- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
If you wish to compete with the rakeback sites, then you know what you need to do.
Of course I know what to do there. Take a 20% cut in pay is what is needed.
After that all will be honkey dory.
“Surely, competition is the cost of doing business. If one business wishes to undercut another then that is their prerogative. It is your choice as a competing business to follow suit or not. If you wish to compete with the rakeback sites, then you know what you need to do. If you don’t, then you have to find your own angle to bring in the players.”
The above statement is correct, but in business it also is correct to do everything in your power (within accepted guidelines) to remain competitive. By supporting programs that do not allow rakeback and trying to influence the ones that do to discontinue allowing it is simply a sound business decision that will help all affiliates.
By supporting programs that do not allow rakeback and trying to influence the ones that do to discontinue allowing it is simply a sound business decision that will help all affiliates.
Actually, it will only help those affiliates who aren’t interested in doing a rakeback program. Affiliates who offer rakeback are still affiliates.
You are correct Randy. What I should have said is a very large percentage of affiliates. What percentage of poker affiliates give rake back? I would guess 3 to 4%.
The point is that in this situation, soner or later, all poker affiliates will have to take a 20% paycut in order to stay in business, since in the long run it will be impossible to compete against rake back sites without taking a beating oneself.
Right now rake back affiliates are happy, because wherever they are able to reach players they are able to convert them in record numbers. It is profitable to do rake back at this point.
Now, once the non-rake back folks are forced to take the pay cut to survive, everyone suddenly loses.
The rakeback folks will have lost their edge, and everyone will make less money than the programs promise.
Who wins? The program, for a short while. They get to have the affiliates pay player incentives out of their own pockets, something that is normally done by the poker room.
Next thing affiliates will continue to underbid each other until promoting poker has become completely unprofitable.
On the way there, the quality of promotion will decrease and decrease because it will not be worthwile to spend a lot of time or money on promoting poker.
Having affiliates do rake back is extremely short sighted and will end badly for the poker industry if it continues.
pokermonger wrote:You are correct Randy. What I should have said is a very large percentage of affiliates. What percentage of poker affiliates give rake back? I would guess 3 to 4%.I would guess that’s probably a pretty accurate guess, although I’m not 100% sure about it. It would be pretty hard to know for sure unless you were on the other side of the biz.
Winning players are the most profitable poker players to have as an affiliate. I would say that 100% of winning players know what a “rake” is, whereas a lot of losing players do not know or do not care about the “rake.” The point I am trying to make is that the winning players are eventually going to migrate to affiliates offering rake back and the losing players are going to end up with the affiliates not offering rake back. I already have a feeling I am losing players to other affiliates because my sign ups continue to be high and my revenue seems to be stuck in idle mode.
I agree with Dominique and I am against the rake back model.
Very well said Dom.
this is most discouraging for those who have put so much time and effort into creating a poker site(s).
I imagine Dean and Ellen are feeling very uncomfortable right now with current situations are they are; and I think they make a big part of their income off poker.
it never seems to fail. as soon as someone comes up with a way to make a decent buck, somebody else finds a way to shoot everybody in the ass in the name of quick money.
I just noticed that Absolute, along with Sunpoker, has actually built an automated feed to accomodate rake backs.
I guess these two are way down that path.
This saddens me – two programs I always thought were among the most ethical.
In light of Absolute Poker’s latest action, they will no longer be tops on my list. I am moving Party Poker and Paradise Poker to the top of my recommended sites list. Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet is going to the bottom.
Dominique wrote:I just noticed that Absolute, along with Sunpoker, has actually built an automated feed to accomodate rake backs. :nervous: How does the feed work? And where is it? I can’t seem to find anything in the Income Access “marketing tools” area.AceKicker wrote:Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet is going to the bottom.Same here. I haven’t gotten around to promoting UB yet, and now I’m in no hurry to do so.This must be handed out to individuals privately.
I see it advertised.
I guess these sites that allow rake back are looking at the short term benefits instead of the long term benefits. Thankfully Party Poker is taking care of its affiliates and doing what I think is the right thing. Hopefully income access changes their mind, but until they do, I will not promote them because I have no chance competing.
Well, it’s not income access itself – it’s the poker rooms. Income access also has other properties which I will continue to advertise.
And we haven’t heard from Absolute yet – I hope they will talk to us on Monday. I imagine they are discussing this and taking their time – which is ok by me as long as they don’t just ignore the issue.
Dominique wrote:This saddens me – two programs I always thought were among the most ethical.
Just because a poker room offers rakeback to the players and a few affiliates take advantage of this marketing oppertunity, you cannot brand them unethical. What makes them unethical? They are a very ethical and upstanding organisation towards players and affiliates alike… many may not agree with the rake back issue (We do not promote in this way either) but I still would not think of a program OR affiliate that does as unethical.
It is my choice if I want to offer this to players or promote a poker room that offers it.
Saying that a room that offers rakeback is unethical is the same as branding all casinos with a loyalty program where you get $1 for every $10 played back.
The fact that affiliates cover these costs in a poker room is their own choice. If you don’t like it – don’t promote it. We do very well without the rakeback.
Let us not confuse things with rash statements.
That said – I would prefer them not offering the rakeback either!
