[The Ronin]

I am surprised and very pleased to see a reply. You have addressed the major points, and not tried to skirt the issues. For that, I thank you.

We process cashouts at least once a week and most of our customers are very satisfied with this time frame. When there are issues with cashouts it is usually over the W9 - either we haven't received it or we received it incomplete or unsigned. As a US corporation bound by US laws we are required to follow this procedure. As with any business, there are occasional miscues. And there are sometimes issues that I won't go into on a public forum. But by and large there is no problem with cashouts.

Ok, I could be satisfied with that structure, and hopefully soon I will be making a cashout. Is the W9 needed for total withdraws under the $600.00 mark? Or are they needed for any withdraw?

Also in the PM and email I sent you, I directed your attention to the forum run by duplicate poker, where there is a long outstanding complaint of a no pay/no communicate. It would probably help matters some, if your forum was more closely moderated, and issues posted there had clear rapid responses from knowledgeable reps.

You have to look at things from the prospective of a current or future player. Everyone knows that nothing is perfect. So we do expect to see problems from time-to-time, but these problems legitimate or otherwise, should be addressed. Especially in your own forum.

A close second in importance, in my opinion, is customer support, and on this count we can only plead guilty. I have spent the last week helping catch up with the backlog, and from this point on, I will stay fully involved in bringing our customer support up to the level our customers deserve. And this is not idle talk. As long as I stay involved with this company my number one objective will be to elevate customer support.

That statement is the most important and refreshing thing you could have said. Most likely you will keep me as a player for a very long time, if you live up to your words. I have little doubt you will.

In my opinion, it takes a strong sense of customer service to admit you are wrong, and more importantly to lay out a plan of action to correct that wrong. You strike me as a hands on manager, who is willing to get involved to affect change for the better. Thank you. and I hope we can establish a long term relationship as your site and concept continue to grow.

Next, and it would rank higher if I believed it true, is the contention that leaving the table without "sitting out" will cause your bankroll to be depleted. I know of a case or two where the funds on the table somehow stayed at the table, which is clearly a bug that needs to be fixed, but I have never seen a complaint of a bankroll being "blinded off" after the player leaves the table. I'm a firm believer that anything is possible, but I have to believe we would be inundated with complaints if that were happening. I will take this to the tech team.

It is not a contention, it is a fact. If you click leave table, your bankroll that you sat down with at that seat, either up or down, still plays. I learned this the hard way. After I made my initial deposit, I clicked around trying to find a game. Once I found one, I started to play. I got up from the table by clicking "leave table" and left the room where my computer is. I was in the bathroom, and heard "Dealing the next hand" Needless to say, I raced back to the computer and saw I had just folded. I have tried this several times, just to verify it does indeed happen. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, it does.

To directly address this statement:

I have never seen a complaint of a bankroll being "blinded off" after the player leaves the table

From my limited amount of play, I have rarely seen people bring more then $5-$10.00 to the ring games. It is entirely possible that they are leaving the games, without clicking the "sit out next hand" button, logging off the site, and not realizing they are still getting action. I tried this exact scenario, and it does indeed happen. I left the table, logged off the site, closed my internet connection, reconnected and logged back into the site, and saw I had folded several hands. It is possible that the issue has been corrected since I have done this. It is also possible, that the amount of ring players is so small, that the issue has gone unnoticed.

As for the tournament payouts, I have seen a few complaints on the payout formulas, for the most part I'm not a big fan of them myself, but I haven't seen any evidence that the payouts don't match the formulas (other than a few ill-advised satellites and freerolls that won't be repeated), nor has our QA tester. While I believe that the 'The Ronin' has done a fair and mostly objective job of reviewing our site, I think all would have been better served in this instance had he provided concrete examples rather than impugn our honesty. I will take this too to the tech team.

I tried to be clear on my analysis of this issue. If it even is an issue. I said:

I have won several of their tournaments, and not won what the payout structure said was to be paid for 1st place. Again, I have no idea why, perhaps it is something I am missing with the variation of the game.

The payout formula is different and it is based upon several factors. If it is possible to change the payout structure during the course of the tournament, then fine, but I think this should be disclosed up front. As for examples, I don't know how to take screen shots, I will learn and email you examples. You tech team should be able to check payout histories and quickly find this.

I think all would have been better served in this instance had he provided concrete examples rather than impugn our honesty.

You are correct. I should have used a better phrase then questioning honesty, and I apologize. I am human, and I make mistakes

We have had discussions on hiring props, and we are leaning that way. No decision yet though.

By and large, you will find most poker players do not mind playing against prop players. We know props play with their own bankroll, are skilled players as a result, and offer much tighter action then a free roll winner looking to clear the roll over requirements to cash out. We understand the need for these players, and for the most part, welcome their action. Since all money is good money at the table!

Bots on the other hand, they are nameless faceless creatures, that are the epitome of everything that is bad with internet poker. Harsh, but for those of us that have played poker online for years, you will be hard pressed to find dissension to that opinion.

If the kinks are worked out, and you continue to address the issues like you have here, I would be willing to prop for your site. Like I said, the concept it interesting, the game is fun. You just have some kinks to work out. No this is not a pitch for a job either. Duplicate poker grows on you after you play there for awhile, and I am extremely pleased to see an aggressive approach to legitimate customer issues.

Lastly, the question of Duplicate Poker as a "skill game". What we have done is remove the "luck of the draw" from the game of poker. Now you can catch rags all day and still win, even if you're not Eskimo or Gus Hansen. As suggested, the skill set may not be what you expected, but without the "luck of the draw", what else can it be but skill?

I have played in enough tournaments to say that skill CAN be a factor. I have developed a certain strategy, that is useful against certain players. That said, and I know you are sick of the Bot lecture, this scenario says skill isn't an issue:

Me vs. Big John. Ring game, 1 mirror each:

I have Pocket kings on the small blind. I raise to 3 times the Big Blind. Big John folds, like he almost always does, but my mirror gets a call from Texas Boyle.

Because of an ace on the flop, they both check. Turn is a King, my mirror bets the pot, Tex calls, like he usually does no matter what he has, and the river is a blank. My mirror goes all in, Tex calls, and my mirror wins. I lose, simply because the Bot refused to call pre-flop. Even though I won the hand, against the table I played on, I lose money because the loose bot calls with anything! Is that skill? Or is that luck of the bot?

I have seen players fold every single hand during a tournament, and still manage to win. They didn't play at all, didn't win any chips, and somehow still manage to win or at least advance to the second round. It is frustrating to play at tables like this, especially when you have 5 mirrors, who at least some of them are getting action. You can outplay, bluff and or have the best hand, but if you are not getting action, you will lose.

For now, I am willing to agree to disagree with the skill based scenario. At least until you get more players. Which you will, if you continue to offer rapid response to issues, like you did here.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my review. I hope we will chat again.