The Finalist
July 2001 

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Fair and Square
 
Occasionally I get e-mail from an unhappy player who is convinced that we are in some way manipulating our game system to be slanted in our favor. Most often the complaint is based on the reality that it can be quite difficult to win at our site. In most cases, trying to explain to the contrary can be very difficult also because the complaint is based on perceptions. I’ve outlined some of the most common complaints below. If you have questions always feel free to call me.

There are two points that most frustrated players don’t understand:

1. It is of absolutely no benefit to us to predetermine the winner of a tournament. The jackpot is still paid regardless of who wins. We make our money by providing the framework for these tournaments to take place. If we rigged our games, we certainly would not have been around as long as we have. We are proud of our tradition of integrity and would close our doors before we’d compromise our principles.

2. TournamentGames.Com is not a casino. At a casino you play against the house and your chances of winning are based on the odds of the cards, or dice, etc. And all players have exactly the same chance to win. Our games are scored based on speed and accuracy and other skill elements. All players have the same opportunity to win but skilled players will prevail because like any good competition our site rewards those who play best.

Here are some of the most common comments we receive:

1. “The game is impossible to win. You’ve rigged the system so I can’t win and you just get my money.”

This is the most common complaint of newer users. Often these players don’t fully understand our system and jump right into the tournaments with advanced players. Some of our better players have been playing with us for over three years and are very skilled. Our games are not games of chance and require skill and practice to compete effectively. To give more players an opportunity to compete we’ve created skill ranked tournaments that are open only to players with similar rankings.

2. “The same people win over and over again.”

This is true in some respects. Your chance to win is based mainly on your skill and speed and the skill and speed of those you are competing against. This is the element of our site that separates us from a gambling site and is the reason that skilled players can win consistently. On the other hand, we want everyone to have a good time at our site and nothing is more fun than winning a great jackpot, so we’ve made efforts to allow all players an opportunity to win at any skill level. In a typical month we have around 3000 unique winners at our site.

3. “Your server is sending me un-winnable hands. You’re keeping me from winning!”

This is the most difficult complaint to deal with because it is truly a
matter of perception. There are absolutely no controls in place that
determine to whom a particular deal goes. In the games that use cards the deck is “shuffled” just as you would if you were sitting down to a friendly game at home, only much more thoroughly.



4.“Why should I continue to play if I can’t win?”

Tournament style games aren’t for everyone and we don’t think anybody should play at our site who doesn’t enjoy it. However even if you don’t win consistently, (though anyone who plays long enough generally will win a tournament or two) you’ll find that our site is a fantastic entertainment value. With free tournaments and entry fees of less than 5 cents you can easily play a month on ten dollars. Ten dollars  won’t get you into a movie these days.