VIP Poker Promo's = Bullshit

This is my blog and I feel like posting a rant.

I downloaded VIP Poker a week or so ago b/c the BPT is having some events there. Well It turns out they are one of hte main sponsors of the tour this year.

I would first like to say that I dont hold anything against the guys at BLUFF, IMHO they are great and I have seen them go above and beyond to help the forum members, subscribers, and players.

Anyway it is pretty custom in the world of online poker if you dont deposit after a few days they will send you an email offering some sort of deposit bonus. I have received all kinds of these offers in the past and they are usually a little better than the "standard bonus".

Anyway I recieved the following email from VIP (note all of my emails are posted verbatim)

Dear Jerry,

I will match your first deposit up to $100.
NBA season is here and this will get you started off right at VIPpoker.

Simply make the deposit and reply to this email so I can issue the bonus cash to your account.

We have different deposit options from which Instant check and Neteller are the preferred methods.

InstaCheck - http://info.vippoker.com/deposit_citadel.asp

Neteller - http://info.vippoker.com/deposit_neteller.asp


If you have any further questions feel free to contact us at anytime.

Regards,

Brian

VIPpoker Customer care

Telephone 1-800 769 5685
Fax 1-800 887 8691

customercare@vippoker.com
www.vippoker.com

I originally wasnt going to deposit more than the requirements for the BPT, but hought hey if they will match my deposit I would be happy to give there site a chance and play my ring games there. I usually liek to followup on the details of a promo like this before I make the deposit. There is usually a raked hand requirement of some sort prior to being eligible for a withdraw.

So I fired off the following email to them to see what the requirements are.

Brian,

thanks for the offer. Can you explain this bonus to me? would these
funds be available for wagering immediately, or is this a bonus that I
would have to "clear" to become available funds?

Thanks,

I was dissapointed when I received the following response.... GG brian (if there is even such a person)

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting us at VIPpoker.

The promotion that you have received indicates; once you make a deposit
in your Sports-book account that we will match that amount up to
$100.00.
This bonus is not automatically credited to your account. Please call in
or send us an e-mail to request the bonus.

Make a deposit, request your Match-play Bonus and your account will be
ready for use immediately.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us at anytime.

Kind Regards,

Shirvelle

VIPpoker free rolls

Telephone 1-800 769 5685
Fax 1-800 887 8691

freerolls@vippoker.com

So Whatever, its dissapointing and I thought their email was poorly worded, so I sent this email to them.

I was dissapointed to see that the offer below is for the sportsbook
and not the poker room. The email does not reference the sportsbook
at all. However the poker room is referenced 6 times in the email.

While I do enjoy betting on NFL games, it is currently the off season,
and I have no desire to wager on other events.

I would be inclined to take up a similar offer for the pokerroom, if
it were offered. Otherwise I will only be depositing the minimum
amount so that I can participate in a poker league event that is being
hosted at your site.

If you would like to offer me a pokerroom related promtion I would
happily consider participating,

Thanks.

Then they respond to me and say that I can infact have the bonus as a 100% match and available for immediate play. This how they responded. I assumed that they were probably only going to honor the promo b/c it was porrly worded and they realized their mistake. Kudos to them I thought, its nice of them to do the right thing.

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting VIPsports.com.

We apologize for the misunderstanding. Yes, indeed you can have the promotions in our sports book or poker room. It is a 100% matchplay bonus. In the sportsbook the requirements is 3 times rollover.
The poker rollover requirements is the following; You must accumulate 60 VIPpoker rewards points* for every bonus dollar issued before you are eligible to make a withdrawal from your account.

If you make a withdrawal prior to meeting these rollover requirements you will forfeit 100% of the bonus.

No time restrictions apply.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact us at anytime.

Regards,

Selvin

VIPsports Customer care

Telephone 1-800 769 5685
Fax 1-800 887 8691

customercare@vipsports.com
www.vipsports.com - Where the World Wagers


So I made a $100 deposit last night and sent them an email to claim my bonus. here is my email:

Thank you, I am writing to collect my 100% Match-play Bonus as
discussed below. I have deposited $100 into my poker count.

Well they sent me a respons that I thought maybe the indivdual who responded wasnt aware of or didnt read the string of email include in my response. Here is the response I received:

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting us at VIPpoker.

Welcome to VIPpoker and thank you for your deposit.

