WPEX affilate program possible? (it sounds dumb, but hear me out)

[Gregatron]

I just made the following post on the zoo, and thought it might be interesting enough to share here:
Someone asked:

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This is gonna sound borderline retarded, but are there any affiliates for WSEX that offer anything?

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I responded:

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It's actually not quite as retarded as it sounds. Affiliates are great for recruiting players, and WPEX plans on using this RB promotion to get more money into thier sportsbook and casino. They don't plan on losing money on it, so it makes some sense that thaey might have an affiliate program. I am 99% sure they do not though. I think they are hoping word of mouth works. The problem is the casual poker play is radically uninformed about rake and its effect.

I think they should have an affiliate program of some sort. EDIT: Another zoo poster (I forget who) thought of this first -- it's not my original idea. Affiliates would not get paid unless they person they recruited placed some sports bets or casino wagers though. Perhaps some affiliates should look into that, and ask the WPEX management if that sort of arrangement is possible.

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The problem with WPEX is its player pool. Affiliates get customers. How many affiliates might be interested in refering players to WPEX on the condition that the affilates get rewarded when that player makes sports or casino wagers? It might just be a one time payout, but it might increase traffic to the site.

Thoughts?

[Pokeraddict]

I am not 100% sure what the full story is but they cut their affiliate program a month or two before they changed their format. I am pretty sure this included sportsbook affiliates too. I would think they would be hard to convince to go back to an affiliate program so soon, especially with the new approach.

I think WSEX would be better off having a very small rake and using that money to offer bonuses and perhaps affiliates.

The problem at this point is, fish don't fully realize the effect of rake. They see Party has a $200 bonus...WSEX has no rake. "Duh", says the fish, "I'm going to play on Party Poker! Who cares about rake, it's hardly anything anyway. I'm going to get $200!"

I've got a good friend, smart, plays poker casually. I'd say he's weak-tight, but that's better than most at the home games. We've played 3/6 at a B&M with 10% rake. I told him the game is basically unbeatable at that rake level and he just shook his head and said it doesn't sound right and that it can't be that bad. I ran some numbers at him and while I think intellectually he gets it, at a gut level 10% of a pot doesn't seem like much to him.

Denial/delusion is a powerful force.

I think if WSEX had a flat 1% rake capped at $1 per hand, it's still be the lowest by leaps and bounds, but they'd have money with which to really try and bring in fish through promotions or affiliates.

[AAAA]

as with all things, it should be open to negotiation. i doubt that wpex wants to lose a bunch of sportsbettors because they didn't pay affiliates.

i would suggest giving it a bit of time to settle in before going there unless you have some big bettors who think wpex has some good lines on something. how many of you poker players use anything besides bonus opportunities or pinnacle, and how much vig do you pay?

as an affiliate i have mentioned wpex to many people anyway, but would mention to many more if the sports book income were kicked back on players i referred. that seems to be just common sense.

p.s. most of the people i have referred have not stayed, FWIW.

[Gregatron]

It's been a few months, and with the zoo thread where the WSEX GM is asking questions making this issue salient, I thought I would bump this thread. Frankly, I was a bit dissapointed some more people did not respond to this thread when I first made it. I was hoping for some thoughtful discussion.

Anyway, on this thread I posted this:

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****Getting more players to your site****

Affiliates.

"But Greg, WPEX is a rakefree site. They can't afford to pay affiliates like Party, etc?"

Well, obviously we have to forget about the unmentionable here. There is no rake to give back (which is awesome!). Affiliates cant get a cut of rake. So what could create a financial incentive for affliates to funnel traffic to WPEX -- their enthusiasm for a no rake site and thier love of what is good for poker? Yeah right . No really, a realistic financial incentive MIGHT be to give them (affiliates) a cut of the action these players give to WSEX casino and sportsbook. Not a lot, but as one of Mario Puzo's mafioso characters would say, enough to "wet the beak."

Bottom line: affiliates are going to increase traffic. You need to find a way to get them to funnel traffic to WSEX. You probably know a lot more than I do about how to make this feasible without giving away the store. I just wanted to bring it to your attention.

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JasonHoldem (well respected poster) also posted:

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Affiliates = good

I really don't care how you do it...but considering you're essentially giving free poker as a loss leader to the sports book perhaps you could offer affiliates a cut of players action on that side, or a flat rate per sign-up (maybe with the condition the sign-up has to wager $XXX in the book first), or prizes, or whatever...like I said I really don't care but creating some sort of an affiliate program should be at or near the top of the list of priorities, IMHO.

Also, (this relates to your customer service problems as well) when you guys first went rake free I sent an email to support offering to put a WPEX banner for on my site (completely free because I knew you didn't have an affiliate program yet). All I wanted you to do was send me a standard size banner via email (or even just tell me where to find one on your site)...sadly I never got a banner, or any response for that matter.

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So instead of making a new post, I thought I would bump this old one in hopes of thoughtful (and perhaps constructive) dialog.

Greg