Another month goes by for the fast moving world of the poker affiliate.
We’ve spent the last few weeks making further subtle changes to the website.
We’ve streamlined the way we give the information on each particular Network and increased the amount of information we give for each individual site by devoting an entire page to each deal.
It is while doing this that we got a true picture of just how insanely good some of our deals are.
Obviously we knew they were good but some are really quite exceptional.
Take, for example, the deal we have on an Entraction site called Club4Aces.
Players get 30% rakeback PLUS a deposit bonus that adds another 20% PLUS reloads every second month PLUS rake races that can add between 5-30% PLUS a completely private rake race that can add another 10-20%.
Many players on this site, maybe raking between €1k and €1.5k per month are enjoying returns anywhere between 50-80%
If you just happen to hit the sweet spot with your rake that happens to pay a prize that equates to a high percentage return then you could literally be looking at close to 100% back.
And this is a STANDARD deal. Nothing that breaks any rules.
We have this deal because we are fortunate enough to have built up a reputation that means that sites that have these exceptional deals contact US so we can promote them.
We don’t necessarily have to go in search of these deals. Often they find us.
Looks like our hard work has paid off……….
Friday, 18 March 2011
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Free iPads for all.....
Microgaming Network which includes, Purple Lounge, Ladbrokes and Unibet have been going to great lengths to make sure that players are treated fairly.
They wanted to avoid a situation that sees sites within the Network ‘poaching’ each other’s players.
This does nothing of benefit for the Network in general and only leads to sites having to work on smaller and smaller margins.
For the last 3 or 4 months Microgaming have actively been ensuring that all of their sites comply with the rules regarding player rewards and returns.
‘Rakeback’ in the sense of a fixed percentage payment is not allowed on this network. They have their own VIP points based system that gives players ‘Loyalty Bonuses’.
This return can be a maximum of 30% of the generated rake.
This means that the only difference between the various sites are the additional promotions that they run.
For this reason we had lengthy discussions with Affiliate Managers at Purple Lounge to try to come up with a suitable incentive to attract new players.
We have just launched the free iPad Promotion.
All players need to do is generate 9000 VIP points within 3 months of registering.
We realise that this is a fairly large requirement but it has to be remembered that this does not affect the 30% Loyalty bonus and anything players win in the site’s own races and promotions.
It is also worth comparing this to some of the other so called ‘Big Affiliates’ where the only way to get an iPad with some of their deals is to meet a rake requirement AND somehow win through in a freeroll tournament.
We considered a similar system but decided that we wanted it to be fairer. You play enough, you rake enough, you win.
Guaranteed!
We are considering offering this incentive to some of our other deals and would also appreciate any feedback from Blog followers about other similar type promotions they would like to see.
They wanted to avoid a situation that sees sites within the Network ‘poaching’ each other’s players.
This does nothing of benefit for the Network in general and only leads to sites having to work on smaller and smaller margins.
For the last 3 or 4 months Microgaming have actively been ensuring that all of their sites comply with the rules regarding player rewards and returns.
‘Rakeback’ in the sense of a fixed percentage payment is not allowed on this network. They have their own VIP points based system that gives players ‘Loyalty Bonuses’.
This return can be a maximum of 30% of the generated rake.
This means that the only difference between the various sites are the additional promotions that they run.
For this reason we had lengthy discussions with Affiliate Managers at Purple Lounge to try to come up with a suitable incentive to attract new players.
We have just launched the free iPad Promotion.
All players need to do is generate 9000 VIP points within 3 months of registering.
We realise that this is a fairly large requirement but it has to be remembered that this does not affect the 30% Loyalty bonus and anything players win in the site’s own races and promotions.
It is also worth comparing this to some of the other so called ‘Big Affiliates’ where the only way to get an iPad with some of their deals is to meet a rake requirement AND somehow win through in a freeroll tournament.
We considered a similar system but decided that we wanted it to be fairer. You play enough, you rake enough, you win.
Guaranteed!
We are considering offering this incentive to some of our other deals and would also appreciate any feedback from Blog followers about other similar type promotions they would like to see.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Freeroll Freeloaders
Tuesday 25th January saw the monthly $500 Tetleyboy Freeroll take place on Betfred.
