Are poker affiliate partners like PokerStars too quick to shut down supposedly inactive accounts? That’s the suggestion making the rounds on affiliate forums recently, and it’s being asked about several poker operators, not just PokerStars.
The issue bubbled up this week in a posting on AffiliateGuardDog.com titled, PokerStars now also close (sic) your account if you don’t bring new customers. The poster, who goes by the name, Gentling said:
Got email from Pokerstars that if i dont bring ”every” month one customer they will not pay any comission on any players brought before…its just spreading around that everyone is claiming we need to bring in news … thats a bit disapointing, if you just dont want or can promote a room anymore they trying to shave you
Though Gentling is understandably disappointed in the situation, PokerStars isn’t exacly hiding this policy. Section 5.5 of the PokerStars affiliate terms & conditions document clearly states that affiliates must bring in at least one new players a month.
Whether that policy is fair or good business is another issue entirely, though it’s hardly uncommon these days. Over at PokerEagles.com, Kevin Brkal pointed out that lots of programs are embracing this policy these days. He points to a number of programs that have policies similar to Pokerstars’.
The lesson here is that affiliates need to read their affiliate T&C’s very carefully to avoid these kind of nasty surprises.