Hey TiltTheTilt, thanks.
1. We will be staying with Merge indefinitely, and we will change and grow as Merge does as well. I can't say enough good things about Merge management themselves from the programmers to the executives, just a really enjoyable business relationship and I think what makes it work is that we are committed to growing with each other.

2. Actually for us, we're likely to have the least amount of changes case when I designed the entire structure of the brand and promotions I had no idea how the hell rakeback fit into the industry structure because I was never exposed to that when I was a PS. I mean even if you asked a country manager from PS what is a rakerace or a hardcore PS players, they may look at you and say, 'huh?'; so I had actually spent the last 2 months trying to figure out how to accommodate rakeback into our site and now that I kinda figured it all out, I don't need to anymore. But now I don't feel like a noob rb model business noob any longer. So short answer, our model was never dependent upon rakeback to work, thus the focus on our brand position and our overly complex but elegantly simple (in my opinion only I guess) VIP system.

Correcto, you must play some type of nerdy games like me.

Sounds good. I'm really hoping you are able to market your site to a billion donks in Asia and get them on Merge.

Do points earn at 65% if you have rakeback, as they do on Carbon?

I sent that part in PM, since that doesn't show up on the VIP page. I would presume yes.

Right now I am playing on RPM. I know there is a 60 day period of inactivity needed to switch rakeback between skins, but since this is not a rakeback model on Hero, would we get all benefits right away or would there be a similar 60 period where certain rewards are limited or unavailable?

Also, cant wait for those upgrades to the software. If it does turn out to be similar to Stars 2008, I will be verrrryyyy happy!

This is exactly the point, and the thing is, we are not in competition with each other, so even my points with 'robhimself' was basically, this is out of my hands. I may be CEO of Hero, but I am not the CEO of Merge and I have no rights to other players on the network as they also do not Hero's players, or else, exactly what would happen as MircoBob states-basically mass player migration per promotional event.

I just want to be clear about 1 point. Inherently as a network site, most of the technical innovation and benefits from scale (bigger tournament guarantees) are fundamental the same across each site. And, if you already have RB on another site, YOU WILL NOT FEEL A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE ON HERO- because with Rackeback you will only earn VIP points at a reduced rate of 65% at the other network sites or 20% at Hero (our is lower because we actually have a VIP program that tries to give an average of 20%-30% when calculating the divisional levels as a whole.) Whereas at another site you may just get 6.5% additional by exchanging the VIP points for cash because there is no VIP system other than getting VIP points and converting them to cash at 6.5% equivalent rakeback.

So the only major difference is, you get to communicate, not with a site rep, but with the CEO and as a boutique site, our objective is not to grow at the expense of quality service. But to be honest, we are still defining that as well.

Please do not misunderstand that I don't want you to come over to Hero, but
1. It would not be professional or appropriate for Hero to sign up players from other sites on our network who have invested in acquiring you
2. We will all still benefit from the shared liquidity
&
3. It is really out of my hands anyway as being CEO of Hero, not Merge but I respect all the other network sites who have been on this network far longer than me and who have contributed to this point. From what I've heard, Carbon, Lock & RPM are all good solid network sites.

So because VIP points are reduced so much if you have rakeback, having/not having rakeback doesn't make nearly as big of a difference as other sites/skins?

"Corwin 'Mig.com' Mackey"

lol, I wish there was an award for stupidest nickname ever

I had a couple of questions..I opened an account on both RPM and Carbon but was unable to deposit on either site..i linked my profiles to DragTheBar and was emailed that I couldn't get RB on Carbon because I was linked to another skin I guess, I used to play on Gr88 but that was months ago..so
#1 - I was wondering if I open an account on Hero will I be able to get RB? What promotions are you offering for first time deposits, do you have any agreement with training sites?
#2 - I am interested how you guys will be going about advertising to increase traffic on your site, I am a US player and since I doubt you will be doing any advertising here any time soon, will you be advertising abroad? TV? Internet?

What about deposits and withdrawals? I believe that sites need to stay away from electronic funds transfers, as they are domestic and require coding( I think I am posting correct information). A lot of people get on here and type things like, " I used xx method and the money was in my account in 3 days". Then when that processor is shut down, the same people bitch and moan because it takes a month to get their money.


Personally, I don't care which method I use as long as it is consistent. If I routinely get paper checks in two weeks, that's fine, it is something I can depend on. But when something happens and then it takes a month or two, it messes me up. Also, if a bank account has been closed, a warning e-mail would be nice to prevent a check bouncing.

