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Originally Posted by SantaCruz
The real question is whether Rec players can beat the game. I think that there is little question that they can't.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that rec players can't beat any game format. Which really makes this sort of a moot point and not the real question imo. Although a better point here would be not that rec players stand to lose at this format, but rather that they stand to lose more quickly vs other formats (probably).
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Recreational players are attracted to these games by the prospect of winning the big spin.
Yes, this is the point. So some of the real questions here imo are:
Q: Will these draw new players to the network?
A: Almost certainly yes, to what extent is unknown.
Q: Will the rec players drawn to the jackpot prospect burn out their rec money in them?
A: Sure, some % that is not zero will. But I think it's fair to say many won't. They'll find they don't like the format for whatever reason, or they enjoy other formats of poker too (the latter most likely), and their play will bleed over to MTT's, SNG's, and cash games.
Q: Will these kill off the WPN economy?
A: I think the answer is no. We can debate this until we're blue in the keyboard but the truth is this remains to be seen. That being said, these have not killed the poker economies where they are already in play, and the CEO (who has more info than any of us do) and his team don't think it will kill the network economy since they are rolling them out.
I don't know if this will be good or bad for wpn, none of us do. But what I do know is that it's almost certain to attract new players, especially rec players, and once they have their foot in the door, some of them are going to decide they like the decor and stick around, spilling over to cash games and mtt's. That seems like a step in the right direction. If these games burn off rolls faster than they bring in new sustained rec players, then it won't work in the end, but that doesn't seem to be the case on other sites who have them so I think it's reasonable of WPN to roll the dice on them.
(PS- I agree with everyone else the rake on these is brutal, it seems like WPN just went with the industry standard here, but maybe they can/should do a bit better tbh... would make for a good marketing angle too... first US facing site to offer this format AND with the best rake in the entire industry! Maybe with that tag line WPN attracts some business from other sites with these.
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