I just noticed this new addition to Full Tilt Poker's appearance. Every player at the table of the tournament I'm in right now, save one, has this odd little "T" symbol. When you hover your mouse over it, you will be informed, "Rakewell is a true poker player."
Huh?
I clicked on it to see if there was more, and was taken to this page. As far as I can tell, all that this "badge" means is that at some point I deposited some money on FTP and then played in at least one cash game or tournament.
Um, well, the fact that I'm sitting at a table in a game that cost money to register for pretty much announces the same thing. The only other possibility is that all the money I have on account came from somebody transferring it to me--or maybe winning some freeroll tournaments that had small cash prizes.
So if I'm in a cash game or non-freeroll tournament, and I see the "T" badge affixed to another player's avatar, I know that he is not in the tiny minority of players who have money on account at FTP solely as a result of somebody else giving it to him or winning a freebie. What, exactly, is the point of that? How does this help me? How does this distinguish him from the 99% of all players that are probably similarly situated?
Furthermore, if somebody does not have this badge, it could mean that (1) he's a freeloader who mooched some bucks off of a friend, (2) his bank wouldn't let him send money to FTP, so he gave a friend cash in exchange for a funds transfer, (3) he has two accounts (he deposits on one, then transfers some to the other), (4) he won some freerolls to start his online bankroll, or (5) he is a normal depositor who simply elected to turn off the badge display (the above page tells you how). Even if I could somehow reliably distinguish which of these possibilities is the case for a given player--and I can't--how is that helpful in any way?
Maybe I'm missing something here. It wouldn't be the first time. But as far as I can tell, this is the dumbest, most pointless thing Full Tilt has ever added to its site.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
As opposed to a FALSE poker player?
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4 comments:
Hover over the other corners of the thing. A note will tell you how you can win a badge for that corner. Childish.
I am guessing it is more for players who play the Play Money games, this shows they play for real cash also.
I did not understand this badge as opposed to the other badges. The other ones make sense to me and helps promote more playing with the Iron Man, Rush Poker and Full Tilt Academy badges. If it is for the Play Money games to encourage people to play real money, I think it should only appear when you are in a Play Money game, otherwise it is wasted.
If they are going to start doing badges to encourage more play, they should take a look at how SpadeClub.com does it. They do a lot with badges.
I could care less for it but can see it as another way to try to get some players to play more often.
Maybe it's the beginning of a system of "achievements", like in video games, where there are 100s of achievements both great and trivial that you can add to your awards wall for actions that are not directly related to the mission of the game.
So a badge for winning a major guarantee tournament, for winning 5, for winning 10. A badge for cracking AA with 72o. And so forth.
Maybe someday you'll see a Grump award badge, which is for somebody who has won over 20 hands with 42o.
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