Rakeback? Affiliate? What am I missing?

[SofaCoach]

I've been playing on Party for nearly a year, mostly 2/4 with some multi-table .50/1.00 thrown in. I play about 5,000 - 8,000 hands a month, winning an average of 3bb/100. There is alot of talk here about Rakeback deals and affiliates, and if I do a search I get about a zillion hits. But none that I've seen describe what the heck these things are. Can someone please elaborate? And am I missing out on something given the amount I play?

TIA

[meow_meow]

You are missing about $1500 a year by my calc.

[SofaCoach]

[ QUOTE ]
You are missing about $1500 a year by my calc.

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, but how do they work, and how to I get set up to receive a rakeback?

[Paul2432]

Many of the larger sites, most notably party poker and skins use affiliates to promote their site. The way it works is that if an affiliate signs up a new player, the affiliate in return receives a percentage of the rake generated by that player.

Some affiliates, in order to draw in new players offer to share the rake-back with the new player, although this is a violation of the terms of the affiliate agreement.

Be forwarned that the affiliate business is pretty sleazy so you need to be careful who you deal with. (many players have signed up under an affiliate who promised a rake back and never received a dime).

Undoubtebly you've probably already received affiliate offers by PM.

You can search this forum for more information.

Paul

[SofaCoach]

[ QUOTE ]
Undoubtebly you've probably already received affiliate offers by PM.
Paul

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Thanks for the clarification and info Paul. And yup, just checked my mailbox and got several offers.

I'm going to check Pokertracker to see just how much rake I've been paying and calc my upside.

One other question for whoever can answer it....I've already got an account at Party, my understanding is that these deals are for new accounts only. I tried setting up an account at Empire awahile back to take advantage of their $500 bonus but it wouldn't let me because of my Party account. It sounds like this would prevent me from taking advantage of a rakeback deal.

[morgant]

Not true, there is a very simple way to get around this barrier. Pick the affiliate you are interested in and they will be able to provide guidance.

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Morg.