[scrawnybob]

hi all

good thread - I think its been discuss a bit before (or I posted the whys and wherefor's of freerolls etc)

but I guess its worth me adding in the admin / business / running / organising side of things ...

Quote ... Freerolls are to important for any forum, they generate more and more members, which means more games which means "More" members.

Yes and No ... Good members we want ... but no point in getting 100's of members who dont follow the rules ... also more members does NOT mean more games (see below)


The forum is made up of probably 3 or 4 types of member (maybe more) ...

Please bear in mind ALL members from whatever background ARE welcome here so long as they follow our rules (10+ decent posts for passwords etc)

a) diehard freerollers who join all forums to only play freerolls at sites they are already signed up to ... and wont signup ir try any new sites via our links (for freerolls even)

this group also have a sub section (password sharers / posters who are NOT WELCOME)

b) players (either freerollers or real money) who join our forum to play freerolls / buy-ins at sites they already play ... but also see other sites we review and have games at ... and then signup to these new sites via our links (helps the site add more games)

There are several positive ways members and new members can add to the forum ...

By posting and being active etc and / or signing up to new sites (for the freerolls, buy-ins or just because they discovered a new site they want to play at via our reviews)

BUT "more and more members" DOESNT mean more games - the league games and tournaments have to (for the most part) be paid for by me (one way or another)

so more members / freerollers / existing players at sites (who dont signup to sites via our links) doesnt mean we can have more games automatically

this is exactly why we have a posting requirement - so members have to make a contribution in kind (posting useful stuff) in the forum

The number of games I setup in the leagues and the prize money etc is linked NOT to the overall number of members but to the signups via our links to sites - the more of those we get ... mostly this comes from visitors to our reviews rather than forum members ... the more I plough back into giving all our members tournaments they can play in

Ok so back to the question ... Stop the freerolls & make them all buy-ins

I want to keep running the freerolls at most of the sites we have leagues for a couple of reasons ...

a) so members who are diehard freerollers (but that make great posts and contribute to the forum) can play in our leagues regardless of whether they add to the bottom line ... the site has to have a business footing but the forum is about a community within the overall 4kingpoker site and I dont want to exclude anyone

b) so people can try new sites for free and maybe like them / maybe not ... its a free chance to play & win ... and also this may get a few real money players (for which we get a small commission from the room (not the players)

I dont want to run the freerolls at Full Tilt Poker & PokerStars anymore because ...

a) Most people know these sites, play these sites already and should by now either have a bankroll either by depositing or if you have the patience (I dont) to have freerolled up to a few bucks

b) I'm tired of our freeroll games at the biggest two most popular sites being a magnet top freeroll password junkies - who have no interest in our forum, dont follow the rules and make the place untidy and make the experience less enjoyable for members who do follow the rules.

It's all about balance -

I dont want to throw the baby out with the bath water but freerolls can be both a good way for us to gain new players at new sites (which ultimately could increase our tournament budgets when a percentage of those signups deposit - we get a bit of commission) and also a free game that no one is excluded from

What I am NOT interested in is growing the forum to an articifically high figure of "members" who dont post or take part beyond wanting freeroll passwords for the one site they play or post 10 bits of junk for passwords -

We definately want more and more GOOD members - that doesnt have to mean only being interested in how many signing up to sites via our links ... it means GOOD members for the forum with active posting / taking part etc

cheers scrawnybob