It’s an event that has been taking place for maybe 18 months now and proves very popular with the players.
Even though just over 100 players are actually eligible to play, there is generally a field of around 40 that actually take the time to register and play.
There is no minimum requirement for rake to allow players to become eligible for the event, only that they needed to have opened their Betfred account under our link.
However, this month we noticed a field of around 80 with about 2 hours to go before the start.
We asked Betfred to look into this and, sure enough, they found a number of entrants with ‘suspicious characteristics’ associated with their account.
Identical IP addresses or a sudden extra number of players from a certain country.
27 players were removed and, to our knowledge, only 1 of those maybe should not have been.
At least, only one bothered to contact us to query why he had been removed from the list.
It just goes to show that we need to be vigilant with these sorts of events.
There are sites dedicated to finding these freerolls and publishing them to members to participate.
We knew this sort of thing happened but had no idea that the lowly ’Tetleyboy Freeroll’ would attract so much attention.
In fact, just last month, when the event was posted on the Tournament schedule on Betfred and open for registration, we looked 3 days before the tournament and there were over 350 names on the list!!
iPoker had set no restrictions on the entry and it was basically open to anyone on Betfred to enter.
These names were removed in good time but it did show us that there are an awful lot of players out there looking for the absolute maximum value wherever they can get it.
Next month the Freeroll will be password protected and hopefully that will stop what happened here.
We like to make sure that the most value is gained by genuine Tetleyboy customers.
It’s an event that has been taking place for maybe 18 months now and proves very popular with the players.
Even though just over 100 players are actually eligible to play, there is generally a field of around 40 that actually take the time to register and play.
There is no minimum requirement for rake to allow players to become eligible for the event, only that they needed to have opened their Betfred account under our link.
However, this month we noticed a field of around 80 with about 2 hours to go before the start.
We asked Betfred to look into this and, sure enough, they found a number of entrants with ‘suspicious characteristics’ associated with their account.
Identical IP addresses or a sudden extra number of players from a certain country.
27 players were removed and, to our knowledge, only 1 of those maybe should not have been.
At least, only one bothered to contact us to query why he had been removed from the list.
It just goes to show that we need to be vigilant with these sorts of events.
There are sites dedicated to finding these freerolls and publishing them to members to participate.
We knew this sort of thing happened but had no idea that the lowly ’Tetleyboy Freeroll’ would attract so much attention.
In fact, just last month, when the event was posted on the Tournament schedule on Betfred and open for registration, we looked 3 days before the tournament and there were over 350 names on the list!!
iPoker had set no restrictions on the entry and it was basically open to anyone on Betfred to enter.
These names were removed in good time but it did show us that there are an awful lot of players out there looking for the absolute maximum value wherever they can get it.
Next month the Freeroll will be password protected and hopefully that will stop what happened here.
We like to make sure that the most value is gained by genuine Tetleyboy customers.
Friday, 14 January 2011
A look back at last year.....
Welcome to our first ‘blog’ of the year.
It’s a good time to reflect on how we feel last year went and look forward to the future.
The first thing we have to say is a massive ‘thank you’ to all of our loyal customers.
2010 saw Tetleyboy Affiliates pass the 600 player mark in terms of accounts we handle at various sites.
This is no mean feat for an independent affiliate that started out with no customers.
We like to think that this is a direct result of our hard work in making sure that all of our players get the deals and the service they deserve.
Fingers crossed we hit the magic 1000 this year.
Last year also saw a complete over-haul of our website.
We felt that when we started, our layout was just right for the deals we were offering. However we decided that now our selection has grown to such an extent that we needed to make the website more user friendly for anyone visiting.
We feel we have improved it greatly but we are constantly ‘tweaking’ it to make sure we stay at the top of the list of affiliate sites. Any comments or suggestions from our customers is always appreciated.
We also added a number of extra benefits for our players that we are especially proud of.
Firstly, the ‘Grinder’s Bonus’.
This allows us to pass more real cash rewards to our players and also enhance our deals even further to attract more new players.
Secondly, the free Deuces Cracked membership.
