If you are about to sign up for your 15th Party account-read this

[beanie]

There is too much discussion in this forum about the wrong thing. Here is what affiliates are doing wrong that has rakeback viewed in a negative manner. I’ll use the Party Poker example and I am really quickly turning to being on their side given the posts and behavior of affiliates to subvert the systems they have in place.

Party Poker says no rakeback network wide (way back when) so everyone leaves them and signs up with skins to get rakeback. As the customer I think everyone is OK at this point the reality is the customer sees a value and they go for it (though the customer did realistically know something was up when they had to set up their 5th neteller account in there grandmothers dogs name). The affiliate though is way out of bounds recruiting within the network to get new players. So eventually they get that memo and start spamming other sites. Unfortunately, all of those people have Party Poker accounts as well, no problem the affiliates already know how to beat the system from when they were stealing business from them and the fact is no affiliate seems to want to leave one nickel on the table.

At this point affiliates are fairly clear on this issue, Party Poker has advertised for these players, affiliates and skins now begin to recognize the fact that they are doing wrong but justify their subversive ways by saying to themselves “we are now so big if they screw us they screw themselves”. One big problem with that theory, people only take being stolen from for so long before they get real mad. In fact in the company itself (I am making a logical conclusion I have no information on this point) my guess is the affiliate managers that got those customers at first are now being undercut by new affiliate managers. The old guard hates rakeback, these guys put millions of dollars in Party Poker’s pocket, and they have their ear. The new guys tell anyone whatever they want to hear, the reality is there are few new customers in online poker. They are now part of the problem.

So Party cuts the skins and in effect picks up a bunch of percent they used to pay them. Affiliates are panicking and customers are panicking. Affiliates were making a fortune picking off players, though the relationship was relatively insecure, after all they were stealing those customers and there are only so many Fido Johnson’s you can sign up before Party Poker says “hey wait a second”. Affiliates actually buy the line that they will be able to sign up Party Poker customers in the transition. Customers will do anything to get back on the rakeback gravy train even though Party Poker has said and DONE many things to point out to them that this behavior is unacceptable. Affiliates will say anything to get back the money they have lost including going down the same path they were on even though they are putting their customers at considerable risk. The customer also knows the risk but they don’t care, they were getting something, they want it back and will do anything to get it back.

So, if Party Poker cut off its skins to gain X amount of percent, why are they going to allow affiliates to take up to 30% away from them? Simple answer, they won’t. If someone is asking you to set up your 13th Party Poker account, they aren’t doing you any favors.

It’s about time that the bigger affiliates in the industry start acting like businesses and get out of the back alleys.

So now I have identified the problems for the most part, I also think I have the solution and when I get 15 minutes free I will post that as well. Many people will want to kill the messenger; I am just identifying the problems. Affiliates and customers need to change their behavior to get the results we all desire.