PartTimePoker hosts one of the industry’s leading staking sites. It matches low-stakes and high-stakes poker players with some of the industry’s top backers. Coming off a highly-successful 2008 World Series of Poker showing, the founder of PartTimePoker, Chris Grove, spoke with Poker News Daily about the challenges of running a staking site in today’s online poker world.

Poker News Daily: What is PartTimePoker?

Grove: I started PartTimePoker about five years ago. I had been playing online for a few months and was frustrated by the lack of useful information out there for intermediate and beginning players. Back then, there were a lot more affiliate-driven websites. Those exist alongside community sites like TwoPlusTwo and PocketFives today. I decided to make a website that I would want to use. PartTimePoker started as a strategy and review site for players who played part-time. The site has since morphed into offering propping and rakeback. It’s more content-driven as well. We acquired NeverBeg, a major staking site, in February of 2007.

PND: Explain the allure of staking. Why do players do it and what effect does it have on their games?

Grove: The allure has changed. When we first started offering staking, PartTimePoker was a much smaller site than it is now. It was more about forging a community. It’s fun to have a rooting interest in other people and we provided a way to do it.

From a player’s perspective, one of the reasons it was called NeverBeg was that it was a place for people who were broke and needed money to find funding. Now, the allure is a lot more straight-forward. For players looking to reduce variance, they can do so on the site. For the backers who visit PartTimePoker, we have an impressive lineup of players. If you invest wisely, you can get a good return on your money.

PND: How does the staking process work on PartTimePoker?

Grove: Overall, we have two outlets. One is called “staking.” The other is called “buy a piece.” Staking is backer-initiated. A backer will say that he has a certain amount of money and is looking for someone to use it. Players will reply in a thread and then the backer selects who they want. In buy a piece, players post a part of their action that they’re looking to sell and set a share price. Backers can purchase however many shares they want to.

PND: Talk about the accolades of some of your players who have been staked.

Grove: We had a very good showing at the 2008 World Series of Poker. It was a breakout year for us. We had three players who were staked make final tables. One was in the Razz event and two players final tabled separate $1,500 buy-in Hold’em events. Those three cashes were worth around $500,000 total. The site had over a quarter of a million dollars in backing for the WSOP. It’s a pretty good amount of money for an online backing site and provided a good return for our investors.

PND: How do you find backers? What’s he allure for them of staking, especially when they assume risk?

Grove: If you’re a good player, you’re giving up a potential payout by accepting backing. I’m a winning player and so to give up any action is sacrificing some of my would-be winnings. Variance has driven the relationship. Anyone who has knowledge of poker knows that there’s variance involved. From the player’s perspective, it’s about smoothing out variance.

PND: How has the recent poker boom changed the staking industry? What do you see as its future?

Grove: Backing definitely has a fairly permanent place in poker. It has had a very long history and I don’t see it going anyway anytime soon. People are naturally risk averse. They’re willing to give up a part of their earnings if it gets them some peace of mind.

PND: What measures are there to protect against bad business?

Grove: Online poker gives backers a really unique opportunity to track the play of people that they’re backing. Before, if you gave someone a couple hundred dollars, you were going out on a flier because you couldn’t review exactly how they were going to play. Now, you can track results. Whenever you have more information at your fingertips, you’re going to have more confidence and interest in investing.

It’s certainly a leap of faith to transfer money over the internet to someone and then expect them to follow through. We’re limited in what we can do. I can’t go over to the police department and ask them to arrest someone. A lot of what we do is predicated on blocking access to the site. We’re in contact with other staking sites. We’re in regular contact with online poker rooms like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. We keep a lot of information on our players and use it if there are any problems in order to prohibit them from doing it the future. The best deterrent is to make PartTimePoker a place where the benefit of being able to pocket a few hundred dollars isn’t worth it.

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7 Responses to “Poker Staking Q&A with PartTimePoker”

1. craig johnson Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 2:10 am

   Hello,

   I am a big time grinder at live tables all over the world and USA and this is my story about PTP!!!