I also believe that sites need to attract the casual player, who are really the ones that drive a site, because everyone can't win. Currently, the easiest way to deposit money is Western Union. I believe that sites need to offer to pay at least half of WU deposit fees to attract the casual player. Rakeback and other promotions are fine, but does the casual player really understand that you will receive $.06 for every VIP in rake up to $500, blah, blah ,blah. No. Hell, I've been playing online for over eight years, and I don't fully understand it all.

So yeah, it's all good for the penny-pinching regs, but there needs to be something simple for the casual player. Promotion- " Deposit now using Western Union and we will pay one half of your deposit fee. $100 + $12 fee and you will receive $106 in your poker account."

what sort of promotions will there be in the near future?

quick questions to clarify about rakeback..

1) Will rakeback offers will end June 1?

2) Will Ppl who sign-up for rakeback before June 1 are locked in after June 1?

3) Do rakeback players still participate in the VIP system (I imagine if so VIP rewards are reduced)?

Thanks

He answered all of these above.

1) As far as he knows the ending rakeback is just a discussion right now.

2.) Refer to 1

3.) You only earn 20% VIP points with rakeback on Hero.

Done, cheers,
Dave

The plan is in motion, but I'm banning all nits short stackers from Asia, just need 2 years and show you what's up. =)

I just want a clarification on the instant cash/cash rebate thing. Say I'm working my way through the 50-99 level (Barbarian), do I get a $10 Instant Cash bonuse for each level meaning $500 when I've gone through all of these or do I just get one $10 instant cash bonus?

I agree with most of what you've written except the last line, if you deposit with Hero and let me know that you did via Western Union and you deposited $100 or more, I'll credit the entire $12 transaction fee to your account.

If a boutique site can't at least do that for our player that has to physically go to a location and fill out a form and lose 12% then gtf outta here to that. I'd fire myself if I didn't at least provide that service. And until I get complains from the network, that is what I'm doing now. PM if you ever make a WU transfer for over $100.

In the very near future there is that 30k plus 30k freeroll for US players, and then after WSOP is settled down, we're probably going to have our own packaged live tournament in September, but I'm still negotiating with a couple of casinos on that. Oh, and it would be in Asia. But the main thing would be to get everything sorted with our VIP system and start doing regular and random promotions, see my post on the rewards 'boutique part.

Thanks-

thanks for setting it up for me:
1. discussion, but likely so after everyone jumped the gun on it.
2. if it does happen, no more rakeback for anyone on the planet from Merge after June 1st but those who have it can keep it.
3. Yup, other sites, 65% but us 20% but I believe most other sites don't actually do anything with their VIP points except for exchanging them. But that isn't all sites just some. But any case, overall with the more mainstream promotions that I will continue to do, it should work about to be comparable across the board.

So when you hit level 50, you get the divisional bonus, just once and thats it, otherwise you just keep getting the tournaments tickets for each level.

Next divisional level award at the next class: so 50, 100, 150, 200, 250

The 300 level will have a reoccurring bonus that is triggered by the same VIP point requirement each time. Our equivalent to the supernova elite, but the final calculations are in the works for next week's revamp of the VIP system.

This really sounds great, IMO.

I also agree with Dstock.

I would like to add that you can get 50% off if you sign up to WU online but what I really think would help to bring in more recreational players is instructions to walk them through how to use the WU online site, right in the Cashier. A recreational player is less likely to deposit when they realize they have to go to WU and buy it and then ship it to someone in another country.

It should have detailed instructions including links to go directly to the WU store, and be as simple as possible. If done right, a recreational player could be online playing within 20 min of downloading the Poker Client. Thats huge to the entire Network and definitely to your skin! Obviously, the more recreational players that there are, the grinders will follow.

HeroCEO,

Do you use the Merge Cashier? I was thinking that you may have hinted at that in one of your earlier posts. Sorry if you did say it and I misunderstood.

Ahn young ha sae yo. As a Korean American, I am rooting for you! Were you rooting for Joseph Cheong on his FT ME run? Also I have a serious question, can we get rakeback through an affiliate ie. Raketherake and get rake chases/races to go with it?

This may have been answered before, but could you please dedicate a post to withdrawals? I think this is the biggest concern right now, not getting money on the site (many of us have already figured this part out). I am not asking in the case of a government crackdown but rather under the current circumstances.

Can players expect to be able to withdraw money? What methods are available? how long will it take? has it been done since black Friday?

Basically, I would love to get money on and start playing but I also want some sort of reassurance that I am not wasting my time.

this