The Truth About Online Poker Rakeback

May 4, 2009 in Poker

Well, I’ve been thinking about making this post for a while. For the last few years I have been a Poker Affiliate, and in that time I learned that knowledge is power and if you choose to give up some of that knowledge you are risking making your competitors stronger. This is such a unique business because although we are all competitors, we still share information even if it may come back to hurt us one day. I am 100% sure that if it wasn’t for people like Randy Ray, Jeremy Enke, Cheryle Kaus, Brandon Berndt, etc. (I could name a dozen more friends and affiliates that have helped me) I would either be out of this business all together or struggling to make a dollar. I’m not a quitter, so I’m betting I would be among the thousands of affiliates still struggling.

We have allowed the misinformation and misconceptions to stay alive by not disputing them. Don’t get me wrong, this is the same for Rakeback and Non-Rakeback affiliates. Its easier sometimes to just keep your mouth shut rather than enlightening people to their misunderstandings. So, over the next few minutes I’m going to be telling you how rakeback really works. I’ve already got several emails from people asking me not to share this information, but after a lot of soul searching I think it is the right thing to do, and I’m guessing that just like giving people SEO advice, most affiliates will read this, think about it, and forget about it.

The Truth About Poker Rakeback

Low Commissions of 5% -7%

Let’s start off with the easy ones. One of the most common things I hear about affiliates offering rakeback is this “I’m not taking 5-7% commission on players, that’s just crazy and you need massive volume to make money”

The truth is that with the exception of Full Tilt Poker, almost any room with give you between 20% -35% commission when you are giving players rakeback. Of course this varies depending on your numbers, but overall its pretty consistent. Rakeback Poker Players as a whole are very high value, they play a ton of hands, play regularly, and produce good numbers for the poker rooms. I would estimate that on average Rakeback players are worth at least twice as much as your regular MGR player for obvious reasons. So, don’t fall into the same old cliche of needing massive player volume to make money offering rakeback its just not the case. I’m 100% sure I get a better % offering rakeback than many MGR affiliates. Do your homework and talk with your AM

Does Your Portal Offer your players the best deal?
I guess we need to get this one out of the way. We all know that when Poker Rooms first introduced rakeback to players it was a total cluster fuck. There were no caps, no rules, no regulations. Some would argue that nothing has changed, but the reality is that it has changed a lot! Only a few rooms don;t pay players their rakeback for you, so that eliminates a ton of these issues. The bottom line is that most rakeback affiliates are now very regulated, don’t handle payments, and have a very hands off approach to the system.

The issue of players jumping from an MGR account to a Rakeback account is a sore subject for all of us. I know it sucks, but we all know it happens. I’m 100% sure I have some players that have done this, but I personally would not know because they signup under me and its all automated. But the underlying issue is that they found out there was a better deal to be had and they wanted it. You are offering a nice Deposit bonus, and I’m offering the same deposit bonus + Rakeback. What would you do? So, I think that just like with any business if the customer can get a better deal down the road then they will.

My main point is that you cannot blame the rakeback affiliates for this unless they are actively poaching players, which I think is happening but not from respectable affiliates. There are bad affiliates on both sides. Anyway, get over players jumping because it is going to happen and you cannot blame all rakeback affiliates for it.

Player Cashout Backends

This is another common question I’ve been getting. Do you have to have a “player backend so they can cashout anytime option”. the short answer is no. That being said it is a very nice feature, but keep in mind that some of the most popular rakeback rooms are on the Cake Poker Network and the Merge Poker Network where everything is automated and player rakeback is payed out monthly anyway. So, although its a nice thing to have, I’ve spoke with tons of players who agree that while its nice, its not a deal maker or breaker. Obviously, I don’t use this and I am doing alright.

Player Rakeback Reporting

This is the same as above, all the major rooms give players their rakeback stats in the backend of the player account, the exception is Full Tilt once again, but I offer my player a chance to request a report at anytime and they will have it within 24 hours. I rarely get requests, and again its not a deal break. Nice to have, but not necessary.

Needy Rakeback Players

This is a comment that has always baffled me. I assume Mgr and Rakeback Players are both somewhat needy and you must cater to them both. But, I’ve always heard the comment that you need to be available 24/7 to accommodate rakeback players, I have over 10,000 players myself and I am essentially a one man show. In the last three years I’ve never felt overwhelmed by support requests. Of course I provide contact info, IM info, and if the need something I’m never too far away. So, I think he whole idea that you will be constantly dealing with player issues is really overblown.

Rake Races and Rolls

This is a touchy subject as I know and really have a ton of respect for the big rakeback providers that started these. Rake Races and the big freerolls are great added value, but as a conversion tool I don’t think they are super effective. The general consensus I hear is that the “Rake Races” are usually only good for the super serious 16 tabling grinders, and it leaves out your regular up and comers. The Freerolls are good as well, I’ve played in several of these (which you can do as an affiliate) and usually only 1/4 of the field shows up, and its never a very big field.

As you can imagine, freerolls are not what serious high value players are looking for. Its just not worth their time. So, don’t worry about not offering these to your players because 90% of them don’t know they exist, or don’t care. If they do care, its probably not a player you’re going to make money on anyway.

So, there you have it. I’m sure there will be some great counter points brought up, and several other rakeback related things we need to address. For now, this is my list and I hope that everyone understands that I am not trying to attack or hurt any other rakeback affiliate or company. The point of this article is to address some of the most common misconceptions about affiliates offering rakeback.

As always, if you want to discuss some of these issues in private, please feel free to contact me.

Tags: Poker MArketing, Poker Rakeback, Rakeback Affiliates