Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

When online poker room, PokerShare.com, introduced itself to the world last year and then re-introduced itself this April, it presented to players a unique proposition: ownership in the company and piece of the profits. It turns out that customers weren’t the only ones who thought that this was a good idea. So did the founders of new online poker room, TellPoker.com

Founders Anders Ericsson and Mathias Ringblom have also decided to give their players ownership of their poker room. Players will earn what are called ShareUnits when they and players they referred to TellPoker play at the tables. These ShareUnits are then converted into share of the company each quarter, based on what fraction they are of the total ShareUnits earned by all players. For example (and this is not realistic, but it demonstrates the math), if you earned 10 ShareUnits in a quarter and there were 20 ShareUnits in total earned by all TellPoker players, you would be allocated half of the share for that quarter.

The shares will come from a company that will own 20% of TellPoker, holding 1 million shares. For the first six quarters of TellPoker’s existence, all 1 million shares will be distributed to players, based on a scale given on the company’s website. The first quarter, which ends July 2, will see 100 thousand shares distributed. The six quarters will only add up to 800 thousand shares, but TellPoker will be handing out the remainder via special promotions. The company has said that it may end up sharing more than 20% of the company, but for now the figure will stay as is.

TellPoker has also delineated three possible scenarios that will affect share worth, namely the sale of the company, the float of shares on the open exchange, or simply staying private. Players may sell shares in the company, and will also receive dividends, paid directly to their poker accounts.

In addition to 20% ownership in the company, TellPoker is also sharing 40% of its revenues with its players. While this is not detailed yet on the website, the logical assumption is that this will equate to 40% rakeback.

TellPoker.com is a part of the Microgaming (formerly Prima) Poker Network.

Originally published June 15, 2006