[beanie]

I love this forum. I run a fairly large sub affiliate group that represents a good percentage of online poker. My affiliates are network marketers and don't use many of the same techniques that we as poker players have had to become comfortable with. Please don’t PM me asking what or how I do things. I am not interested in gaining any business from my interaction on this forum. In fact, I don’t even recruit players my subs do, trust me, if you are a baller, you know who we are and likewise is the case. One thing that makes my group unique is that we actually ask people to not do all of the craziness that is common with setting up rakeback accounts. It reflects poorly on our group and it isn’t necessary for us to gain customers given our relationships.

Here is my take on the Party Poker thing.

UUUUUUUhhhhhhhhh Party Poker!!!!!

This was the best thing to happen to me (just thinking about it makes me smile), I would like to personally thank whoever came up with this plan. Party Poker single handedly gave every card room an opportunity to gain marketshare on them. As a person who gains income from changes in the market I welcome all change. For every room that thinks rakeback should go away, there are four rooms willing to offer 5% more to get customers.

Party Poker was built on the sweat of affiliates and skins that promote them, it is the single biggest reason they are who they are today. For them to turn on these groups because Party Poker created an inequitable system (with their skins) is ridiculous. This was a simpler fix. If they were going to do operator rake back, do it network wide. In fact, why didn’t that occur to them when they started these skins? Did it not occur to them that as long as you have affiliate income someone will figure out a way to give it to customers to gain business. Would anyone have ever left for 30% at Eurobet from some affiliate they don’t know if Party was giving 25% to VIP players? Of course not. Party created this problem themselves and turned on the people that made them who they are. Which brings me to another point, people play more because of rakeback incentives, they go broke less. The system Party created by accident that seemed to screw them actually increased their business in a massive way. What rakeback has proven is that rather than reducing the rake it is better to give back to VIP players and that will pay for itself in increased play by that player.

For all the affiliates that had armies of people promoting for Party/Empire/Eurobet, when Party screwed them guess what they are going to do. Those same armies will be turned on Party Poker. You just don't take millions of dollars from someone without them getting a little mad. Now I know what people are going to say, "but they took the money from Party Poker, it was tit for tat" and you know what, you are absolutely right, though they created this problem, when you have affiliate income that is an incentive and if poker players are anything they are value consumers. It doesn’t take any prodding for them to figure out how to get value.

Affiliate marketing has become so bastardized by everyone setting up 15 accounts in their nephews dogs names that it has created a nightmare for CS departments everywhere. You would be shocked at what affiliates don’t know about the complications these types of activities cause. That said, I will personally put my own money to a union of affiliates that will do whatever it takes to get rid of spammers and people recruiting at tables. Our players are playing at these tables it is so easy for us to police this and it is absolutely necessary. This is single handedly the reason that all of these problems exist. These companies spend millions of dollars to market for customers to have some numbnuts steal that guy. I have proven with my marketing techniques that going the easy route is not always the best route, with time and a plan you can do things the right way and do them well. And we wonder why they are mad at us?

Lastly, someone will mention that I have had a relationship in the past with UB and that somehow my comments are motivated by this. In a sense they will be right, I manage programs everywhere now, so UB and all of the other sites my subs promote will benefit from this debacle Party has created for themselves. I do not represent UB anymore than I represent any other company my group promotes. I have consulted for many card rooms, I am open to getting PM’s but if they are regarding getting rakeback somewhere I won’t even read them out of respect for this forum and the advertisers that pay money to promote here. Also, please don’t PM me about becoming a sub, my subs are quite large and it is usually a unique situation where I will take on new business and I most definitely will not take a sub from a PM at 2+2. I walk it like I talk it and I don’t think spamming is good for this industry.