In case you are not aware, just about every deal we have qualifies players for a free membership to the excellent poker training site. All you need to do is rake a set minimum amount, usually $500, and the membership is yours.
A number of players have taken the time to contact us to thank us for this service and also explain to us just how valuable the membership has been to them in terms of improving their winrate and also giving them more confidence to move up to the next level.
We are sure that 2011 will bring many changes to the online poker industry but we will do everything we can to stay one step ahead and make sure that the very best possible service is offered to our players.
Goods luck to you all in the coming months and I hope that you hit a permanent upswing!
It’s a good time to reflect on how we feel last year went and look forward to the future.
The first thing we have to say is a massive ‘thank you’ to all of our loyal customers.
2010 saw Tetleyboy Affiliates pass the 600 player mark in terms of accounts we handle at various sites.
This is no mean feat for an independent affiliate that started out with no customers.
We like to think that this is a direct result of our hard work in making sure that all of our players get the deals and the service they deserve.
Fingers crossed we hit the magic 1000 this year.
Last year also saw a complete over-haul of our website.
We felt that when we started, our layout was just right for the deals we were offering. However we decided that now our selection has grown to such an extent that we needed to make the website more user friendly for anyone visiting.
We feel we have improved it greatly but we are constantly ‘tweaking’ it to make sure we stay at the top of the list of affiliate sites. Any comments or suggestions from our customers is always appreciated.
We also added a number of extra benefits for our players that we are especially proud of.
Firstly, the ‘Grinder’s Bonus’.
This allows us to pass more real cash rewards to our players and also enhance our deals even further to attract more new players.
Secondly, the free Deuces Cracked membership.
In case you are not aware, just about every deal we have qualifies players for a free membership to the excellent poker training site. All you need to do is rake a set minimum amount, usually $500, and the membership is yours.
A number of players have taken the time to contact us to thank us for this service and also explain to us just how valuable the membership has been to them in terms of improving their winrate and also giving them more confidence to move up to the next level.
We are sure that 2011 will bring many changes to the online poker industry but we will do everything we can to stay one step ahead and make sure that the very best possible service is offered to our players.
Goods luck to you all in the coming months and I hope that you hit a permanent upswing!
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Calling all 'Web Wizards'
We are in the fortunate position to now have a large player base and good reputation within the affiliate community.
This means we get a healthy influx of new players in the form of referrals.
However, to compliment our drive to recruit more sub-affiliates, we want to examine the opportunity to get new customers who have searched for rakeback deals using Google or other search engines.
This is a specialised area that we can’t claim to be expert in.
However, regular visitors to our website will have noticed several changes to the wording and appearance over the last month or so.
We would be very interested to hear from any of our players who have some advice on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and how to improve our Google ranking.
We could, of course, just recruit some random company that claims to be able to guarantee a top 10 position for any website, however we would prefer to discuss this sort of thing with people that also have an interest in our site and in online poker in general.
If it turns out that any of you have contributed to a marked improvement in our website performance then we would certainly be looking to reward you.
I hope to hear from many of you in the near future.
This means we get a healthy influx of new players in the form of referrals.
However, to compliment our drive to recruit more sub-affiliates, we want to examine the opportunity to get new customers who have searched for rakeback deals using Google or other search engines.
This is a specialised area that we can’t claim to be expert in.
However, regular visitors to our website will have noticed several changes to the wording and appearance over the last month or so.
We would be very interested to hear from any of our players who have some advice on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and how to improve our Google ranking.
We could, of course, just recruit some random company that claims to be able to guarantee a top 10 position for any website, however we would prefer to discuss this sort of thing with people that also have an interest in our site and in online poker in general.
If it turns out that any of you have contributed to a marked improvement in our website performance then we would certainly be looking to reward you.
I hope to hear from many of you in the near future.
Friday, 26 November 2010
VC moves to Entraction. Bad for players?
It has been announced that VC Poker are moving, in mid December, from iPoker to Entraction.
Regardless of the whole ‘did they jump or were they pushed?’ discussion, we are interested to consider the various ways that this affects the poker player with a VC account.
