Monkey See, Monkey Do

During the internet bubble, almost any business could put the letter “e” or “i” in front of its name and just watch investors throw money at it, regardless of its business plan. The same held true several decades ago when the suffix “tronic” was added onto a name, as electronic devices were becoming popular. In between, before, and since, businesses with virtually nothing to offer have, at least for a short while, been able to make money just by coming up with a name to take advantage of a trend. Poker News Daily would like to welcome PokerRaffle.com to the march of pretenders.

Now, PokerRaffle.com will never be accused of false advertising. The site, which announced its launch today, offers exactly what one would infer from its name – poker-related raffles. For $10, a customer with nothing better to spend his money on can buy a raffle ticket for his choice of prizes, including a $500 bankroll at an online poker room, and entry into a high stakes online tournament, and the “featured” raffle, a seat at the 2005 World Series of Poker. The latter prize is the only option with any sort of value whatsoever, as it is supposedly “guaranteed,” regardless of the number of raffle tickets sold. So, when it comes time for the drawing (for which no date is indicated), if there are only two tickets sold as there are currently, it might be worth a shot. The rest of the prizes are things that can be easily obtained through actual play by someone who is genuinely interested in the prize itself.

All in all, PokerRaffles.com adds no value to the poker community. As a matter of fact the only reason the site has anything to do with poker is that prizes are poker-related. There is no poker content on the site whatsoever. It is just leeching off the poker boom and giving nothing back to its customers except for a chance to win something.

Don’t forget about the amazing testimonials, though. After all, it must be a fantastic website if it has such glowing testimonials after not even being live a full day. With 6 whole tickets sold out of a possible 1,669 (and no winners yet), those customer comments are something of legend.