So many questions, so little time...

We only discussed Essence as it is only cash games where Beftair/Ongame are manipulating rakeback to in their words "protect the poker ecosystem" so this has no bearing on STTS/MTTS.

I am simply the messenger, I in no way, shape, or form am suggesting I agree with anything that was said.

Not all players are on Rakeback, but if they arent they will be on the post switch equivalent which is Players Club, so EVERY player is getting some form of return on their rake.

Why does it cost Betfiar to introduce new sports bettors into the poker player pool ? The company has historically offered financial incentives to its exchange customers to try other products such as casino and poker. New players will get promos such as free bets, freerolls and obviously the sign up bonus on top of their players club benefits to encourage them to play. This is standard across the industry, and of course it works both ways with poker players often getting promos and free bets to sports bet. Only last month they ran the footie voucher promo which was 6 freerolls for anyone generating one poker point a wekk with 50 x 100 dollar sports kit vouchers to be won. Again a big promo aimed at the sports punters.

Betfair openly admits the majority of their customers are recreational punters/ poker players, I suspect the majority lose money to the professional exchange players and poker players. The problem BF was having was that new players were losing so quickly to pro players on 40%+ rakeback deals that they werent even clearing their sign up bonus, so they were essentially paying exchange punters to go and lose to pro poker players who would then withdraw the winnings, and giving those pro players cracking rakeback to boot.

I dont think BF want to discourage pro players or winning players, they simply want to level the plaing field slightly, so that the new players clear more of their sign up bonus, generate more players club benefits, and actually stick around longer to learn how to play a bit. They argue this benefits everyone, because although these new players will mostly still lose, some will get better, and hopefully the majority will last beyond their first couple of sessions because they are getting some enjoyment out of it while clearing sign up bonus and picking up player points. The benefit for the good players is that wheras the newbies may have lost heavily in one session previously, and quit, they now stick around a bit longer. 

The evidence they claim to have suggests retention rates for new players are much higher under essence than they were previously and they seem to accept that while this may cause a few of the old timers to leave its a price worth paying if it means the tables are busy and the player pool is growing.

There's absolutely nothing there to suggest the Ongame comments go beyond them saying they are giving more rakeback to poor players in cash games who play way too many  pots.

Anyone who thinks the decks are r133ed ...what can you say ? If that's what you  believe then IMHO you are away with the fairies, but in any case the simple answer would be dont play. Nobody is forcing you to, and indeed if you think it's bent but play regardless you clearly are crazy.

I made no secret of the fact myself, gnash and windings, thought a certain game on here wasn't being played in ...ahem....the true spirit of the game earlier in the year, and I stopped playing.

In the 4 months May-Aug inclusive I got a total of just under £60 in rakeback from BF, compared to just over £1200 from the same period last year, and I only generated that largely to keep Masters status to get my WSOP 6 shooter tickets.

Im playing a bit more on here at the moment, but I cant see myself ever just playing the one site again. You have to shop around these days to look for an edge.

now a 3 outter..and u know for a FACT that its coming