I clearly like pain
The problems that exist with rakeback these days are different than the problems that used to exist. A lot of that is due to us policing ourselves. But there comes a point where the card rooms will need to jump in and do something to fix the leaks in the foundation (however few they may be these days). Many of these I went over in the podcast. Some didn't come up in the show.
1 (I could have actually stopped hear and covered most of the conversation). For the older bigger sites that allow rakeback you are going to need to bite the bullet. I think what
FTP is doing with rakebackpros is good but it is just missing one crucial element. Allow affiliates to submit players and receive a small percentage (anything less than 3% and they will just sell the players on another room, maybe that percentage can be promo money, there needs to be something). And by the way, go ahead and have an in house rakeback program (I know rakebackpros isn't), that way you have a solution for the players that need this service. Let's be honest when a player hears about rakeback they are going to want it. If you are going to allow it and you should because sometimes price is the best way to convert a player then at least protect yourselves and have every possible solution so you don't have unhappy customers (when you can, obviously this is imperfect but it is more on than off). If you need help with any part of this ASK THE AFFILIATES.
2. All rakeback should be automated (daily is best, weekly is OK). This won't just help rakeback operators it will help your customer service departments that field a lot of questions like "do you have any idea when XYZ pays rakeback?". It also has the added effect of having affiliates focus on getting customers.
3. Stop allowing websites to compete with you on price. You see it all the time on 2+2. If a website advertises on a website that you advertise on they should not have a better deal than you do. I think you can also put "clearing of the cookies issue here", stop allowing websites to have that on their sites. A simple rule should go like this, if we can't do it, you shouldn't.
I might even go a step further and say that there should be no advertising. I have proven this method can and does work, most of what people are spending is pure ego anyway. Now if they can generate traffic to their site, that is OK. Simply put the player needs to be looking for it not grabbed kicking and screaming like the flashing "come here and get a WSOP seat and a Maserati" are intended to do.
4. Take a cue from smaller websites and give smaller affiliates the chance to get into rakeback. Competition is good for you not bad. With the automated rakeback the issue of smaller affiliates stiffing players goes away. You don't need to start them at the mack daddy percentage but starting them lower than the cap allowed by the rooms forces them to go to bigger affiliates, thereby feeding the giant and making this situation worse.
Some other points.
You bigger rooms need to understand that the reason why a lot of these smaller rooms are catching up to you is because a new customer can get rakeback at those places. When you don't allow a player benefits that they know exist for other players you mine as well just kick them in the ass right out of the door. I know the issue is complicated but let me make it simple, do away with MGR that is non rakeback. I know this is controversial but let's get real, it is just getting in the way. Make affiliates pick between MGR, CPA and Advertising. If you are going to still allow MGR at least allow those affiliates some level of protection so they can offer rakeback if a customer so chooses. This might require a little thinking on their end and yours but this is not rocket science. If they don't want to give your customer something that is being openly offered everywhere then that is their prerogative but it is also the customers prerogative to leave the site and go elsewhere where they can get it.
Rake Races:
Where do I start. Promotions are obviously needed to energize a customer base, so I get that completely and on there own once every say 4-6 months they can do that. Doing them every month is just circumventing the caps that most of the big rakeback operators asked you to put in place to protect them from the price gougers. Guess what, they figured out they were their worst enemies. I have no problems with sites allowing rake races but why do you need to subsidize their senseless promo that does nothing but circumvent the caps? If they want to do it, it should be their money. In fact, if rake races are so great (they aren't btw) just have the site do them. Don't get me wrong, promos are good and I think they are important in our relationship and obviously some of the big guys get special priviledges, I get that. But a promo should be special, rake races are not special when they are done every month.
How to fix rakeback
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