Once you transfer the $100 from your Sports-book account to your Poker
room,
you will automatically receive the 100% Match-play bonus.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact us at anytime.

Best regards,

Shirvelle

VIPpoker Customer care
Telephone 1-800 769 5685
Fax 1-800 887 8691

freeroll@vippoker.com

www.vippoker.com

I thought that this person just didnt read thru my emails so I fired off another email to clarify the situation:

I thought this match bonus was different than your standard bonus, and
would be available for play immediately, and that I just could not
withdraw prior to playing the required amount of hands.

Is this not correct. Is this how the bonus would work in the sportsbook?

I thought you extended me a special bonus because I registered for
your site through bluff magazine and the bluff poker tour.

per the response I recieved from Selvin, it seemed like a different
bonus. Please review his message below and/or foward my email to his
attention.

Thanks.,

No response so I shot them another email:

I am very dissapointed in the was this promotion was presented.

It was my understanding that upon depositing $100 I would be credited
an additional $100 to play with, and that prior to any withrdraw I
would have to rollover the funds. This however does not appear to be
the case.

You should have your sales and marketing department correct their
solicitation material.

I plan on withdrawing my funds from your site and with the exception
of the 3 bluff poker tour events you will be hosting, will not be
playing on your site in the future.

I have played all of the top poker sites, and never been presented
with such a smoke and mirrors type of bonus. Their are other sites out
there that offer a $100 match fo your first $100 deposit that is
available immediately, and then you are required to rollover the
money. For instance www.bodog.com/cp100 They too have a sportsbook,
and that is where I will continue to play.

Regards,

They sent me the following response:

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting VIPPoker.

On transferring money from your Sports account for the first time, you automatically received 100% Matchplay bonus.

On VIPPoker site it states:

How the Bonus Works:

Once you make your first deposit (transfer) to the VIPpoker cardroom, your bonus automatically becomes active and you start receiving credits towards the bonus for each real money raked hand you play.
Each time you earn 1000 credits, bonus money is released for you to redeem.

We are sorry that you were upset but we are one of the top Sports Book in the world and have a lot of Clients.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at any time.

Kind regards,

Philip

VIPpoker Customer care

Telephone 1-800 769 5685
Fax 1-800 887 8691
customercare@vippoker.com
www.vippoker.com

I thought this was a nice touch
We are sorry that you were upset but we are one of the top Sports Book in the world and have a lot of Clients. translation: We dont care if we lose you as a customer because we have plenty of other customers.

At this point I am pretty much disgusted with the experience and fire off this email:

Phillip, or whomever

refer to the email from one of your representatives below that states that I have to rollover $ not clear it at a rate of 60 points per $1 (equivalent to 600 points to $10, not 1000 points per $10).

This is the basis of my compliant. No worries, I have posted my complaint on several poker forums, and unless you follow thru on your offer, other players will know they should avoid your poker room.

Here is the email I received from your representative.

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for contacting VIPsports.com.

We apologize for the misunderstanding. Yes, indeed you can have the promotions in our sports book or poker room. It is a 100% matchplay bonus. In the sportsbook the requirements is 3 times rollover.
The poker rollover requirements is the following; You must accumulate 60 VIPpoker rewards points* for every bonus dollar issued before you are eligible to make a withdrawal from your account.

If you make a withdrawal prior to meeting these rollover requirements you will forfeit 100% of the bonus.

No time restrictions apply.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact us at anytime.

Regards,

Selvin

VIPsports Customer care

Telephone 1-800 769 5685
Fax 1-800 887 8691
customercare@vipsports.com
www.vipsports.com - Where the World Wagers

I posted my issue on the bluff magazine forum when a nother member was asking about deposit bonuses. I was surprised to see the pokerroom manager respond, but he didnt offer to do the right thing and give me the bonus, so I am not too surprised.

If you would like to see that thread here is a link.

Anyway in summary VIP Poker Promo's = Bullshit

On a related note:

the link I mention above to www.bodog.com/cp100 will give you $100 instant bonus on your first $100 deposit. NO BULLSHIT required. I did the promo when I signed up and it was available for play immediatey. You do have to play 250 raked hands before you can withdraw the bonus. but you dont lose it. BODOG has the best customer service of any poker room I have ever had to deal with. Their sportsbook offers great lines, and they run a continuous 10% instant redeposit bonus, and sometimes it is higher.