Poker Affiliate BlogPoker Affiliate Blog, courtesy of Jeremy Enke, expert in Poker Affiliate Marketing.

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I’m sure it’s not news to you, but it does seem to be the topic of the day online: The Second World Series of Poker Europe starts tomorrow in London.

Can’t get to London in time? No sweat — it’s going to be covered on ESPN, of course. Read more about the event here.

The general consensus is that the WSOPE probably isn’t going to directly affect the online poker affiliate marketing industry. But then again, anything that draws attention to the game isn’t a bad thing, right? What do you think? Is this an event you look forward to following (or even attending)? Or is it under your radar?

Popularity: 10% [?]

Hey gang. As you’ve probably heard, Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank’s new bill, HR 6870, scored its first success yesterday as it cleared the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee.

So what’s that mean to us? This bill, also known as “The Payment System Protection Act of 2008,” was created as a revision to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). It seeks to change the details of UIGEA, a 2006 law that  effectively criminalized online poker and online gambling in the U.S. in 2006. (An earlier effort by Frank to introduce a bill that would have a greater effect on UIGEA was shot down over the summer, so this newer bill’s scope is a bit reduced. But it’s still a good start.)

Frank, who was named the “most influential person in corporate governance” by Directorship magazine earlier this month, seems to be genuinely committed to overturning UIGEA on the basis of its interference with personal freedoms. He’s been pretty outspoken on that point, claiming that the bill, which is heavily supported by the Republican party, is yet another excuse for the U.S. government to intrude into the personal lives of citizens.

Cut through all that political rhetoric, though, and what we’re left with is a bill that specifically attempts to better define the details of the notoriously vague UIGEA, which had charged financial institutions with the responsibility of policing online transactions — a pretty difficult task that should not fall into the hands of private financial organizations, Frank and others have argued.

So, the bill wouldn’t exactly repeal UIGEA. It’s really just an attempt to draw attention to the many flaws in the legislation, in the hopes that a movement will build in Congress to eventually overturn it. And it seems that Frank has had some success building such a movement, but there’s still a long way to go.

From a press release issued by the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative:

A bill that would relieve a significant burden on U.S. financial services companies forced to implement a ban on Internet gambling passed a critical hurdle in Congress today. The Payments System Protection Act (H.R. 6870), approved today by the House Committee on Financial Services, would direct the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System, in consultation with the Attorney General, to appoint a special Administrative Law Judge to define the types of unlawful online gambling and conduct an economic impact study on the costs for compliance. The enactment of the bill would have the practical impact of delaying implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) regulations through a process designed to ensure that the regulations do not impair the functioning of the U.S. payments system, or inappropriately prevent legal online transactions.

The Committee also approved an amendment to the bill that requires federal regulators to issue regulations to financial institutions within 60 days of enactment to block all Internet gambling wagers on sports, except for those involving horse racing, dog racing and jai-lai. Under the amendment, unlawful sports operators and sites would be specified by the U.S. Treasury on a list that would be consulted by financial institutions to implement the prohibition. The legislation and amendment were introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

“This important vote acknowledges that the previous attempt to prohibit Internet gambling was overly burdensome and unworkable,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “We hope this vote indicates a willingness of Congress to develop a more sensible approach towards Internet gambling. Rather than prohibit an activity millions of Americans enjoy in the privacy of their homes, just as they can do in a casino, Congress should create a framework to regulate Internet gambling as a way to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed federal revenue.”

Rep. Frank introduced the Payments System Protection Act in response to concerns raised by the financial services industry that the proposed rules to implement UIGEA forced banks and other payments services to determine for themselves what types of online activity are lawful and what are not, when the federal government itself was unable to specify the distinction between lawful and illegal online gambling activities. Rep. Frank stated that once the bill is passed “at least the banks will know what is and isn’t illegal.”

Rep. Frank listed representatives of the U.S. financial services industry, including the Chamber of Commerce, The Financial Services Roundtable and the Credit Union National Association, as all supporting the bill. Each had previously criticized the proposed regulations implementing UIGEA, describing them as unworkable and burdensome.
Sources present at the Committee mark-up of the bill stated that the language exempting sports prohibitions from the further rule-making and mandating sports-only regulations to go forward within sixty days from enactment appeared to have been developed in consultation with the sports leagues. Accordingly, the last-minute objection made by the leagues to the bill immediately before the committee vote came as a surprise.

