back to a core group of rooms - Monday FeltStars, Tuesday Cake, Wednesday GR88, Friday BCP (lost them due to lack of members play)

Pokerrooms are running a business - they have a profit and loss statement just like any other business. So - if members want a core group of rooms they have to bring their play to the rooms. To paraphrase... no playee no gamee

ok here i go........ asz here biggest fr wh ore you probably ever played against. there now that is out of the way!!!  next i would like to say sorry to witchy for not playing the buy in at gr88 after winning in the free roll.....took 3rd. i simply forgot about having won any money in that game. circumstances i wont go into here. 

now as far as the issue of free rolls and the winnings being used to play buy in's. here is the skinny as i have met up with it.   did yah know this is the first time i have heard that it is a issue. well it is true, and i am no jackie come lately to the forum scene.
                                   
                                            my personal thought 
[it may just be in the forums interest to let people know about this. yep i would think so. after all people can't be loyal to a cause or obligation if they are unaware of it. but then i could be wrong.]


now as far as which approach is better, i am thinking (smell the smoke! lil jk) that #1 is just not gonna help things at all.
but perhaps a combination of 2 and 3 would serve the forum and the players new and old best.

so here is my take  (dont laugh this takes alot for me to step out here). lower the the first fr game to the five dollars or what ever, and give a coupon to all the players present at this game ( no sitouts).  for the next free roll and include a buyin option as well. kinda like the step game programs. include the rebuy option in the later games like crazy mentioned. to help weed out the bad beat luckers. and continue to increase the amount of the pool and reduce the number of coupons given out for the next game. and so on. 

well that is me in a nutty butty shell.  and thanks to those that cleared their throats instead of laughing it really did help.


peace  asz



and ps. really i am so sorry witchy if i peeved you for not playing that gr88 game and making that stupid shout out.  you too bucaroo  sorry

I love the freerolls with 10-20 people in them, you have a better chance of winning. I first owned a computer about 5 years ago and started to play just for fun...then joined forums and started to play fr's when I won some, i started to play the buy-ins

I have moved up the ladder just like you all have hoped for, playing regularly (the fr's and the buy-ins)

when i finally started to play bigger buy-ins and winner bigger prize amounts, well then bamm-i could not get my winning off the site-everything was just to much of a hassle-no CC-so used pre paid CC-then that changed to another CC, then do this  n do that, like omg-waited weeks for my money, then when the alloted time is up they come up with another reason why i didn't get it
I went on a temper tantrum , every site i had money on I went and pissed it all away, and have not deposited anywhere in over 2 months now
I miss playing poker, but I don't know where to deposit and play, to be sure I can get my money when I am ready to cash out
and really for me if im gonna be involved in a forum 2, 3 diff sites max from now on, not putting my money all over the place-i suggest you find some really good sites that pay there players when they win-I think that is the key to success, just way too many sites to keep up with-like why would i want to win $1 here n there? if it was only a few sites we played on that would be better and easier for the forum to build players not running all over like chickens with are heads cut off