How would they lose any money?
If the pool is rather unlucky, every block could take 70-100 hours, which would result in every block paying out 28-30 BTC. Considering a block only gives 25 BTC, the chance of losing money is there. Given an infinite amount of time, assuming it is implemented properly, and 0% fees, it should balance out to 0. But, in the short term, it's still possible to lose money if the pool is unlucky.
It also makes me wonder about the longevity of the pool. Can the owner afford to keep this pool running? 88 BTC is almost $40k at the current price.
Most of that negative balance came from when the pool was still running using PPS with a really low fee.
No it is from the time pool was still paying orphan blocks...
Ahh, that should explain it. Thanks. That's a pretty hefty loss for the pool to eat though... (but I wasn't around when that happened -- could've been when BTC was still $2 for all I know).