Niches with Most Potential in 2013

Looking ahead to the new year, iGaming affiliates may find themselves wondering which niches have the most potential to thrive in 2013. Here are the gambling affiliate program niches poised to be the best new market of next year:
Binary Options
It could be time to cash in on binary options, the “all or nothing” financial trading game that is a favored new trend in gaming affiliate program options.
Binary options allow investors to place call or put options on asset closing prices. As opposed to regular options trading in which one’s potential gain or loss is indeterminable at the time the investment is placed, binary options offer a fixed loss amount at the time of the trade. Players either lose the full value of their asset exposure or increase that investment by roughly 85% (the trading platform providers, of course, retain a cut of investor winnings).
Affiliates have cast an eye towards this blossoming market due to its limited competition and high payouts for player acquisitions. 2013 could be the year binary options finally reach their boiling point and explode in popularity.
Forex
A cousin iGaming niche to binary options is forex trading. Forex affiliates enjoy exposure to players from Asia where trading currency values is all the rage. Since other forms of online gaming are generally not as popular in Asia, forex offers affiliates great exposure to that region of the world..
In 2013, forex appears primed to continue its elevation in status as a big money-maker for affiliates. It’s a conversion opportunity that attracts an entirely different demographic than more traditional online gaming paths promoted by affiliates.
Affiliate programs like RushBucks are bringing together the best of both worlds by enabling affiliates to promote both forex as well as binary options through one platform. Since these two niches share a close relation, it could be smart for affiliates looking to enter this space to aim for conversions from both niches in 2013.
Poker (If It Gets Legalized)
Could online poker be primed for another boom in the U.S.? Maybe. Some are saying that online poker revenue for U.S. government could save the country. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but there’s no ignoring the impending advancement of legal online poker games in the U.S.
Already, the state of Nevada has legalized online poker and is in the process of laying the framework for operators to begin servicing their residents. Online poker games should be live in that state in the first half of 2013.
Elsewhere, states like New Jersey and California appear they are imminent to join the ranks of Nevada as legal online poker operators. But affiliates eyeing the up-and-coming legal online poker market in the U.S. would be wise not to hold their breath for legislation on the federal level.
While Senators Harry Reid and Dean Heller are pushing a bi-partisan effort to legalize online poker, the game’s chances of nationwide legal status are murky at best. Expect instead for more states to continue to legalize the game in the coming years which may eventually result in federal intervention in the market.