DEBATE RAGES AROUND NEW ONLINE POKER SITE

4 January 2008

T6 getting a lot of publicity - not all of it good


The 31 year old Danish entrepreneur behind recently launched online poker site T6 Poker.com, Torben Hübertz, is making waves in the industry with his multi-level marketing approach to promotional funding, questions regarding past enterprises and a software switch barely a month after launching in Beta on December 2.

Hübertz has a lot to live up to, having promised in a Poker News interview: "We have Euro 3 million in guaranteed tournaments every month, including our six-handed PLO Omaha tournament every Sunday, which carries a Euro 50 000 guarantee with a buy-in of only Euro 55. We also have a Euro 250 000 guaranteed every Sunday night. This is a no-limit hold'em tournament with a Euro 165 buy-in. We also will have Euro 10 000, 20 000, and 30 000 guaranteed tournaments daily, all with a Euro 55 buy-in."

According to mesage board claims, Scandinavia and Germany were targeted in fund-raising efforts for T6, with ambitious claims in the prospectus of a planned marketing budget of Euro 15 million (larger, it claimed, than Coca-Cola in Scandinavia for the period) There would be TV- and radio-ads "at the end of the (2007) year". That has not yet been seen, apart from some ads in poker magazines.

According to the business prospectus, 250 000 players from other (unspecified) poker sites would be brought over to T6 from January 1st 2008.

Funding these extensive operational expenses is a promotional scheme in which T6poker.com offers marketing and promotional affiliates a share in the financial distribution of 63 percent of all profits realised from the rake at T6poker.com. The partners first invest Euro 665...and apparently the plan is to recruit 40 000 such investors.

Hubertz counters criticism by claiming that: "We have a budget for advertising and guaranteed tournaments much higher than most other sites. We have done, so far, 200 fully branded taxis in Scandinavia with T6 Poker. We also have about 600 full-page ads in almost all poker magazines and newspapers throughout Europe.

"We will also build a big team of pro poker players that will be playing at the big live tournaments all over the world, and we have teamed up with an (unspecified) affiliate marketing company that has 10 000-15 000 people that will help us find customers also."

T6, registered in Costa Rica and rather obscurely licensed by Moravia, got off to a rocky start on December 2, offering its games through a Rapidshare link and running into alleged bandwidth problems that caused tournament cancellations and extensive negative commentary.

In fairness, the reaction to the debacle was fast, featuring a switch to the Cyberarts poker software platform in time for operational targets of January 2 to be met.

Tony Guoga, the well respected pro player and an endorser of the T6 project, remains confident in the ability of T6 to live up to his standards for the one year he has signed with the project, and used his blog this week to defend it. Guoga claimed that allegations of anonymous ownership and questionable background were attempts to "shred" the site and that he has seen no evidence of any player scammed by the nascent T6.

Responses were more sceptical, with accusations that the alleged predecessor of Hübertz's 1 oz group.com company, AlistonPrice was on a warning list from the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) and the Belize International Financial Services Commission but changed its name in November-December 2007 to 1oz Group.

Information from Hubertz's sites indicates that T6poker.com is owned by the Danish entrepreneur and businessman, who is also a major shareholder in a number of successful (unspecified) international companies. "Torben’s skilled business background and unique experiences have led him to invest in companies with such diverse services as Online Entertainment, Online Security, Professional Services and the Wellness Industry," the background information claims.

In an interview with Poker News, Hubertz was a little more expansive, if not specific, saying: "I worked several years in the insurance industry as an insurance advisor. I have always been an entrepreneur. I have several businesses within the IT sector - development, security, design, etc…".

Apparently the entrepreneur has "...assembled a group of experts in the field of online poker who have created a unique, high-quality online poker experience unlike any other available today. T6poker.com offers European poker enthusiasts industry-leading services and the opportunity to pit their skills against players from their own countries as well as thousands of others from around the world who take part in T6poker’s daily tournaments."

Explaining the switch to Cyberarts software, Hubertz said: “We are very serious about creating one of the premier independent online poker sites in the world. To do this, we must have the best. Despite all the testing of our present software, now that we have implemented it, we have found it to be inadequate for the number of players we anticipate.

"We need a customizable software powerhouse that will handle larger numbers of players with impeccable stability and allow us to rapidly develop new features. After an extensive search, we have decided to go with the CyberArts Foundation gaming software platform. This will allow us to have the world’s most advanced gaming software for T6poker and our players.”

Hubertz appears to have ambitions beyond being an operator, too - apparently offering white label turnkey poker operations when he says: "With our new powerful software capabilities, we will also be able to offer white label poker rooms to serious companies. From a marketing perspective this will make us very competitive with industry leaders as we will be able to offer state-of-the-art branded poker solutions. It will give us the possibility to build a strong brand with our affiliates and partners.”

CyberArts chairman Ken Arnold buys into the concept, saying: "We're honored to have been chosen as T6's exclusive software provider. T6 is aggressively building one of the biggest pools of poker players in online gaming history."

The unusual branding for the new venue comes from Hubertz's love of aggressive tournament poker - all tourneys are 6-handed at the site. And he has played in two World Series of Poker Main Events, without success but gaining experience.

WhoIs Search Results on Torben Hubertz Knudsen identify a company called TSIX Poker Corp. S.A.. 5072702970 Phone. 5072702689 Fax. The Belvedere Park, Suite 900. Panama City, Panama 7159.

One poster responding on the TonyG blog made the unsubstantiated allegation that: "The same group of people that is behind this project was involved in something that was called World Games Inc or WGI with a lot of disappointed investors".

Time will inevitably tell whether T6 Poker and its youthful owner are on the up-and-up; one thing is certain - its advent for real money play this week is getting plenty of exposure!

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa