My immediate reaction to the OP was that just maybe HT is turning away possible future paying customers and the future of the genre. After all, get them interested, get them addicted, get them wanting more then drag them in is an age old marketing ploy. That said I'm sure HT has data that says most free H2H plaers never converted otherwise, even with the problems, H2H never would have closed.
But what if they introduced a tiered structure? 1 or 2 vs. 1 or 2 room free, 8 vs 8 room $5, 8 vs 8 vs 8 room $10, full access $15 or something like that. Then there's a plan for everyone. It works for other entertainment venues; cable TV, Netflix, Movies (matinees vs evening rates) etc. and lets face it, in the end those are the same discretionary entertainment dollars HT is competing for. I've been poor for a while now and these were my choices. I lowered my cable to hold onto AH at least for now. That might change at some point as I don't play that much anymore.
My 2 cents.