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My New Course - Ideal For US Poker Traffic

Planet Mark — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:31:18 GMT

Hey All

Quck blog post is to introduce my new course and its affiliate program. This is called 'Live Poker Gold' and was created with US ex-online players in mind... the recreational masses rather than the experts / grinders.

This is in eBook format, via Clickbank and is selling at $37 + Tax ... and the best part - I'm giving 50% of the net to affiliates. Here is the sales page, http://www.livepokergold.com there is an 'affiliates' link at the bottom for a couple of banners and more info - you will need to register an account with Clickbank, which is simple enough, you then find the course in the marketplace and grab yourself a 'hoplink'.

I'll be happy to give preview copies to PAL members who I recognize or with a posting history here - PM me your e-mail address... if you are from a country known for scamming / spamming or only have a few posts I will not send the preview.

Here is a little more about the course - which runs to some 70-odd pages and is written in my usual non-frills style!

Part #1 - Foundations.
Lays out some basics / foundations for live poker. This includes identifying different opponent types, common live poker mistakes they will make - and which online skills translate well to the live setting and which need to be adapted.

Part #2 - Profitable Moves And Strategies
The key part of the course... this brings the 'opponent - mistakes - adjustment' idea into focus with specific scenarios and plays to beat each opponent. Pre-flop, orphaned pots, and a mechanical strategy for hiding your own tells and emotions also included.

Part #3 - Practicalities
Rakes, tips, etiquette and a guide to how poker rooms work for first timers + rules and odds / outs for those who might need this.

It has already taken 2 big re-writes (the first versions were far too big and detailed!) and some technology-based nightmares to be able to bring this to you... now is the time to get it in front of the players and start sharing that revenue 50% / 50%!

Just PM me, we'll take it from there.

Thanks, Mark
www.livepokergold.com

PS: I'm having a new batch of banners done, if anyone has bigger traffic and would like their own then let me know.

Super-Show Report

Planet Mark — Mon, 31 May 2010 11:13:05 GMT

Back in my office this morning after the best part of a week in Prague. Great to catch up with friends, drink free beers, chat to AMs, drink free beers, find out about new programs, drink free beers and (of course) drink those free beers.

You know, a report telling you all how great it was would be all well and good... it would not really be very interesting though. Instead I'll mix some observations of the show with some *ahem* 'advice' for future show attendees and exhibitors...

Let me start with a couple of fails:

Operators... you are spending a lot of money to have a stand, send out staff and offer crap free logo merchandise. Why then did at least 3 of you fall into this simple trap:

- Operator: Hi We are XYZ XYZ brand, have you heard of us?
- Mark: Yes, I am aware of your brand, though not the details of your offering.
- Operator: we offer casino, poker, sport betting blah blah blah
- Mark: Cool, so, I mainly promote poker, tell me why I should send players to your site?
- Operator: Well, we can offer you up to 35% rev share, depending on volume!
- Mark: Ummm, ok, thats the same as most people - is there any other reason I might want to send players your way?
- Operator: We can give your players entry to a $1000 freeroll when they deposit!
- Mark: Sigh

Hmmmm, spending all that cash and not even thinking of your unique selling points? A reason (any reason!) why I should promote you? Fail, time and time again!

Another fail was a fun roulette game with a model car racing (does Scalextric translate?). They asked me if I wanted to win a prize (whiskey and cigars mentioned!). Anyway, 3 tokens so a <1 in 12 winning chance... the car goes round and stops next to my number... whoo-hooo! My prize? 60% rev share for the first 3 months... sigh. I f-in logoed cap would have been better than that insult! Chances of me promoting this brand are now slightly less than zero (for the time being anyway!) seriously folks, why insult potential affiliates like that??

A large brand can join the list (deliberately not mentioning names, this is meant to be a fun recap only, nothing personal!). After grabbing us and getting our promise to return later he basically repeated 'we are a huge brand' in about 30 different ways... chances of my moving my trackers from PAW to this brand, gone... thanks for those Mojitos though!

Anyway, enough program fails, while free stuff was definitely down on last year we are proud to be the owners of a Cake Poker apron, rubix cube and fun Ladbrokes twisty thing...

