We started Reef by inviting a few (pro) online poker players to smooth out any rough edges, and allowed some of them to invite other players and so it went on. Believe it or not, Reef is growing via our invitation only policy.
In the past there have been poker sites which have failed by launching, mainly because they are not able to get much traffic. By invitation only, you will get lesser traffic. The pro poker players enjoy playing at sites which have fishes. And by only inviting the pros, you are missing out on the action for them.
The ‘invitation tree mechanism’ allows us to build up the room in good tempo with players willing to inject money into the game, repeatedly. We can’t predict the future, so who knows… maybe at some point Reef will switch to open registration. Still, PokerReef is not a closed poker club. The fact that we invited pro players to get feedback on our software doesn’t mean we’re focussing on attracting serious (pro) players to play serious poker. We are not. You can request invitation here:http://www.pokerreef.eu/request-invitation
Yes, many have failed (even Full Tilt after so many years). It would do us all good to not look back but keep our eyes on the road. Player bitcoins will be held in various well known wallets and you will be encouraged to take your money with you whenever you are done. We do not need to hold your money for any amount of time.
Also, we do use chips. They are valued as bitcoins!