I had to take a couple weeks away from posting my thoughts and tips. Thankfully, the family (6 Teenagers) and my wife Durana had an awesome vacation in Branson, MO – The last few years we have leased this condo on a beautiful golf course. Branson is a great place for a relaxing family themed vacation. We needed the rest more than we even realized lol.

Since the now famous “Black Friday” the poker world has been upside down. Working with hundreds of sub-affiliates on Elite Affiliate Software, I’ve seen a lot of poker affiliates having rough time adjusting. I mean lets face it, time are just tough. As rough as it has been, I truly believe that any poker affiliate that can stick through these rough times will be in position to have  a great business in the end. Let’s face it, most people don’t like adversity and most people quit when times get tough. So if you can stick it out, you will reap the rewards very soon.

CPA or Revenue Share?

Lately, the most asked question I get is weather *I* think affiliates should opt for CPA (where you get a flat amount for each player) or Revenue Share (Where you earn a percentage of the player rake) – I’m honestly AMAZED to see affiliate still going for revshare when given a choice. Obviously, revshare sounds a lot better. Most room promote something like “Earn 30-40% Revenue Share for LIFE on players” – Right off the bat you should see the obvious issues. How long is forever in the poker world? As you know, since black Friday 2 of the top 3 poker rooms have essentially shut down completely (Full Tilt Poker) or they just won’t pay people like UB or Absolute Poker.

So let me ask you again, how long is “Lifetime”?

As most of the reader of this site know, I’m known mostly as being a Rakeback Affiliate. What most of you probably don’t know is that over the last 2 years I’ve slowly been moving to almost all CPA deals and I’m glad I did! With CPA I don’t have to worry about a poker room closing down, banning a country full of my players, etc. I send players, they qualify, and I earn on average $200-300. After I earn my commission, the player then is the rooms and that is that. Rinse and repeat.

So as I’m sure you can guess, anytime I’m asked about CPA versus Revshare – My answer is CPA every time! Now that may not always be a choice you have, some rooms do not offer CPA’s and then you just have review what you know about the room. Factor in things like:

• What network are they on?
• Who is the management or owners – What’s their history?
• How well do you think the traffic will convert?
• What things are the company speeding money on? Promotions, Advertizing, player promos, bonuses, etc
• Do they offer rakeback?

Rakeback vs Revshare or CPA

The last issue is one of the biggest. In most cases I think its a bad decision to do revshare if the room offers rakeback. If the players you are sending are good, then they will eventually want rakeback. So even thought it may be against the T&C”s for them to move to rakeback from revshare. I can assure you without a doubt it happens at every room. So again, if the room offers rakeback, and you don’t offer rakeback. Then you better take the CPA.