What is to stop an affiliate running away with our money?

[partygirluk]

Some of the bigger affiliates must receive BIG money every month. Now, they pay out a good chunk of this. But, couldn't they just not pay out for 1 month? Most affiliates aren't due to pay out until the middle of the following month anyway, so before anyone noticed they would have 6 weeks worth of revenue which could be enough to change their standard of life, i.e. very tempting to abscond with.

Catch a man a fish and he'll have food for a day.

Teach a man to fish and he'll have food forever.

[sublime]

abscond

nice word

[Matt24]

probably because its not smart to piss off a couple thousand people. I think you could take it to small claims court too and win by showing emails which showed the rakeback % and all that. I may be wrong about the courts though, but I think you could prove there was a verbal contract which is binding.

[SammyKid11]

To answer the question in your Subject line...nothing. Lawsuits would be far too costly to be worth it, even in a class action setting. There's just not enough liability to get a decent international class action attorney interested, plus the case is difficult to prove since Rakeback (at least the Party variety) is officially prohibited anyway.

I suppose private investigator to find affiliate + threats of physical violence might work...but really, even if you're a high-limit high-volume player that racks up 5k/month in rakeback...are you gonna go to those measures over 5-grand?

Yeah, basically nothing stopping them...except the knowledge that if they did that, they'd lose their players, get blacklisted, and never get to make easy money as an affiliate ever again (I suppose they could ACTUALLY spend real money advertising...but by easy money, I mean -- few cheap ads on 2+2, sign up some players, ride the wave).

Future loss of revenues is the only disincentive for them. Believe me, especially with the Party situation being as tenuous as it is, some affiliates may try this very move (though I suspect not the larger ones...too much to lose, etc.).

[DavidC]

Two factors:

1) There's a lot of skins out there, and people can gnome to make accounts if they really need to, so he screws you over for a month or something like that, makes 10 month's earnings in a month, but he's hurting afterwards.

2) Reputation! No future business.

---

Frankly, I'm surprised that you didn't answer this yourself.

Maybe in exchange you can teach us something about holdem? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

Edit: I'm being a dufus, sorry. With 3+k posts, you've probably earned the right to ask a quick question now and then. I know that whether or not I've earned that right, I've certainly taken it! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[gila]

[ QUOTE ]
There's a lot of skins out there,

[/ QUOTE ]

You sure?

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
Some of the bigger affiliates must receive BIG money every month. Now, they pay out a good chunk of this.

[/ QUOTE ]

The biggest affilates are non-rakeback affiliates!

There nothing to stop them but remember.. Sites like us live and die by our reputation. We offer multiple rooms, by this weekend we'll have 5 major rooms giving rakeback.

[Matt24]

Why would you need international? The affiliate businesses are set up in the US, at least the ones I go through.

[sublime]

What is to stop an affiliate running away with our money?

I am fat, no running here /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[sthief09]

[ QUOTE ]
abscond

nice word

[/ QUOTE ]


[censored] brits and their [censored] big words. [censored]

[Emperor]

Ummm this has already happened...

and you know what.. They point the finger at Party and say, "It was all their fault!....By the way, would you like to sign up for GamesGrid?"

and you know what happened? NO ONE SAID %$#@! and PSO has been keeping 100% ever since...

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
abscond

nice word

[/ QUOTE ]

[censored] brits and their [censored] big words. [censored]

[/ QUOTE ]


Makes me mad enough to go bomb a third-world country!

/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Just kidding (I'm Canadian).

/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[somapopper]

Whenever I see your icon it looks to me like a cast member of planet of the apes DJing a party.

This makes it very difficult for me to read your posts, as I am constantly wondering about this ape-man: what kind of music does he play? What do their dances look like? Is he lonely? etc.

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
Whenever I see your icon it looks to me like a cast member of planet of the apes DJing a party.
.
This makes it very difficult for me to read your posts, as I am constantly wondering about this ape-man: what kind of music does he play? What do their dances look like? Is he lonely? etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't kid yourself; ape-men get all the babes.

[TylerD]

[ QUOTE ]
small claims court too and win by showing emails which showed the rakeback % and all tha

[/ QUOTE ]

good one.

