January 28, 2004
Dutch Boyd, Pokerspot, and Rakefree
by StaffWhen watching the WSOP on ESPN, I was intrigued by Dutch Boyd's golf visor that advertised "Rakefree.com." I always meant to visit the site and learn what it was about, but never got the chance.
Today, while browsing the TwoPlusTwo forums, I ran across an interesting argument over Dutch Boyd. Apparently, back in 2000, he started an online poker room called PokerSpot. It eventually went under. Players who had money on the site lost it all.
The whole PokerSpot fiasco is quite a hot topic, and it's hard to know who to believe. Obviously, those who lost all their money are furious at Boyd. He blames it on a business partner, and relatively credibly so. He was young, and obviously in over his head -- even he admits as such. Boyd tells his side of the story here.
In the same interview, Boyd also talks about his new project -- an online rake free poker site -- RakeFree.com. He hasn't discussed the business model yet. Will the site make money from advertisers or by monthly dues? It's unclear. Still, it sounds interesting, assuming Boyd has his act together better this time.