   This site is the most childless and unproffesional site i have came across. I have been play cash tables and live tournys all over the world and the talk at a lot of tables was staking people that are new to the poker world to become the next bracelet winner. So I open the search engine up and look for staking sites and go to PTP because it is the most popular and when i check out a site that im going to invest thousands and thousands of dollars to players that want there shot the first place i go to is the forums to see what kind of business that they conduct off of the tables.
   I came across a thread that was new rule changes in the shooting off forum and i started to read but couldnt keep up with all of the members mad cause they couldnt swear in the shooting off or be able to slam another member by calling them names? WHAT KIND OF SITE IS THIS?? Do i want to invest lots of money for members that are more worried about be able to swear then being able to be civial to one another member? Today there was another thread that was titled No more swearing? What can we say? (must be over 18) So in courisity i opend it up and right from the get go its nothing but derogatory, filth, disgusting words and on top of it all other members were chimming in.

   To all the proffesional players that i meet or come across at the tables and WSOP tables from USA, Canada, and around the world where I play i will be sure to let them know that PTP is nothing but a unproffesional site for players that have big money to invest in Unless they can show me otherwise and clean up there ways especially bickering about why they cant swear,

   Whats the big deal?? one member asked? simple words i can understand but come on this site should not be PTP PartimePoker more like CPP Children Play Poker. I will be sure as I said to let all my fellow members of the live world of playing poker to not invest in this little Kindergarden site. Maybe thats why they dont have major investors that are members like pocketfive or a few others.

   I am very disappointed and am going to invest my money in other sites that have more controll over there members especially new members I cant tell you how many times I read a post by a new member in there to have another member tell him to shut up or your dumb for making a post you should just die (thats what i read from some member cause he didnt like what the new member posted) WOW!!!!

   Another post had people are so fuc**ing stupid. No my friend you are cause you just costs your site a big time player willing to stake big money with lots of players to be able to push the online poker into the big scene of live play (kinda like minor leagues) to be able to play with the big boys so people arent fuc**ing stupid I believe you may be with your mouth!!

   thanks and please feel free to contact me for any questions or comments. Im sure you will hear about how big players will not stake on PTP cause of lack of being proffesional. They have to remember Poker is a game of life and earnings not a game of hide and go seek and hopscotch. Grow Up PTP before you lose all crediability!!!

   Mr Craig Johnson

2. some guy Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 10:47 am

   so how broke are you craig?

   don’t listen to this guy. PTP already has millions of dollars flowing through the site and is definitely the best place to go for not only backing, but also relaxing and enjoying shooting the sh*t with other good poker players.

3. Graydon Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 11:19 am

   I have been a member of parttimepoker for over two years and I can honestly say that the leaps and bounds the site has grown by is only surpassed by the dedication of the administrators willingness to improve the morale and the overall advancement of the community.

   You can equate a few people getting under your skin and negatively affecting your approach to staking to a “bad beat” at the poker table. And to continue with this analogy, PTP is the equivalent to aces vs A6o.

   Mr Craig Johnson sir, you sound like a disgruntled former member who is no longer allowed to access the tremendous tools any online poker poker player can access with membership (which is 100% free).

   The comment you have posted is rather childish itself and should be viewed upon as so.

   Good day.

4. Ervinsm Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 11:41 am

   thanks Mr. Johnson for not joining the site. Youll be sorely missed. lol

5. Chris Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm

   I have been a member of PTP for over 2 years. I’m a very active member both in the staking and playing side of the site, and I will say that the constant improvement and overall value of the site is huge. I’m very happy to be a member and will happily remain that way. The site staff work hard to protect stakers money, and that in and of itself has a ton of value. There has been over 10 million staked on the site, and its continuing to grow more and more every single day.

6. Notgonnaputmyname Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 12:03 pm

   I am a current member with money invested and Have open BAP’s and I totally agree with this craig johnson guy. The treatment of new players is bad and their is generally a lack of respect to the smaller players and investors.

7. Simon Says:
   July 3rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm

   PTP is a great site, The SO (shooting off) forum is a place where you can unwind and talk about what ever you want its no surprise you look in there and find some “Un-Professional” post, even if you dont want to do that there are a lot of people on that site that keep there heads out of SO and keep just stay in the staking forums. There is alot of joking in the SO forum and I think you might be reading too much into it. Also sometimes people I would say mainly new people to the site will start to flames people, this is just life no one gets on with everyone and people let it out in different ways some people let it out, some people keep there fingers off the key board so to speak. Obviously this site has rules and if someone crosses these rules you will be given infractions or even a temporarily or permernant ban.

   If you come out of the SO forum you might find the staking and strategy forum where everything is all serious there.

   If your a poker player or even just a mutual investor you would be dumb not to see how profitable you can be with this site.

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