Tell me about signups pls

[addz123]

I want to understand the mentality or system of a player who takes the time to sign up to a poker room, but doesnt deposit. As a player, i only ever signed up to poker rooms my friend told me to, so i'm not sure i can use my own experience. (i.e every poker room i igned up to i deposited).

I would like to know, when a player signs up to a room, does that mean he's intends to play there and deposit, but if he doesnt like the software he won't? My point here is, if someone takes the time to sign up to a room and fill out all the forms, it will take something quite bad to make him decide not to deposit there and have wasted his time.

Does a player who signs up to a poker room, potentially only become a real money player when he has the money (hence when he signs up he will eventually deposit, and players who sign up without money are the ones that we dislike?). Do you consider a signed-up player dead if he hasnt deposit within something like 2 weeks? (this isn't a reference to full tilt 60 days rules or anythinhg, just wondering if you have noticed players who deposited months ago suddenly decide to deposit).

Do players tend to sign up to lots of different rooms for fun?

Lastly, is there much value in a bunch of players who sign up to a poker room but don't deposit (i.e. is there any lifetime value? do promotions from poker rooms occassionally make these players deposit?).

As i say, when i was a player i never signed up to a room unless i had intentions of playing there for money. So the whole prinicple of 30% or whatever you want to call it conversions of signups to real money players is something i need to understand better to improve myself in this business.

ch33rs

[Unknown Webmaster]

Many poker rooms will do all sorts of annoying things in order to get you to create an account, so I would expect that a lot of players, who just downloaded the software to see how it all works and what kind of games are running, get "tricked" into creating an account.

[ramchip]

Many sign up to play freerolls etc.

[CK]

I would like to know, when a player signs up to a room, does that mean he's intends to play there and deposit, but if he doesnt like the software he won't? My point here is, if someone takes the time to sign up to a room and fill out all the forms, it will take something quite bad to make him decide not to deposit there and have wasted his time.

Lots of things play a role.

Was your review honest or did you manipulate it to gain the interest of the reader?

Possibly the player downloaded and signed up but had no interest in making a deposit

The player could have downloaded and signed up only to realize their CC doesn't work, or the poker room doesn't support a payment method that works for them.

The player could have been harrassed by customer support to deposit. Although this happens more often in casinos, there are a few brands in the poker world that take the bombared the user approach.

The player may dislike the games

The player may not be able to find a game - as some networks don't have the traffic to support a wide mix 24/7

There are so many reasons why someone might download and register but decide not to deposit.

[addaminsane]

my first experience was signing up for Absolute Poker's College Tuition Tourney freerolls which i thought sounded like alot of fun.

i've pretty much exclusively played there ever since when i do play.

Everyone is different, not everyone ends up at pokerstars or fulltilt playing regularly just because of search engine and television dominance. Some people stay fairly loyal to the first place they feel comfortable.

i have played a bit at full tilt and poker stars, but i think the competition at absolute and also my vip status has kept me there

i also don't feel like verifying and sending in my id to a ton of rooms, i don't think i ever did at absolute...probably just because i've been a member there who's sparatically played mid level sngs off and on since 04 with one decent MTT cash

[Planet Mark]

Interesting question Addz.

Here is another way of asking the same question... of the 100's of millions of people who use computers to play games just for fun each day - what distinguises the small sub-set who choose to play for money?

My first poker experience was with Yahoo poker many years ago - just to relax, I was aware poker could be played for profit etc but had enough money anyway and so did not really care. Create a list from here which includes millions++ of kids, people who would not trust cash on the internet, those who think real money poker games are rigged, freeroll whores and so on... and that is before we even get to those who are potential money players just having a look around. My feeling is though that for a good number of signups poker is just another fun game and risking cash was never an option in the first place!

Just my 2 HUF

Mark

[TheGooner]

Freerolls would be a big factor I'd expect - especially if your preview features them.

I signed up to several places early on (2005, 2006) to play in the daily $1000 freerolls that were on offer ... as it was an early interest and I knew that my poker knowledge was close to non-existant.

One of my favourite places had monied free-rolls (from $20 to $100) kicking off a dozen times a day, and a turbo level so that the tourney would be around 100 entrants and take only about an hour to complete.

Perfect for the short newbie attention span and at no cost !!

Later as I learned some basi strategy on my signups would usually be a quick deposit - as long as the program lived up to my expectations in terms of ease of use. If there were any problems at all - I would not try to hard to fix the issue - simply move on.

Players may also have deposit problems / jurisdiction issues with a program these days - especially US players.

[Giorgio]

Players from a free poker type of site will have a much lower conversion rate than players from a poker bonus type of site, but even free poker converts, and better yet, it is possible to attract pretty big players with free poker too.

Don't be surprised if a player becomes active 2 years later. He might have played, somewhere else in the mean time, and becomes active on your account when he's already able to be generating a decent amount of rake.

[CasinoKev]

Interesting question for sure.

I had a friend tell me about Party Poker. But at the same time, he had me watching Rounders and the WSOP. So, I started off wanting to be a good poker player. I signed up for a free account to learn the basics while I read strategy articles and books.

I think a lot of people sign up because they've heard about it from a friend or have seen it on T.V.

I would guess that many get frustrated with the free games (everybody all in every hand), and decide that there is no skill involved or that it's just not for them.

Do players tend to sign up to lots of different rooms for fun?

I played at Party exclusively until I learned about bonus whoring. Then I downloaded every poker site I could find. I think most players are happy to stick to one, unless there's a reason to switch (ie. bonuses, rakeback, more game availability, etc).

[Stephen]

It is not only poker, but also online casinos that have this issue. People enjoy playing for free online.

I know a couple who are well off and obsessed by poker. They go and play it 2-3 times a week, and she watches all the shows on TV and "even plays online" She'd never deposit though, she only ever plays for free. Not a financial decision on their part, she just would never consider depositing in an online poker room.

I think that is a lot of people in general. Some may grow to trust the rooms, or get bored enough to deposit, but the vast majority do not change.

Stephen