Equity Poker Network to Debut Full Flush Poker Flagship Site

Online poker sites servicing US players are once again opening up across the internet, with the latest introduction being that of Full Flush Poker, the flagship skin of the new Equity Poker Network.  Equity announced its planned launch back in April, though a slower-than-expected recruiting of skins to the new network -- which is making using of the old Chico Poker Network software -- appears to be one of the reasons for the three-month delay from its initial planned June launch.

Clive Archer, formerly of BetOnSports and the Chico Poker forerunner Action Poker Network, is the guy in charge at both Equity and Full Flush, the home skin.  Archer's checkered past in the gaming industry, with both BOS and Action having met an untimely demise, may make Full Flush and Equity a wait-and-see for both players and third-party skins, though the flat-rate concept Archer has installed for skins to be a part of Equity is a bit of a twist on the standard network model, and should have some takers in due time.

Back in April, I corresponded with Archer about the planned Equity offerings.  There doesn't seem to be a lot in added player protections, but Archer's concept is more designed to protect cutthroat rooms and skins from one another, and install mechanisms to prevent player poaching, along with a "shark tax" to be assesed against skins that have an overload of better-than-average players, which then pillage other skins' players.

The concept is designed to reward the recruiting of less-skilled, "recreational" players (similar to the way the bovada sportsbook and poker site does it), but who does the heavy work in the initial recruiting and advertising in attracting those players?  That's the Catch-22 facing the Equity Network, since the site charges its skins a flat-rate fee of $10,000/month to participate.  Early on, it's hard to see how that'll be a good deal for a start-up skin.

Nonetheless, the lights are on at Equity.  The site went live with a "soft launch" on Friday, then held a $500 freeroll over the weekend, though the prizes for the winners will have to sit in players' accounts until such time as Full Flush and Equity launch real-money play in the coming weeks.  This looks like one of those sites that might be worth a very small investment, maybe a twenty or two, just to see if the action develops over time.  There won't be much beyond microstakes in the network's first few weeks, anyway.

Will the Equity Poker Network establish a toehold?  Its predecessors, Action and Chico, didn't fare so well, which is perhaps another reason why the software platform behind those sites is being rebirthed here.  It's still nice to Equity launch, and they're welcome, but players should test the waters carefully.