According to Sandman, at the mark-up Rep. Frank expressed his disappointment with the sports leagues, stating that he was working to do “everything that they wanted.” Sandman said, “Congressman Frank felt it was inappropriate for the sports leagues to tell other people they can’t do what they want to do.”

During debate on the bill and amendment, Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) stated his view that the position of the sports leagues was disingenuous. Further, Rep. Clay asked what was different between wagering on sports via the Internet and wagering on sports in a land-based casino in Las Vegas.

Additional Internet Gambling Legislation

The Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007 (H.R. 2046), introduced last year by Rep. Frank, would establish an enforcement framework for licensed gambling operators to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the U.S. It includes a number of built-in consumer protections, including safeguards against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft. A companion piece of legislation that would ensure the collection of taxes on regulated Internet gambling activities, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act of 2008 (H.R. 5523), was introduced by Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA).

Rep. McDermott also introduced, the Investing in our Human Resources Act (H.R.6051), which would direct new revenue generated by regulated Internet gambling activities to be spent on job training for those in the declining sectors of the economy and educational assistance for youth in foster care. The bill also includes provisions to encourage responsible Internet gambling behavior and an awareness of unsafe practices, something problem gambling advocates praise.

What do you think? Is this an exciting step in the right direction, or too little too late? Do you see any hope of UIGEA ever getting overturned?

Popularity: 20% [?]

Since 2005, I have had the pleasure of attending several iGaming conferences throughout the world — from Las Vegas to Cyprus, and everywhere in between.

When it comes to creativity at trade shows, there are not many industries that can rival iGaming. I’ve seen everything from naked women covered in body paint to chimpanzees playing poker in the display booth.

Having helped plan some of these events, as well as running the affiliate forums and being an affiliate myself, I’ve had the unique opportunity to work closely with both operators and affiliates over the years. And so, with CAP Euro Barcelona right around the corner, and CAP Euro London later this year, I wanted to share some simple tips on what affiliate managers can do to get the most return on their investment from trade shows.

1. Arrive with a Plan in Place and Close Deals On-Site. Trade shows in the iGaming business are great for meeting new affiliates. Equally important, but sometimes overlooked, is the fact that they’re also ideal for nurturing your existing relationships with the goal of increasing an individual affiliate’s current production.

Either way, it is critical to arrive at the show with clear goals in mind, and the motivation and readiness to close deals. Figure out beforehand what key affiliates you need to meet with, and prepare for what deals, CPAs, and/or MGRs you’ll be willing to offer them. Getting commitments during the show will give you far greater ROI than having to chase affiliates down via email and IM the following week.

2.  Give Visitors an Incentive or Reason to Visit Your Booth. The importance of this cannot be overstated.  As an affiliate who has walked around my fair share of trade shows, I can tell you that if an unknown vendor doesn’t give me a compelling reason to stop, I probably won’t.

You can increase your trade show traffic by either having something “outside the box” in your booth, or by running a promotion prior to the event enticing people to visit your booth when they arrive. Gaming affiliates always appreciate and remember a creative promotion or idea.

3.  Attend As Many Parties and Activities As You Can. Selling your program is not strictly limited to when you’re in a booth. It amazes me when programs spend thousands of dollars to attend shows, and then never attend the social activities (where the real networking happens).

There is no question that those late nights are rough when you have to be up early in the morning. However, keep in mind that most affiliates sit behind a computer 60+ hours a week, so having face-to-face social time with others in the industry is a huge opportunity. I think I speak for most affiliates when I say that some of my best relationships with AMs and operators were a result of in getting to know each other at social functions, and not in a 30-minute mid-day meeting.

4.  Have Giveaways That Work. If I never receive another deck of cards, hat, or pen with a gaming company logo for the rest of my life, I would be okay with that. When ordering giveaway merchandise for the show, try to order things that are either interesting or that affiliates will actually use when they get home. Be original, in other words.

Trust me: Most affiliates are not wearing branded gaming hats and clothes when they get home. On the flipside, however, if you give away something useful, and original, affiliates may have your brand in front of them every day for months to come. I would share a few good ideas here, but then everyone would show up with the same thing!

