how do these rakeback providers not get caught?

[TStoneMBD]

this is something that i never understood:

if you got a guy who has 50+ clients signed up through him offering rakeback, how does party not shut him down? dont they know who the big providers are and their bonus codes? they could easily just signup through their site, get their bonus code and shutdown his entire affiliate account.

is there something im missing?

[kenberman]

b/c Party used to be very lax with their rakeback enforcement policies.

They aren't any more.

[LALDAAS]

Here is my biggest question.

Why the hell do they even care?

[krazyace5]

[ QUOTE ]
Here is my biggest question.

Why the hell do they even care?

[/ QUOTE ]

[tripdad]

how does party know he offers rakeback? many affiliates have lots of players signed up without rake back deals.

if you're asking about the affiliates with "rakeback websites", they likely have a deal worked out through their affiliate rep. if they don't, they are simply gambling. some do get "caught".

cheers!

[PokerBob]

[ QUOTE ]
Here is my biggest question.

Why the hell do they even care?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, cuz it's money out of their pocket. I play around 30K hands/month. In rakeback I get around $1.2K. If Party had their choice, they'd keep that $1.2K PLUS the ammount my affiliate gets.

[daveymck]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Here is my biggest question.

Why the hell do they even care?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, cuz it's money out of their pocket. I play around 30K hands/month. In rakeback I get around $1.2K. If Party had their choice, they'd keep that $1.2K PLUS the ammount my affiliate gets.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes but if they offer rakeback then it doesnt change how much the affiliate gets form Party their outlay is the same.

I suspect we may see a reduction the mgr percentage returned to affiliates in the near future.

Ideally party want people to sign up direct rather than through affiliates.

[bmetz]

[ QUOTE ]
Here is my biggest question.

Why the hell do they even care?

[/ QUOTE ]

The only conclusion that I can come to, is that Party doesn't want to deal with the backlash of uninformed and/or veteran Party players that are playing there without a rake rebate...when they find out about rake rebates. With the growing popularity of rake rebates, this is an inevitablity.

The effect of this can be felt by those players switching to a Party skin to get a rebate (lost revenue), the player switching to another poker network entirely to get rakeback (lost revenue), or customer support time spent explaining to customers that they're not eligible for those rake rebates.

Their solution to this problem, up til now, was to formally forbid it, but not enforce that policy.

Well, they're now enforcing it. The question of whether or not they have the power to force their network sites (Eurobet, and Empire) to implement similar systems to discourage rakeback remains to be seen. But if past history is any indication of future performance (see PokerNow), rakebacks at Party and skins will soon be a thing of the past.

[Eratosthenes]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Here is my biggest question.

Why the hell do they even care?

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

I posted this a week or two ago:

I think this is related to the Party IPO. When you go public you have to lay out a lot of your financial info that is now very closely held. The most important data is gross "sales" --that is, the top line. In party's case, sales is rake. As long as Party is just paying affiliates to go find new players to pay rake, that is OK--it is a cost of sales. When some of that money paid to affiliates goes back to the customer (player), then that is no longer cost of sales and should be deducted from the top line. The last thing Party wants to do is reduce the size of the top line right before the IPO. On the other hand they cannot leave themselves open to charges of inflating the top line by under-the-table rebates--that could send people to jail.

I think this is behind Party's new interest in rake back. If my guess is correct, I have no idea how it will work out. Many affiliates give gift certs; Party's accountants/lawyers may have decided that gift certs are OK, but Neteller deposits or cash transfers are not.

Caution: I'm not a financial professional, but I have been sitting at the conference table when these things have been explained to the corporate management of my old company.

[shadow29]

More importantly, isn't rakeback a kickback, which is illegal in most states?