In a comprehensive statement issued today, NextPoker.com has issued a rebuttal to the claims by Ongame that it was terminated from the network for rakeback violations.
CardPlayerEurope.com reported on Monday that Ongame had issued a statement saying NextPoker.com “repeatedly violated the terms and conditions of our rakeback policy” and the company had removed NextPoker.com from its network.
However NextPoker.com has responded with a hard hitting statement saying, “Ongame’s announcement is totally false 
and we are considering legal action as a result of this announcement.”
The statement clarifies that NextPoker.com is owned by Abbantina Malta Ltd and operated on Ongame through a white label agreement with Redbet Ltd. The company says it terminated its white label agreement with Redbet on July 21, 2008 for a variety of reasons including what it perceived as “the unhealthy situation on Ongame” which it claims include rakeback which the company says was “pushing down the margins of mainly small and medium size operators on Ongame.”
The statement, issued by Alexander Pettersson, a director of Abbantina, says, “Nextpoker launched on Ongame in the summer of 2007 in the hope of joining a major, rakeback-free, network. It soon became clear that Ongame was far from rakeback-free. Big incumbent Ongame operators continued (and continue to this day) to offer rakeback to end customers through special agreements with Ongame, and at the same time, a vicious bonus war had broken out, pushing down the margins of mainly small and medium size operators on Ongame.
“Nextpoker was at the forefront in working to protect operator margins on Ongame. This is evident from a letter sent to Ongame more than a year ago, on October 10, 2007, where a cap on bonuses and other concrete measure were proposed (the letter is available on NextPoker.com/letter1). In January 2008, Nextpoker wrote a second letter, with the aim of bringing the bonus situation to Ongame’s attention (the letter is available on NextPoker.com/letter2).
“Nextpoker had some 15,000 registered players of which some 5,000 were active. During the 1+ year that Nextpoker operated, Ongame Network pointed out one (1) player who had been paid compensation by an affiliate in breach of network policy, in November-December 2007. Nextpoker took the appropriate measures at the time to remedy this breach. Ongame has notified Nextpoker, via Redbet Ltd, of alleged violations of network policy more than once though and Nextpoker has responded. The notifications and the replies can be made public upon request.
In any case, from what we understand, Ongame is still holding players’ funds as a result of the termination. We trust that players’ funds will be returned without delay.”
NextPoker says it suggested bringing in one of the “big four” accounting firms to audit its back office in order to satisfy Ongame that it did not support rakeback. It says Ongame did not reply to this offer.
“It is therefore not true that Nextpoker offered rakeback,” the statement continues. “It is true however that Nextpoker offered competitive bonuses, in line with network policy, as a result of Nextpoker being a new operator on a network with unhealthy price competition. A further example of this unhealthy competition is that Ongame’s house brands Pokerroom and Europoker have been promoted on rakeback sites.
“Lastly, it is interesting to note that Ongame Network has in fact chosen to go down the road it officially says it despises, that of cash payments to players in direct relation to their rake contribution. Ongame recently introduced its “Loyalty Program Policy version 1.0”, which allows direct rakeback of up to 40% to players, although, in a twist of words, it is called “valueback”.
The full statement can be viewed here.