5.  Be Remembered: Differentiate Your Products and Program. Whether it’s something unique about your booth, or some kind of unique aspect to your program, you should have something that differentiates your program from the others and makes it memorable.

Affiliates meet with many new affiliate managers and programs at every show. By the time it’s over, everyone is mentally and physically drained. Aside from the programs they already work with, affiliates are probably only going to aggressively start new campaigns with just a handful of affiliate programs they remember from the show. Do something, give something away, or have some reason for affiliates to remember your program when they get back behind their computers.

6.  Follow Up Promptly (But Not Too Promptly). It doesn’t need to be said that following up is critical. Everyone knows this. The timing and means of follow-up, however, can ensure that you either do or do not make it onto an affiliate’s site.  For example, if you’re going to follow up by email, don’t do it the day you leave. All this does is throw your email into the affiliate’s inbox along with the other 400+ unread emails from the week.

If you really want to make an impact and earn the business, this is how you can stand out from all the other programs: Identify who your top prospects are from the show, and send them something tangible with a thank-you letter and specific follow-up request. Remember, most affiliates live in an online world and truly appreciate getting something tangible in the mail.

7.  This Business Revolves Around Relationships: People Are Everything! None of the above points means anything if you don’t have the right people representing you at shows. With so many options out there for gaming affiliates, it really doesn’t matter if you’re offering an extra 5 percent MGR or a higher rate to start. Someone will always be able to offer the same or better.

Most high-producing affiliates can get virtually the same type of deal with any program. They want to be able to trust their affiliate managers, and work with individuals who are outgoing, fun, and care about their success.  Simply having the right people representing your program at a show can make all the difference in the world.

Jeremy Enke is an affiliate himself, and the founder and general manager of the world’s largest poker affiliate community at PokerAffiliatePrograms.com. Jeremy is a regular speaker at gaming conferences and a monthly contributor to the industry’s largest print publications.

Popularity: 14% [?]

September 12, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — The U.S. poker coaching firms CardRunners and StoxPoker have combined training library resources to provide what spokesmen describe as the most comprehensive poker training references on the Internet.

Each company boasts a roster of highly experienced instructors, and will continue to operate seperately and focus on specific market areas, sharing the enhanced library resource.

“We’re delighted to add breadth and depth to our poker training resources while delivering a decisive competitive advantage to more than 14,000 members,” said Taylor Caby, co-founder of CardRunners, explaining that the company concentrates on using a diverse range of instructional videos to improve the advanced player’s game, backed by coaching by poker experts such as Brian Townsend, Cole South, Brian Hastings and Caby himself.

Matt Matros, Robert Williamson III, Ed Miller, and an additional eleven coaches soon to be announced at StoxPoker focus on the small- and mid-stakes player, using classroom-style training at StoxPoker University, with interactive quizzes, and personal coaching videos, with narration of key hands, decisions and concepts.

“Stoxpoker coaches and customers now have more resources behind them than ever before,” said Nick Grudzien for the company. “Our merger with CardRunners will deliver more value to our customers and allow our coaches to spend even more time on what they do best — produce well communicated training content for small and Mid-stakes players in almost all games.”

Popularity: 12% [?]

The first ever 2008 PAP Canadian meetup took place over the past weekend, and I am pleased to report back that it was a smashing success.  Jeremy here, I know the author says GP for some reason, but it’s me.  Before moving on, I do feel obligated to say a big Thank-you to our sponsors 888.com.  Because of them we were able to enjoy an awesome boat ride directly into Niagara Falls, as well as a great night of cocktails and poker.

I’ll attempt to give a brief summary of the weekend. Almost everyone arrived on Friday night and a few of us met up for dinner at Wolfgang Pucks.  Following this, there was a bit of gambling that took place (imagine that) and then a few of us went to one of the most exclusive clubs in Niagara, Dragonfly.

Of course in true poker affiliate fashion, we slipped a few dollars to the V.I.P. host and next thing you know we were sitting in the V.I.P. section.  Nothing beats bottle service and a private area with good friends in a club like Dragonfly.

Later that night we did some additional gambling.  If my memory serves me correct, there were no big winners this night.  The next morning we got up and had a great breakfast followed by a nice presentation from 888.com.  It’s amazing how much this company has going on throughout the world.

