Problem with affiliate program not paying? (ipoker network)

[nbaprocap]

Hi, I want to hear peoples opinion on a matter i have with an Ipoker poker skin that is refusing to pay me because they have insisted i have been offering rakeback.

So long story short, i own a small sports betting blog where i handicap nba basketball plays. I have about 300-400 viewers a day on my site checking for the free pics. I also have another section where people pay for a package of premium plays which i have send via email only.

I was promoting this new poker room as follows: For every person that signs up throgh my site i was offering one month of free premium plays as well as the standard bonus of $100 for a $20 deposit.

Here is where my problem lies, i had a couple people also ask me if they cold get anything for referring friends etc, so i had 3 people referring friends and such to my site. For everyone they refer i was giving them a % of the total revenue that the player creates. Sort of like a sub affiliate but i am getting more earnings then them.

This is now my fourth month promoting for the site and all of a sudden my affiliate account was closed for offering rakeback.

After asking for proof or how they have come to this conclusion, they have sent me a long fwd email with (a player and one of my referals emailing back and forth to each other) From the emails i gather that the referal was offering a rakeback to this one player but in such a sense that it was called a VIP program and not rakeback.

The affiliate manager doesn't seem to want to even hear me out at all. They are a silver sponsered site on this forum before outing the actual site i would like to hear some opinions of other forum members.

I would like to hear any comments on the matter

p.s not sure if this is the right the forum or not mods feel free to move it to appropriate forum

[thepokerkeep]

This is now my fourth month promoting for the site and all of a sudden my affiliate account was closed for offering rakeback.

After asking for proof or how they have come to this conclusion, they have sent me a long fwd email with (a player and one of my referals emailing back and forth to each other) From the emails i gather that the referal was offering a rakeback to this one player but in such a sense that it was called a VIP program and not rakeback.

I take it that the referral was offering this deal through your site or your affiliate link.

Without seeing the offer or knowing more clearly what was in fact offered, it's hard to give a valid point of view. If the offer was some sort of rakeback scheme then the affiliate program was well within their rights to close your account.

Have you read the T&C's to see if you did violate their contract in some form?

[Chalkie]

Did the program agree it was ok to offer a refer a friend program? If so how much, if it was a small amount like 4 or 5% then it can hardly be classed as giving rakeback. If you were offering the lions share to players who referred players then it could be classed as rakeback as they could say you are offering rakeback to people if they can refer you a player.

Did the program not have sub affiliate deal, if so then why offer a refer a friend?

Did the program agree to the percentage you were offering for referrals?

Also, offering an incentive to players without an agreement can be classed as against the rules, however, if you have their permission to do so then again you should be ok. Although they do not seem to have an issue with that part.

I guess that you were not offering rakeback, however, were offering a large percentage for referrals and one of your referring players has offered most of his cut to his referral's in a rakeback sort of way?

Call it rakeback or VIP it is against the network rules, however, dependant on what you were doing it may or may not be you at fault.

If you explain how and percentages, like Terry said, we have a better chance of offering our point of view.

[nbaprocap]

I take it that the referral was offering this deal through your site or your affiliate link.

Without seeing the offer or knowing more clearly what was in fact offered, it's hard to give a valid point of view. If the offer was some sort of rakeback scheme then the affiliate program was well within their rights to close your account.

Have you read the T&C's to see if you did violate their contract in some form?

Yes the referal was offering the deal through my affiliate link. on my webpage.

I gave each referal though a different bonus code to give to their customers. As far as im concerned i haven't broken any of the T&C's. I also did affiliate work with different ipoker rooms before and never had any complications.

[nbaprocap]

Did the program agree it was ok to offer a refer a friend program? If so how much, if it was a small amount like 4 or 5% then it can hardly be classed as giving rakeback. If you were offering the lions share to players who referred players then it could be classed as rakeback as they could say you are offering rakeback to people if they can refer you a player.

I never asked them about having sub-affiliates or people under me signing up, furthermore i don't see anything in the t&c's that would suggest otherwise. FWIW i was only offering back 20% of the total revenue. (how does giving a referral 20% of all players they have refered probably around 12 considered giving rakeback?)

Did the program not have sub affiliate deal, if so then why offer a refer a friend?

the program does offer a sub affiliate deal, but i figured that it would be more worthwhile for me to offer my own % to them. (the sub affiliate deal would only entitle me to 10% of the referals revenue. Instead of me making 100% and giving back 20% to the referrer.

Did the program agree to the percentage you were offering for referrals?as i

It was never discussed, as i didn't think that this is a problem.

Also, offering an incentive to players without an agreement can be classed as against the rules, however, if you have their permission to do so then again you should be ok. Although they do not seem to have an issue with that part.

Well the affiliate manager reviewed my blog, and said everything was okay.

I guess that you were not offering rakeback, however, were offering a large percentage for referrals and one of your referring players has offered most of his cut to his referral's in a rakeback sort of way?

I think you are dead on. But what still doesnt make sense to me is that i was only giving my referal 20% of the total revenue, What kind of % would he be able to give players only getting 20% total.

Call it rakeback or VIP it is against the network rules, however, dependant on what you were doing it may or may not be you at fault.

If you explain how and percentages, like Terry said, we have a better chance of offering our point of view.

Ive tried to answer as much as i can. If there is any other questions let me know and i will answer them the best i can


After rereading hte t&c all i can find about rakeback is this

1. 3.8.

Rake Back. *** cannot be promoted with the word "rake" on the URL, with the word "rake" being part of the Promotional Link, or on any rakeback oriented site. *** will not advertise in their site in ‘rake-back oriented’ affiliate sites or any affiliate site that has the work rake in the URL or in the name of the site will be deemed a rake back oriented affiliate site. ** reserves the right to declare certain affiliate websites as ‘rake-back oriented ‘ and affiliates will do their utmost to remove any related promotions from their site within 24 hours after receiving notifications from ****.

i never received any such notices but thats understandable considering both me and the affiliate company did not know rakeback was being offered.

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1. 4.2.

</td> <td align="left" valign="top">***** reserves the right to remove and/or discount Commission amounts from Your account, or reject the applications of New Players so as to protect from Fraud.


You agree to return all commissions received based on fraudulent or falsified transaction, plus all costs for legal causes or actions that may be brought against You to the fullest extent of the law.


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[Chris Vaughan]

This matter has already been dealt with on another thread:

https://www.gpwa.org/forum/chili-pok...tml#post581685

As you are aware, this was not a borderline case. It was very blatant. It was not a one-off either, and warnings were given in the past.