Affiliate Manager Interview Series: Dean Bosci - PDC Affiliates

[CityGuard]

Dean eats cereal for dinner and reads 1984 every year.

Age: 33
Hometown: Brisbane, Australia
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite quotation: “Too easy”

With the World Series of Poker and the World Series of Poker Europe coming up, it seems like poker season has finally arrived. Is there some truth to that in terms of player sign-ups and activity? Do you see seasonal variations to poker activity? And if so, what are they, and how do you plan for them?
As we lead into the WSOP we always tend to see a spike in player numbers mainly due to players trying to win seats via our satellites. There is still a little of the “Moneymaker” effect of being able to potentially win millions of dollars with very little personal outlay.

With more and more live events being added to the poker calendar each year (EPT, APPT) and existing events such as the WSOP and the Aussie Millions, the initial rush of players that used to only come for the WSOP are now able to pick and choose which live events they prefer. It’s definitely a great time to be a poker player with so many great events to choose from.

PDC Affiliates is the affiliate program for Carbon Poker. What distinguishes Carbon Poker from other online poker rooms? What's unique to the Carbon Poker experience that players won't find at other places?
What distinguishes us most of all is our ability to adapt and keep ahead of the curve with the features we offer. We can do this because we write and run our own poker room software. Also, the majority of our staff are avid players themselves so we always know what makes a great game.

Some of our top features include:
• Showing one card when all other opponents fold
• Rabbit Hunting if all players fold to you before the flop (running out the board to see who would have won)
• We have also just introduced a “Deal it Twice” option on some of our tables. Players are able to run the turn and river two times on an all-in if both players agree. This gives added excitement to chasing those straights and flushes.
• Bounty and shootout tournaments are also now available.
• Animated smiley faces when you type in things like “donkey” in the chat window. Our players love our current batch and we are always adding new ones. Sometimes we don’t advertise them and just wait for our players to discover them on their own.

What differentiates your statistical reporting package from other affiliate programs?
Our new reporting features are currently in the final stages of development. I can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet, but we think that these new features will enhance our position as one of the industry leaders in this field.

Much of the growth surrounding online poker has been fueled by tournament play. In terms of revenue share, how does PDC Affiliates handle players who only play in tournaments?
In addition to the standard front-door 40% rev-share our affiliates receive when they join, they also receive 40% of any tournament fees for their players.

We don’t feel that players who only play in tournaments are detrimental to the room or the affiliate at all as the affiliate still benefits from these players in the end.

What tools do you provide webmasters to help them in promoting Carbon Poker?
We have a multitude of banners available for our affiliates in varying sizes. Custom banner sizes can be designed to meet any affiliate requirement. We also are able to design custom landing pages and custom bonus codes for our affiliates.

We also have live XML and RSS tournament feeds available for affiliates to add to their sites.

How successful have you been in using private tournaments to add players? And what does an affiliate need to do to host a private tournament?
Private tournaments are a great way for affiliates to attract new players to sign up with them. We are only too happy to host private tournaments for our affiliates and in fact we offer all new affiliates an introductory private freeroll tournament that awards a $20,000 satellite coupon to get things rolling.

An affiliate only needs to e-mail us and express an interest in running a private tournament and we go from there.

What are some unique things that you've seen work for some affiliates that you would like others to try?
That’s a very difficult question to answer. What works for one affiliate may not work for another for whatever reason.

I have seen many different approaches to advertising, be it putting custom bonus codes on business cards and handing them out at pubs or home games to incentivizing and awarding players books or DVDs when they sign up.

It really is only limited by the affiliates’ imagination (and budget) as to how they attract players to sign up through them.

What's your favorite poker game? And why is it your favorite?
My favorite game would have to be No-Limit Hold’em. I know it sounds cliché to say that but I have been playing it for a while and it is my strongest game. My next favorite is Five-Card Draw. I grew up with it and used to play this with my parents and brother for change when I was younger.

Now that we have added Badugi to the Carbon lineup I have been dabbling in that as well. If you haven’t tried it, I would recommend it.

Any chance we'll see you at the WSOP this year?
Unfortunately not this year. It is a dream of mine to one day play in the main event, but that will have to wait for the time being. Too many other things that take priority at the moment. Maybe when I win the lottery I can bump it up the list a bit.

Besides trust, what are the keys to a good relationship with an affiliate?
Keeping the communication lines open so that affiliates know they can e-mail me at any time and I will get back to them as soon as possible. Also, understanding that at times we (affiliate managers) do get extremely busy and if we don’t respond to your e-mails straightaway doesn’t mean we are ignoring you.

In an industry where everyone's inbox is always overloaded, e-mail management and organization is a critical skill. How do you manage your e-mail? What tips can you share?
I try to deal with all e-mails in a timely manner and generally in the order I receive them. Obviously this changes with last-minute things that need to be done straightaway.

I also think that it’s important to respond to an e-mail even if I don’t have the answer right at this second. A simple reply saying that I have received the e-mail and will have a response as soon as possible is far better than leaving the affiliate wondering if I have received the e-mail at all.

When did you first become interested in the online gaming industry? And why?
I really only got interested in the online gaming industry once I had been working here for a little while. I came from an IT background and was working for a domain registrar/domain monetization company previously in much the same role as I am now. Moving to affiliate management was an easy adjustment.

What songs are currently on your iPod (or mp3 player)? Do you have certain play lists for certain moods? And if so, what's on the different playlists?
Wow, where to begin. My music tastes are very eclectic. Topping my play count at the moment is some Editors, James Taylor, Scooter, Timberland, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Enigma, A Perfect Circle, Fear Factory and Bruce Hornsby & the Range. Oh, and throw in a good mix of comedy like George Carlin, Lewis Black and The Ricky Gervais Show as well. Good enough mix there, I think. Of course there are many others – some I haven’t even got to listen to yet.

You have a self-professed love for cars. What’s your favorite car? And why is it your favorite?
My current favorite car is the new Audi R8. It’s classy without being pretentious and boy can it move.

What's the best place you've ever been rock climbing? And what's one place you have to go rock climbing before you die?
Given my body type I was best suited to sport climbing. Short, one-pitch routes that rely on more technical and gymnastic moves rather than long multi-pitch stuff that takes all day. I would love to go climbing in the Grampians, which are in Victoria (Australia).

What's the last book you read? What did you like about it?
There is one book I read religiously every year – 1984 by George Orwell. I have always been a fan of dystopian-themed novels and movies. Others include Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, Gattaca, Dark City and Brazil, to name a few.

Please describe three things that nobody knows about you.
Well, if I tell you then everyone will know, won’t they? Seriously, though:

I often eat cereal for dinner.
I sleep very little (might be related to the cereal for dinner thing).
I have a beagle named Molly.

What's your favorite board game?
Trivial Pursuit. It’s exactly as its name implies. It’s trivial, takes too long to finish and usually ends up with the board being thrown across the room because I know all the answers.

If you were casting a movie in which you played the lead role, and you had your choice of anyone in the world, who would you pick to play your romantic interest?
Easiest question on the list – Megan Fox.

[masontech]

Hi Dean,

Thanks for sharing, good read...

[Skinski]

Enjoyed the read, very nice interview.