AbigailII: I have also thought about that issue - with people getting "free" chips, some people will keep on gaining and gaining chips.

First thought was to maybe make it a "loan" of chips - and if you gained enough back, repay it. But then I have to remember - the point of the game (in my opinion, and maybe I'm wrong) - is to allow everyone to play - at least once a day - and someone having a lot of chips is just a different way to show "ratings". (so instead of ratings, you can see who has the most chips.)

But also - I know Fencer is planning to bring other card games to the site. Maybe he will bring something like Blackjack (or something else where you play "against" the house) - where the house will have a chance to get some of it's chips back. (heck, have some "video poker" machines that randomly show 3 images, and make it pay out 25% of the time or something like that.) (again, just some random thoughts.)

Question (which I could probable go and look for the answer but a little lazy right now) - in a casino, how does the house make money on poker games since the house does not play? Does the house just take a cut or something? Again - I'm not sure if that is something that is needed here, but curious.

coan.net: There are various ways. A house can take a percentage of the buy-in, or a percentage of the pot (sometimes capped at a maximum). Or it can take fixed fees. For instance, having the dealer pay a fee each round, or asking a fixed fee of every player every X minutes. Or they organize tournaments, and ask an entrance fee of all the participants. The difference between the sum of the entrance fees and the prize money is the rake of the house. Or the casino makes it money through other means, and uses poker to attract people that spend their money buying expensive drinks or something else.

AbigailII: Actually, we don't need to take a rake until something more valuable than free chips (Brains, for instance) is played for. But the tournament idea is good.

Fencer: I'll be away most of this weekend so I probably won't participate in any discussion the next 48 hours. But I do have some ideas on how to have Poker tournaments on BK. I'll write it up on Monday.