[bustedromo]

[ QUOTE ]
That argument doesn't make sense.

If you want to relate the bar-argument to yours against FTP, then you need to assume that the people that are getting free drinks at the bar are also bringing five friends, who are all paying for their drinks.

You don't seem to have a very strong grasp on marketing.

[/ QUOTE ]

You need to learn how to think harder.

The bar analogy argument makes beautiful sense because I am making a specific analogy to the FTP Pros situation.

The Sexton Twins (whomever they may be) aren't bringing along 10 paying entrants into the 500K Guaranteed. In fact, I would argue that they are bringing along precisely zero paying entrants.

My bar analogy is near perfect. It went over your head either because (1) you aren't very bright or (2) you weren't paying attention.

The facts are:

(1) most FTP Pros are not at all well known to the average FTP tournament player

(2) playing at the same table with a gooofy-looking caricature avatar that has some random name written in red adds exactly nothing to the average player's tournament experience

(3) a fair number of the FTP Pros happen to stink at tournament poker, and so even if the average player is paying attention to them, they can't learn anything from them (except by fading them, which is not the idea, and so is too cute to be of practical value)

Bottom line: instead of giving away buy-ins to their friends who happen to call themselves pro but who have next to no visibility or name recognition, FTP would be much better served giving away buy-ins to their loyal, consistent, regular paying customers.

The analogy to the bar is perfect: a good bartender knows to ocassionally reward loyal, regular, paying customers with a free drink -- not create some idiotic A List/B List system where some customers always get all their drinks free.