Absolute 9% account balance interest for Elite VIP - is this safe?

[yoyo]

If there has been discussion about this already, I apologise and request direction to the relevant threads. I could not find anything on the search function which means:
a) I'm a moron
b) 2+2 search function is not great
c) This hasn't been discussed yet

If this is not the revelant forum, mods pls move this thread to where it should be.

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For those who may not be aware, Absolute has launched a promotion promising to pay 9% interest annually on account balances (calc daily) for VIP Elite players, which I understand is pretty easy to achieve and sustain each month.

I was all excited about this until I heard Absolute is owed by UB, which I know are in the bad books with some well-respected affiliates like PokerListings and PokerJunkies.

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"PokerListings.com has temporarily suspended the listing of the Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker poker rooms as a result of serious problems with both historical and current payments due PokerListings for services rendered. We are aware that our decision not to list these two brands may be an inconvenience, but as a trusted guide and resource, we do not believe it is appropriate to continue listing them.

Sincerely,

The PokerListings.com Team"

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"Ultimate Bet – Indefinitely suspended
UltimateBet has been suspended for an indefinite period of time by Poker Junkie as a result of their refusal to fulfill agreements with us and promotional agreements we are jointly offering Poker Junkie readers.

As this is not the first time UltimateBet has failed to meet its obligations, Poker Junkie determined a more serious course of action was warranted in order to protect our players and our business.

We hope to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and thank you for your understanding at this time."

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To the best of my knowledge, these issues have not been resolved.

What do you guys think? Is it simply too risky to trust these guys with large amounts of money?

[Bobo Fett]

Very interesting. There were threads going in both the Internet Bonuses and Internet Gaming forums on the 9% development over the last couple of weeks.

Absolute & UB being owned by the same company happened a few mnonths ago, and is somewhat widely known here.

The last issue you bring up is quite interesting. I don't think I've ever heard UB & AP referred to before by an affiliate as being rogue, which it seems like is effectively being done here. Both sites have a reputation for terrible customer service. UB is known for making it difficult for players to cash out at times, especially over cover play issues. And both sites have decimated their bonus & RB terms over the last several months, effectively applying those terms retroactively since it applied to existing bonus funds, and often with no notice to their players and/or affiliates.

I wonder if AP/UB have in some way directly withheld some payment owing, or if this is about terms having changed retroactively/without notice. I suspect it's the latter of the two, not that the two are THAT different.

Should you trust your money there? Well, that's up to you. Many players here still do, but more and more people have become disillusioned since all of the changes, the addition of all the BBJ tables on AP, etc, etc. Personally, I still have money on both, but plan on moving my UB money all over to AP with their transfer service since UB's bonus terms are so ridiculous. AP hasn't had any of my play in a few months either. I'd say that the chances that UB or AP actually outright "steal" my money is pretty low, though.

[Pokeraddict]

I don't have first hand info from PL about this but the rumor was when they stopped promoting then it was because of the term changes in their existing agreement. The same reasons I don't trust them at all too. There are several affiliates at CAP that feel the same way.

As for the 9% you have to keep in mind that AP/UB have repeatedly reneged on many agreements with players and affiliates. It is VERY likely IMO that at some point at an end of the month AP will say "We decided last month was the end of this promo" and of course not notify you. I feel there is no way they will steal your original deposit though, just reneg on the interest at some point.

[Bobo Fett]

[ QUOTE ]
As for the 9% you have to keep in mind that AP/UB have repeatedly reneged on many agreements with players and affiliates. It is VERY likely IMO that at some point at an end of the month AP will say "We decided last month was the end of this promo" and of course not notify you. I feel there is no way they will steal your original deposit though, just reneg on the interest at some point.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sounds about right. Not likely to steal your money, but there's a decent likelihood the promotion suddenly, and without notice, "changes".

[yoyo]

If they stopped the promotion and didn't notify me, that means I just miss out on a month's interest, or 0.75% of my balance. I could live with that.

After reading that PL and PA both delisted them, I'm seriously worried about losing 100%. I could not live with that.

It's a real shame that there is any cloud of suspicion hanging over their head, cause it's an otherwise awesome promotion. I was going to swing 6 figures in and rack up the required hands each month for Elite VIP until someone told me Abs/UB have a bit of a dishonest history, which is all I really care about (i.e. not the details so much). If a site has a history of unethical business practice, I can't put serious money in there.

The size of the interest being offered is amazing, but a little concerning at the same time. 9% is getting into serious investment return territory. 9% screams "desperate" to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

I wish Stars/Party/Bodog/FTP/Pacific/PokerRoom or NETeller would do a promotion like this - all those sites I wouldn't blink at shipping 90% of my roll into.

[Pokeraddict]

[ QUOTE ]
If they stopped the promotion and didn't notify me, that means I just miss out on a month's interest, or 0.75% of my balance. I could live with that.

[/ QUOTE ]

The fact that people had this attitude is the reason AP/UB pull all this BS they never could have gotten away with a year ago. The reason I would never put a cent on that site is because you never know how far the lies and deception will go although as I mention I can't imagine they would ever just close up shop and run off with all the cash. They have shown they have little concern for their players or affiliates and that is a dangerous attitude for a business to have.

[Niediam]

I would be scared to death to put six figures on the site.

More than like likely everything will be ok but I literally can't count the number of 'UB closed my account and won't reply to emails' threads I have seen here in the past year.