WPEX Impressions

While the promise of a rakefree poker site is difficult to refuse, the World Poker Exchange isn't quite there yet.

They started their 100 percent rakeback program last Monday, and said that the first payments would be made yesterday. That didn't happen, as they cited technical difficulties.

Now, I don't think WPEX is ripping poker players off. This site is primarily a sportsbook, and it seems to handle that part of its operation reasonably well. And the whole point of this rakefree promotion is to try to lure poker players to the sportsbook in hopes that they will place additional bets there.

But it seems really slimy for them to make this deal, and then not be able to implement it when they said they would. It's dishonest to tell people they will get their money on Monday, and then later tell them they'll have to wait another week.

Hopefully, this will all be worked out soon.

It's disappointing that poker sites treat their customers so terribly. Customer service is a joke. It isn't just Party Poker; it's the entire industry. From PokerStars to Full Tilt to Ultimate Bet to Pacific Poker. Sure, some are better than others. But they all have serious problems when it comes to responding to customer complaints, managing relationships with affiliates, handling rakeback deals, offering attractive promotions, maintaining their software and investigating cheating accusations.

It's pathetic. The industry is a mess, and there's little or no accountability.

That's why this rakefree deal got me so excited. It has the potential to really shake things up and drive down rakes at other sites as well. It shows that rakes are inflated, and that poker players don't need to take it.

Apparently, these things take time. I hope WPEX gets its act together.

Game play at the site is OK. It seems like the games are tougher than I'm used to, but there are still quite a few players that love to call with gutshot draws or cold call three bets preflop with medium pocket pairs. There aren't as many of those kinds of players as at other sites, but they're still around.

Also, data collection software doesn't work automatically on WPEX, at least not yet.

One guy has put together this kick-ass app that converts WPEX's e-mailed hand histories to a format that PokerTracker can read.

I plan on using it in real-time when I play there again, which won't be until they give me my rakeback as promised. The way I'll use it is to request that they e-mail hand histories to me once every half hour (100 is the max you can request), then convert them into PokerTracker as I'm playing. From there, I'll manually copy the player's playing tendency into their on-screen notes.

I only have a small sample of data so far, but my impression is that the games are not great, but they're probably good enough to play in if I put forth a little effort toward game selection. I would hope that I could at least break even before receiving rakeback even in a tough game.

We'll have to see. I hope the site grows to the point where play there is a little bit easier and it's more reputable.

For what it's worth, I haven't observed any evidence of bots in the limit games I have frequented. All I've seen is a few too many rocks.