Next some misc stuff:

CAP / PAP had a stand in the affiliate area, great to chat with them and hear about their future plans for affiliate program reviews and deals - sounded really positive. Not so sure what their racing car stress ball things were all about, though I'll definitely keep an eye on their sites.

David Coulthard took the opportunity to get his picture taken with Erika, should think himself lucky too. Scotsman when he loses, British when he wins...

Food! Euuuuch, horrible in-conference catering with huge prices to exploit their monopoly and staff who seemed to see customers as their mortal enemy... just plain bad.

Free hugs! What??! Why would I want to get hugged by a giant chicken or bear? If there is one thing I 100% can not stand in life it is hippies... get out of here with your free hug! (mind you the Thai massage was cool!).

What about those parties?

Yeah, drinking is one of my favorite passtimes, and when the beer is free it just tastes that much better. Except the show parties are kind of odd... for those who have experienced the corporate xmas party then this is on the right track. Olds dancing (euuuuch!), youngs wearing their best shirts / dresses in such a way as to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they have no style. Office workers who only pretended to like gaming to get the trip 'going wild' in the kind of way that only someone who has the most dull satellite-town existence ever would enjoy. Bar 3 deep, idiots pushing to get served out of turn even though the bar is free and we are all supposedly in the same business... aggressive business card collectors... and did I mention the olds dancing yet?

Yep, I have come to the (completely scientific) conclusion that conference parties are, well, a bit sad.

Met some great people though - oh, and thanks for the beers to the sponsors!

We came over to the Hilton at 7:30 on Thursday, alas no PALers to be seen. Hung around for 15 minutes just in case and then went for a very pleasant Italian. Never mind. For Budapest I'll organize something... will ask on the boards whether we have any operator sponsors nearer the time (after last years dissapointing promises all the way then no-show of the funds from ******* **** for last years Budapest dinner).

So, long post... to sum it up for me it was great to get away, great to meet affiliate friends and those pesky AMs and cool to experience the wonderful city of Prague.

Mark

Org Change - The End Of An Er(ik)a

Planet Mark — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:40:18 GMT

All,

Changes starting today here at Budapest Planet HQ to let you know about... Erika, my long-suffering Fiance and business partner is 'retiring' from the day to day operations of our business to focus more time on spending the profits on shoes - and we have a new starter in the form of Lazlo.

It has been more than 3 years since Erika inadvertantly agreed to make me a website about SNGs which would eventually grow into the 'Planet' network... for the last 2 years we have been working full time together. Now, working with those you love is well known to be difficult... what many of you do not know is that I'm bloody difficult to work with too (blame it on 9 years corporate brainwashing!). Erika actually managed to pull off a major achievement on both fronts! She will now take a back seat from the day-to-day, instead looking after the company admin side (oh the joys of owning a Hungarian LLC!) ... we also plan on travelling to the conferences together.

At the same time we today welcome Lazlo, who speaks Russian, Hungarian and Slovakian in addition to reasonable English. In addition to taking over (and growing) the Hungarian side of the business, Lazlo will work as an assistant to Anna, who is driving the Russian side of things very effectively at the moment and is 'celebrating' being with us for more than a year now!.

Corina will now take over the casino and other gaming sites in addition to maintaining the English language network and looking after the Romanian / French too.... quite a task list!

So, thanks to Erika for all that hard work!

Cheers, Mark

Is Your Content Really Unique...

Planet Mark — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:07:17 GMT

Browsing through some business / SEO blogs today and came across 'Sugarrae' via an SEObook interview. This blog is a real gem - I personally rate anyone who 'challenges you to think' very highly indeed.

Anyway, the reason for this short post is to give some props for this article on unique content: http://www.sugarrae.com/when-unique-...is-not-unique/

The central thesis is that many webmasters think of unique in terms of the words used and google - while genuinely unique content is conceptually unique, you know... actually different!

We are all guilty to some extent of regurgitating the same reviews and strategy articles with new words. Yet to really differentiate sites and get some of those elusive natural links truly unique content is the only way forward IMO.

Something to think about!

Mark

Quick AAC Recap

Planet Mark — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:30:10 GMT

Back in my office today after a fantastic weekend in Amsterdam for the AAC - my first gaming business conferene. This will be a summary of the trip, will post a longer version over the next few days at my personal blog (link at end).

First one sentence which sums things up:

Went to Amsterdam hoping that I would be able to justify the expense, came back happy that I had just made a major investment.