Obviously, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the player has to move Networks without having a say in it. (please ignore the fact, for the time being, that the player can switch back to iPoker at any time if he wishes)
Let’s assume that VC Poker have made the decision purely from their own business point of view. This has the following implications for their customers……
1. The player now has to use software that is completely different to that he has been used to.
2. The player numbers on the new Network may be such that he cannot play at his preferred time and preferred game due to lack of tables running.
3. All the data that players have built up over months and years in software like PokerTracker or HoldemManager is now redundant and useless.
As far as point 1 goes, you have to assume that in most cases, this is going to be a negative for the player. Except in certain circumstances, it is fair to say that if a player liked the software at a different Network, he would play there. One exception may be that he plays at high limits and there is no action at other Networks so he has to put up with software to play the game he needs.
However, a huge portion of the online community, including VC customers, are playing at levels with a Big Blind of $1 or less. Entraction is currently ranked only 13th busiest by PokerScout but there is still plenty of action at most times for these limits.
It surely follows, then, that if players preferred Entraction software to iPoker, they would already be playing there.
Point 2 is related to point 1 in as much as the player numbers will dictate to some players where they choose to play. If Software is not an issue then the real hardcore grinders playing 16 tables 6 hours a day is not going to want to move to a Network that has a significantly smaller player base.
There may just be enough tables to get going but the option of good table selection may be taken away due to the fewer player numbers.
The subject of the ‘grinder’ brings us nicely to point 3.
Many players on VC will have a database of players built up over hundreds of thousands of hands.
They rely on this data in their PokerTracker or HEM to maximise their winrate.
That will disappear OVERNIGHT.
Bear in mind this example from an iPoker player that I know personally.
He has been grinding out rake in the region of $10-$15k a month for maybe 3 years now.
His deal on iPoker is good but he is maybe missing out on an extra 10% return each month by not switching to a more beneficial VIP deal that is STILL ON THE iPOKER NETWORK.
The one and only reason he will not switch is because he wants the other players to know who he is. He is aware that all the stats that players have on him for NL200 and up will mean that he can more readily adapt his game in different situations.
In other words, he knows what they are thinking.
If he were to switch to another deal on iPoker, he would be anything from $1k to $1500 better off each month in terms of his VIP return BUT even though he still has all the player stats in his own database, his winrate will likely be affected by the fact that the opposition will be less predictable than before.
This change in winrate, he estimates, would likely cancel out his increased VIP return.
Admittedly this is an extreme example but there are many players in exactly the same situation.
Let us not also forget that VC were the worst kept secret at iPoker when it came to attracting high raking grinders on high return deals, ‘illegal’ or otherwise.
So, in conclusion, I feel that this can only be a negative move for VC’s players.
It is not often that a site has moved, apparently voluntarily, to a different Network and all it’s players stayed as they preferred the new home.
Some sites have even moved to bigger Networks with massively increased player numbers and the players just didn’t like it.
The whole focus of Poker sites nowadays is to promote player loyalty.
What a shame for all those loyal VC players who are now rewarded with unfamiliar software, smaller player numbers and redundant player stats.
On the other hand, I would invite comments here from VC players that are happy with the move.
Regardless of the whole ‘did they jump or were they pushed?’ discussion, we are interested to consider the various ways that this affects the poker player with a VC account.
Obviously, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the player has to move Networks without having a say in it. (please ignore the fact, for the time being, that the player can switch back to iPoker at any time if he wishes)
Let’s assume that VC Poker have made the decision purely from their own business point of view. This has the following implications for their customers……
1. The player now has to use software that is completely different to that he has been used to.
2. The player numbers on the new Network may be such that he cannot play at his preferred time and preferred game due to lack of tables running.
3. All the data that players have built up over months and years in software like PokerTracker or HoldemManager is now redundant and useless.
As far as point 1 goes, you have to assume that in most cases, this is going to be a negative for the player. Except in certain circumstances, it is fair to say that if a player liked the software at a different Network, he would play there. One exception may be that he plays at high limits and there is no action at other Networks so he has to put up with software to play the game he needs.
However, a huge portion of the online community, including VC customers, are playing at levels with a Big Blind of $1 or less. Entraction is currently ranked only 13th busiest by PokerScout but there is still plenty of action at most times for these limits.
