2+2 is the best site for info, but the award for worst goes too...

[The Worm]

pokerlistings.com. This site is a joke people, dont waste your time. First of all there is like 1-2 posts per day there, so getting info is terrible at best. Secondly, the site has poker reviews for all the major sites based on many categories. So I decided to sign up and post what I thought was the best site based on different factors, ease of opponents, bonuses etc. I go back the next day and sign in, and Ive been banned from the forum! So I email the moderator, and ask him why:

"The forum manager probably banned you for spamming. Had you been promoting any pokerrooms? You will still maintain access to all the other benefits of PokerListings."

So I write back and say I started a thread on what I thought the best poker site was, which is no different than most of the threads on there. Its a site that gives reviews, I don't work for the site, why would I care if people sign up. Just wanted to let people know who I liked. I got this response:

"The forum manager is willing to give you another shot. If you'd like to be unbanned we need to receive your username as well as IP address"

So I contact my friend that works at SunMicrosystems. Hes the guy I go to whenever I have a computer related problem. I ask him if I should freely give away my IP address. He says no, its too sensitive. He tells me its not that hard for someone to get it, but not to freely give it away. So I send a reply giving my username, but not my IP address, and get this reply:

Ok. You are welcome to use the rest of the site but your ip has been banned in the forum. Good luck at the tables.

So you had my IP address anyways, asked for it, and when I wouldnt tell you, you upheld your decision. Im at a loss.

Morale of my story is, if you find a forum site that is working, stick with it. Don't bother wasting your time looking for another. God Bless you 2+2, you make the poker world go round!

[The Worm]

I should state the reason I put this in the bonus section is cause thats the section I posted my original banned thread at pokerlistings.com.

[WiSeIVIaN]

I dont expect much from pokerlistings. I educate myself elsewhere and if they have a better bonus I use them, simple as that.

BTW to my understanding of forum bans, they likely banned your username and IP addy and to unban your IP they would need you to tell them it because otherwise they do not know which one is yours, they likely appear on a list of banned IPs in the admin options....just FYI.

[smoore]

They want your IP address so they can UNban it from the forum.

[fluxpoker]

if they want your ip-adress they will get it.. it's in the acces-log and the admin of the server should have acc to it.. so a IP-number isnt that "secret" .. you want to see your own ip use ipconfig or check at www.whatismyip.com (http://www.whatismyip.com)

[boracay]

totally agree. if you check info about bonuses or sites don't go there. just an example - check iPoker sites - same platform, same site (well, yes different colors), same banking options,... now compare two sites from there:

PL rating Titan Poker - Fair Poker Comment
Graphics 8 - 6 same graphics, different colors !!!
Ring game traffic 7 - 4 same players !!!
Tournament traffic 7 - 5 at least 95% of the same players!!!
Game varienty 7 - 4 same players !!!
Rake 6 - 6
Soft competition 9 - 8 same players !!!
Sign up bonus 9 - 8
Loyalty bonus 8 - 2
Promotions 10 - 7
Support 10 - 5
Financial security 10 - 8 Kiwi backed by landed casino 8 only
Deposits & cashouts 9 - 8 same options
Total points 201 - 145
Placed on 4th place - 35th place of 43 ranked sites

every single affiliate rookie site gives you better info or at least not trying to mislead you so uncovered. PSO rules.

[The Worm]

I know they can find my IP, and I have it. To be honest, I could care less, the info on that site is pretty useless. I guess the point I was trying to make is, they have a site that gives poker reviews etc. Why would you ban someone the very first thread they post beucause they said they like a site that you are promoting? I never gave my username, referral codes, never said I was an affiliate (which Im not). The more I think about it, Im assuming since they have their own bonus code for the site I play on (which is much lower than what you can get just by signing up at the site) that they are advertising these sites with some kind of affiliate bonus for themselves. So I guess since I mentioned the site has really big bonuses, that pissed them off, only thing I can think of.

Still, whouldnt you give someone a warning or tell them its not allowed? Ive posted stuff on pocketfives that I didnt know wasnt allowed. It was a questionable article about a WSOP bracelet winner. They told me that its inappropriate and not to post stuff like that, so I dont anymore. At 2+2, I have started a thread before when one existed on the topic. The mod told me to use the one that was created, and moved mine into that thread. Simple, but getting banned for something like that on a first shot? I don't get it. The site literally has 1 post an hour from what I could see in the bonus section, so if they are trying to get more people to use it and subscribe, just out right banning someone on a first offense for something they didnt realize was not allowed is ridiculous. Pokerlisting can SMD. Useless website.

[The Worm]

I have since sent 2 more emails pretty much asking why I was banned in the first place, since I was never given a reason why in the first place, but have yet to receive a response. Also asked why they asked for my IP address, and when I wouldnt give it for personal reasons, said your IP is banned then have fun on the rest of the site. Still seems pretty cocky for a site that doesnt have particularly much to offer. Id almost expect this from 2+2, because they have such a large fan base and losing a single customer wouldnt hurt them. But a site that has barely any people posting, Id expect them to try and hold on to their subscribers, what few they had.

[heater]

[ QUOTE ]
totally agree. if you check info about bonuses or sites don't go there. just an example - check iPoker sites - same platform, same site (well, yes different colors), same banking options,... now compare two sites from there:

PL rating Titan Poker - Fair Poker Comment
Graphics 8 - 6 same graphics, different colors !!!
Ring game traffic 7 - 4 same players !!!
Tournament traffic 7 - 5 at least 95% of the same players!!!
Game varienty 7 - 4 same players !!!
Rake 6 - 6
Soft competition 9 - 8 same players !!!
Sign up bonus 9 - 8
Loyalty bonus 8 - 2
Promotions 10 - 7
Support 10 - 5
Financial security 10 - 8 Kiwi backed by landed casino 8 only
Deposits & cashouts 9 - 8 same options
Total points 201 - 145
Placed on 4th place - 35th place of 43 ranked sites

every single affiliate rookie site gives you better info or at least not trying to mislead you so uncovered. PSO rules.

[/ QUOTE ]

They rank Titan higher because of the special bonus that is offered through pokerlistings. They do this with a lot of their rankings. They work out deals with poker sites to offer "exclusive" bonuses with ridiculous playthrough requirements then they move them up in their rankings to get people to sign up there.

[The Worm]

So what you are saying is that they could have 2 identical sites offering identical everything, and if one site pays them to advertise, they will get a higher ranking? Just when I thought I couldnt hate that site anymore, and to think I was actually upset when I first got banned.

[boracay]

they get better deal with some sites, so they are favourizing some of them. most affiliates do the same, but no other make it so obvious (and nowhere you get so incompetent info because of that).
you would get a feeling that fair poker is totally awful site against titan, but actually is just another skin. there are the same players (they rank it different!), same game variety (and one gets 7 and the other gets 4)
, same soft competition and same graphics (again both different). funny site, should be avoided if you're looking for info about sites.

[toni]

Yup, I agree. Unfortunately they are first on google so for sure they get a lot of traffic.

[poker-penguin]

[ QUOTE ]
So what you are saying is that they could have 2 identical sites offering identical everything, and if one site pays them to advertise, they will get a higher ranking? Just when I thought I couldnt hate that site anymore, and to think I was actually upset when I first got banned.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup (well, pays more rather than pays to advertise - affiliates don't do jack [censored] for free). This procedure is fairly standard among a lot of affiliate sites.

At least when I used to do it I was smart enough to only shade the ratings for intangibles like customer support and speed of payouts.

Pokerlistings problem is that they arre stupid and greedy.