So, without further ado - the 'hits' and 'misses'

*** Hits ***

- Arranging deals with operators which I project will pay for the trip within 4 to 6 weeks.

- Meeting with Greg, Jeremy and a load of great affiliates and operators alike.

- Coming back full of ideas, follow-ups, potential deals and motivation (since I was already extremely high on all of these this is a great achievement!).

- The Netherlands, including experiencing Queen's Day, Bitterballen / croquets (spelling?), Frites with mayo and the fact that it is just super-easy to get around and get things done there...

*** Misses ***

- The Kras... great location, staff and building... but a rubbish room (back to the Barbizon for me from now on)

- Couple of Operators... not naming names but one group were horribly aggressive with anyone coming within 15 meters of their stall, and another were just aloof / unfriendly. The first I'm stuck with as the brand does well for me... the second I am demoting...

- Networking... made a start but realized that this is a 'could do better' (thankfully Erika is friendly at least!!). Would have liked to meet more affiliates and will definitely make more effort to do this next time around.

Already started with a long post over at Plan3t Gong... will be doing a couple more this week - each one focusing on a slightly different angle.

Amsterdam Poker Conference Recap

P0ker Offiliate Pr0grums - Posting Rules

Planet Mark — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:39:31 GMT

** Note - The following post is completely fictional, any similarities to real posting guidelines which may or may not have appeared at the zombie-like corpse of a former poker affiliate forum is 100% coincidental **

P0ker Offiliate Pr0grums - Posting Rules

1.0 Community Goals.

The goal of Poker Offiliote Progrums (PooP hereafter) is to have a professional environment where Moderators can interact with each other and the occasional spammer or unrealistic new webmaster who happens to have a list of 1 million 'genuine' e-mail addresses.

2.0 Thread Creation.

You are encouraged to start threads on topics that are relevant and helpful, just dont expect any useful or helpful responses, or any even remotely useful responses, other than those responses which start "I know fvck all about the poker business but like to make long winded replies full of smileys that might impress newbies but are regularly laughed at by anyone with even the smallest amount of insight into the business'. While personal attacks, spam, flame wars and name calling are banned we are pretty desperate at the moment, so why not go ahead and post them, we'll pretend they are real threads.

2.1 Thread Creation

When creating threads at PooP it is important to put them in the right place, this is a simple matter of checking the name of the sub-forum by blowing the dust and cobwebs left when the last real business poster left.

3.0 Replying To Threads.

Please be aware that the primary purpose of PooP threads is to enable the moderators to talk to themselves and insert as many smileys as possible into replies. Personal attacks, especially on any alledged crooks with ownership interests in our dead forum will are not allowed - not in MY HOUSE.

....

6.0 PooP Infractions And Banning Guidelines

6.1 Any post which alludes to deceptive and or dishonest activity by the owners of PooP will be immediately deleted, the author instantly banned and their pets kidnapped to ensure future compliance.

6.2 Speaking the truth in any way, shape or form is deemed a warnable offence, 1st time offenders will get a reply full of smileys from exactly the sort of bloke you'd cross the street to avoid in real life. 2nd truths at PooP will result in a cease and desist letter, threats of legal action and poor excuses based on needing to feed families... or something.

6.3 Remember dear posters, at PooP all posters are created equal... just some of us are more equal than others.

Getting Started Writing Great Poker Strategy - The 3Ts Method

Planet Mark — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 16:17:14 GMT

Many new poker affiliates enter the business with a great knowledge of poker strategy concepts. However, writing these down in a way that is structured and meaningful to less experienced readers can often be quite a challenge. This blog post outlines a basic methodology for those who are looking to start writing clear and compelling poker strategy articles that directly improve the quality of their affiliate portals - and thus your long-term profits.

We start by explaining the '3Ts' method and how this can be applied to poker strategy content. Next we go back to the start of the article and provide a simple opening paragraph structure. Finally calls to action and the importance of creating an individual style will be covered.

Three T's stands for. 'Tell 'em What You Are Gonna Tell 'em, Then Tell 'em, Then Tell 'em That You Have Told 'em". As structures go it is very simple, yet effective both from the readers viewpoint and because it forces the writer to plan ahead clearly.