[Nicholasp27]

if i stop paying you, you stop playing on that account (switch sites or make a new party account) and i stop getting rake each month...which hurts me...there is no reason to stop paying your clients as you want/need their continued business...besides, it's dishonest (not much different than stealing your wallet and taking the cash) and i wouldn't be able to sleep at night

[DuggleBogey]

[ QUOTE ]
Ummm this has already happened...

and you know what.. They point the finger at Party and say, "It was all their fault!....By the way, would you like to sign up for GamesGrid?"

and you know what happened? NO ONE SAID %$#@! and PSO has been keeping 100% ever since...



[/ QUOTE ]
It's so easy to change affilliates at Party, I would hope that all the people who stopped getting rakeback from PSO have changed, or at least stopped playing at Party. If not, don't they deserve what they get?

What was PSO supposed to do?

[beanie]

This is a matter of definition. If you consider NBC or Card Player affiliates then yes you are correct. I highly doubt there are more than 20 people in the whole world doing more than 1 million a month and that number went down last week.

[KKsuited]

lol Matt, that's one of the funnier things I've seen. Go to court over not getting your rakeback? That's hilarious.

"Uh, yes your Honor, this man is withholding my rake from the illegal online poker I play. Can you please help? Forget the fact that the poker site is in another country and courts in the US have no authority on the matter."

Anyway, I thought that was funny. I'm sure you now see the problem with what you said.

[ QUOTE ]
lol Matt, that's one of the funnier things I've seen. Go to court over not getting your rakeback? That's hilarious.

"Uh, yes your Honor, this man is withholding my rake from the illegal online poker I play. Can you please help? Forget the fact that the poker site is in another country and courts in the US have no authority on the matter."

Anyway, I thought that was funny. I'm sure you now see the problem with what you said.

[/ QUOTE ]

When people say that online poker is illegal, this is exactly what they mean. It is not "illegal" in the criminal sense as nobody is jailed or fined or punished for engaging in it. However, it is "illegal" in the civil sense in that you have no recourse against the sites. If a site does not pay you, there is no legal means of recourse in the u.s.

[ QUOTE ]
Why would you need international? The affiliate businesses are set up in the US, at least the ones I go through.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a guy I buy marijuana from, he is supposed to kick back 25% of sales from everyone I send to him but hasn't paid me this month. I have emails to prove that he agreed to pay me. Maybe you and I could use the same lawyer?

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a matter of definition. If you consider NBC or Card Player affiliates then yes you are correct. I highly doubt there are more than 20 people in the whole world doing more than 1 million a month and that number went down last week.

[/ QUOTE ]

definition?... Are you trying to say that the largest affiliates aren't really affiliates at all?

Even the skins could be defined as Super affiliates /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
"Uh, yes your Honor, this man is withholding my rake from the illegal online poker I play. Can you please help? Forget the fact that the poker site is in another country and courts in the US have no authority on the matter."

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm no lawyer, but your success in this manner may be dependent on where the rakeback provider is located.

Of course, the fact that poker's illegal doesnt' help. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

Put it this way, if you were doign business with an importer, paid for some goods in advance, and he said that the foreign factory simply refused to ship... does the importer have to give you your money back?

It would depend on any contracts that you'd signed with him, I'd imagine, BUT if there were no contracts, I'd think that he would have to return the cash.

--Dave.

[Emperor]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ummm this has already happened...

and you know what.. They point the finger at Party and say, "It was all their fault!....By the way, would you like to sign up for GamesGrid?"

and you know what happened? NO ONE SAID %$#@! and PSO has been keeping 100% ever since...



[/ QUOTE ]
It's so easy to change affilliates at Party, I would hope that all the people who stopped getting rakeback from PSO have changed, or at least stopped playing at Party. If not, don't they deserve what they get?

What was PSO supposed to do?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well wht PSO should have done is 1. Assumed all of their high volume players would sign up for a skin, either through PSO or another afiliate. 2. Distributed the 27.5% that was agreed upon for Party clients and divided it among all of their Party Rakeback clients equally. (Instead they choose to keep it.)