After breakfast we all headed out for a ride on the Maid of The Mist boat.  Having never seen the Niagara Falls up close before, this was amazing.  You don’t realize how much power the falls have until you are smack in the middle of the horseshoe getting rained on from the mist.   It was absolutely amazing!

After this everyone had the afternoon to explore Niagara, gamble, rest, or really do whatever.  My wife, Karl, and his wife decided to walk the city.  We ended up at what is supposed to be the scariest haunted house in the world.  The picture they took of us at Nightmares Haunted House was absolutely hysterical.  Check it out here…….priceless.

That evening we had another amazing dinner overlooking the falls.  After this we all met back up as a group and played some poker while enjoying cocktails courtesy of the 888.com affiliate program once again.  The party lasted way into the night and eventually ended up in the casino and casino bar.  Amazingly my slot luck was with me once again, I won $1000 on a $1 slot machine.  I really should go pro!

All in all, I am extremely happy with how the Canadian Meet-Up turned out.  It was a much more intimate and relaxed event than the tradional conferences.  I could definetely do a few of these weekend getaways every year.  Most importantly though I got to hang out with good frineds from PAP and put some names with faces on people I have wanted to meet for a long time.  Thanks to all of you that came!

Popularity: 11% [?]

September 9, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — In a tough four-day tournament characterized by long hours at the felt, Frenchman Alain Roy was victorious in the Partouche Poker Tour Cannes Main Event over the weekend, beating a field of 480 entrants that included top global players like Gus Hansen, Scotty Nguyen, Robert and Michael Mizrachi, Noah Schwartz, Jeff Madsen, David Williams, Alexander Kostritsyn, Pascal Perrault, Nicholas Levi, Erica Schoenberg, Tiffany Michelle, and Phil Ivey.

Roy’s heads up with Claudio Rinaldi after a grueling four days of poker action was, by contrast, a short and sharp three hands affair that ended with Roy pocketing the $1,426,645 winner’s check, leaving Rinaldi with a generous second placing payday of  $729,158.

The elimination of Gus Hansen after 15 hours of tiring Day 3 play set the final table for the main event, which comprised Stephane Bazin holding the chip lead on 2,387,000, with Roy close behind on 2,225,000, followed by Philippe Narboni, Brice Cournut, Jean Philippe Rohr, Claudio Rinaldi, Anthonin Teisseire and Michel Abecassis.

Hopelessly short-stacked Abecassis was first to go, eliminated by Rinaldi and collecting $112,278 for his trouble. Out in seventh place for $143,378 was Brice Cournut, taken out by Bazin. Minutes later, he was followed by Rohr in sixth place — another victim of Rinaldi, but taking home $175,477.

Narboni took the fifth spot, picking up $223,270 after being sent to the rail by Roy, who went on to eliminate Bazin in fourth place for  $321,709. Roy was by now chip leader, and his next target was Tesseire, who was sent home in third place with $477,926.

Going into the heads up, Roy held a significant chip lead of almost 8 to 1, and his dominance was reflected in the three hands it took to despatch Rinaldi.

Popularity: 9% [?]

The world’s largest online poker company, PokerStars, has announced that its Mac platform software is now safely out of the Beta stage and is fully functional and ready to play — just in time for the seventh edition of the firm’s World Championship of Online Poker.

The company announced Friday that the software was available for download, receiving acclaim from many of players upon this announcement. According to InfoPowa News, 2005 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem said: “This is a great addition for both PokerStars and the poker playing audience. This will allow Mac users to experience the world’s largest online poker site without third-party applications. I know a lot of the actors and musicians I coach via PokerStars will appreciate its release — the creative community uses Macs before any other computer.”

Online poker star Bertrand “ElKy” Grospellier commented: “PokerStars understands what gamers want. Although PCs are still the top gaming platform, the number of online games for Mac has been growing by leaps and bounds. The community started asking for an acceptable online poker version for Mac, and PokerStars stepped up to deliver it. They didn’t rush into a launch, but developed the best software for the platform, in line with Mac user feedback and advice, to ensure users have a positive experience.”

What do you think? Are you a Mac user who has been eagerly waiting for this moment? Have you already tried the PokerStars Mac platform in its Beta stage? We’d love to hear what the PAP community thinks of this news; feel free to weigh in with any commentary below.

Popularity: 9% [?]