By breaking a strategy subject down into steps you give the reader a ready frame-work on which to visualise your points. This method has the additional advantage of enabling you to get a key but unrelated point across without confusing your readers. A simplied example might be fold-equity when talking about 3-betting ranges... Here the 'Tell 'em' part can include 'before we discuss the hand ranges to 3-bet against various opponents it is important that you fully understand the concept of fold equity'

The main body of your article should be made of short paragraphs which follow the struture you have already written. At the end of your article you can summarize your points, and have an excellent opportunity to direct the reader in their next actions - here is an example:

"To summarize, 3 betting ranges depend on many inter-related factors including XXXXX, YYYYYY and ZZZZZZZZZ. Successful 3-betting involves the ability to judge the individual situation in such a way as to know which factors are most significant. We recommend you check out (poker site / further reading / training site / tool - you name it!!) for information that will improve your 3-betting profits still further.

Your opening paragraph is critical to strategy content for a simple reason - it is this which will decide what percentage of readers continue with the piece! When starting out in strategy writing I recommend that you focus on a simple "Introduce Subject - Problem - Solution + Benefit" layout, making sure you do not start by asking a question that can be answered with a 'no'. More on headlines / openings in a future blog post (bookmark me today!!).

Finally, aspiring writers should not lose site of the objective of their article. We write great strategy to collect readers and links, to convert players, to sell poker tools - not for charitable purposes. If you are writing great content then do not miss out on asking your readers to take action - only a small percentage will do so, but they are the lifeblood of the poker affiliate business. You should also make sure that your personality shines through any piece you write - though avoid starting 50% of the sentences with 'I' is always a good idea...

To summarize, I have outlined a simple method of constructing strategy articles aimed at those who are new to writing. The 3Ts method involves telling people what you are going to write about close to the start of the article. It has the benefit of telling the reader what to expect and also clarifying how to lay out points for the writer. In addition we looked at the importance of the opening and closing paragraphs and calls to action. If you would like to know more about writing then please look at the Google Pagerank icon on your toolbar right now, you'll really notice the difference.

(ok, no real call to action here - will point out that i am not formally trained as a writer... just my simple method for strategy stuff.... BTW did you know I have a brand new Russian-Language Bonus Portal? Its great! Самые выгодные бонусные предложения на лучших онлайн покер сайтах

What Does A Queue For A Photocopier Have To Do With The Poker Affiliate Business?

Planet Mark — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:07:37 GMT

Figured I'd join the blogging... the first in a series of posts which will hopefully get people thinking about various topics, including photocopier queues.

Surprisingly very average queues in typical workplaces to use unremarkable photocopier machines have a lot to do with your business.

To understand why we need to go back in time to 1978 and look at a fascinating experiment carried out by a leading Harvard social psychologist called Ellen Langer. This involved trying to jump ahead of queues while holding 5 pages which supposedly needed to be copied.

Now different approaches were attempted - here is a high level summary:

- I Have 5 pages, May I Use The Copier? (this was successful 60% of the time)
- I Have 5 Pages, May I Use The Copier As I Am In A Hurry? (94% success rate)
- I Have 5 Pages, May I Use The Copier As I Have To Make Some Copies? (93% successful here)

The conclusion, and a conclusion which has been replicated in many situations and geos, is startling. Adding a reason to the request dramatically increased success rate regardless of what that reason was....

Thats all very nice Mark (I hear you all say), but we are a little too occupied with running a business to ponder photocopier queues too much!

Well, it has a lot to do with our businesses... more specifically with those 'calls to action' which we use to direct visitors around our sites and specifically get them to click our affiliate links. We all have them right - some stronger and some more subtle.

What the photocopier experiment tells me is that we need to pair our calls with reasons wherever this is appropriate. Instead of 'Click Here To Visit Poker Stars Now!' we should try 'Click Here To Visit Poker Stars Now And See / Try / Claim / Enjoy' (just tie the reason in with your page).

The difference between 60% and 93% was enough to convince me (tests ongoing), and the best thing of all is that you do not even need to sound too ' salesey ' or 'un-natural' in your copy.

Cheers, Mark

PS: Happy to debate / disagree... it makes life more interesting.

Link Bit... If you thought SNG Planet was awsome in English then the Russian version will blow your cotton socks off - Онлайн покер турниры