It surely follows, then, that if players preferred Entraction software to iPoker, they would already be playing there.
Point 2 is related to point 1 in as much as the player numbers will dictate to some players where they choose to play. If Software is not an issue then the real hardcore grinders playing 16 tables 6 hours a day is not going to want to move to a Network that has a significantly smaller player base.
There may just be enough tables to get going but the option of good table selection may be taken away due to the fewer player numbers.
The subject of the ‘grinder’ brings us nicely to point 3.
Many players on VC will have a database of players built up over hundreds of thousands of hands.
They rely on this data in their PokerTracker or HEM to maximise their winrate.
That will disappear OVERNIGHT.
Bear in mind this example from an iPoker player that I know personally.
He has been grinding out rake in the region of $10-$15k a month for maybe 3 years now.
His deal on iPoker is good but he is maybe missing out on an extra 10% return each month by not switching to a more beneficial VIP deal that is STILL ON THE iPOKER NETWORK.
The one and only reason he will not switch is because he wants the other players to know who he is. He is aware that all the stats that players have on him for NL200 and up will mean that he can more readily adapt his game in different situations.
In other words, he knows what they are thinking.
If he were to switch to another deal on iPoker, he would be anything from $1k to $1500 better off each month in terms of his VIP return BUT even though he still has all the player stats in his own database, his winrate will likely be affected by the fact that the opposition will be less predictable than before.
This change in winrate, he estimates, would likely cancel out his increased VIP return.
Admittedly this is an extreme example but there are many players in exactly the same situation.
Let us not also forget that VC were the worst kept secret at iPoker when it came to attracting high raking grinders on high return deals, ‘illegal’ or otherwise.
So, in conclusion, I feel that this can only be a negative move for VC’s players.
It is not often that a site has moved, apparently voluntarily, to a different Network and all it’s players stayed as they preferred the new home.
Some sites have even moved to bigger Networks with massively increased player numbers and the players just didn’t like it.
The whole focus of Poker sites nowadays is to promote player loyalty.
What a shame for all those loyal VC players who are now rewarded with unfamiliar software, smaller player numbers and redundant player stats.
On the other hand, I would invite comments here from VC players that are happy with the move.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
November already!
Wow, I can’t believe I missed a whole month without posting here.
In fairness, we were away in holiday for half of the month.
Obviously it’s great to go on holiday but there is always the dilemma about how to keep in touch with our players while we are away.
When we had a lot fewer players we would leave the automated vacation response on the email and then hope that nothing major would go wrong while we were away.
However, now we have a much bigger player pool we need to make the effort to keep in touch as much as possible without spoiling our well needed break from poker.
Unfortunately, staying online is not easy when you are on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean!
When there was internet access the charges were extortionate and the connection speed was not what you would call ‘fast’.
It was not unusual for us to take 10 mins just to open an email, read the contents and write a simple 2 line reply and send it.
Fortunately nothing much happened during the holiday and we are fortunate to have some very patient and understanding players too.
At least by answering some of the emails and filtering out the junk and spam, there were not 350 mails waiting when we finally returned.
We’ve been back 6 days now and probably just about caught up.
I think I need a holiday…………….
In fairness, we were away in holiday for half of the month.
Obviously it’s great to go on holiday but there is always the dilemma about how to keep in touch with our players while we are away.
When we had a lot fewer players we would leave the automated vacation response on the email and then hope that nothing major would go wrong while we were away.
However, now we have a much bigger player pool we need to make the effort to keep in touch as much as possible without spoiling our well needed break from poker.
Unfortunately, staying online is not easy when you are on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean!
When there was internet access the charges were extortionate and the connection speed was not what you would call ‘fast’.
It was not unusual for us to take 10 mins just to open an email, read the contents and write a simple 2 line reply and send it.
Fortunately nothing much happened during the holiday and we are fortunate to have some very patient and understanding players too.
At least by answering some of the emails and filtering out the junk and spam, there were not 350 mails waiting when we finally returned.
We’ve been back 6 days now and probably just about caught up.
I think I need a holiday…………….
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