Earlier this week, it was fraternities - now it's the military. Online poker giant Party Poker this week already has offered a special bonus for members of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Jewish fraternity, and now they've announced a special deal on their online casino site just for members of the U.S. armed forces. Never mind that their employers are the U.S. government, which for the moment takes a dim view of online gambling. Though there is a special code, there is nothing that says those who use the special code, MILITARYBONUS, will all be serving in one branch or another of the U.S. military. And tellingly, the bonus is not as much as the fraternity bonus.
But online casino companies know what they're doing. By offering a series of online casino bonuses over the span of a single week, they could be enticing thousands of potential customers to simply try out their online casino site. Even if only a fraction of people become regular customers, think of the cash that could be brought into the online casino site, and then think of the word-of-mouth recruitment that could be brought in when one of those people who've stayed win even the smallest amount of cash? Then more people could win, telling more people, and add that into other promotions...see where this is going?
There is, of course, the little matter of online casino gambling having a de facto - some would say de jure, but this is not technically the case - status of being illegal. Inducing American college students and American servicemen and servicewomen to gamble may be putting Party Poker's parent company, Party Gaming, in a difficult situation should the authorities, their superiors, or college administrators (or even fraternity house leadership) get wind that online casino companies are seeking out their money. |
