Asking for advice on building a RB site

[MAC]

Hi all, I am planning to create a new rakeback website in spanish.

I would like to receive advice about what I need and how to get the rakeback deals, I know some AM's offer rakeback directly to the affiliate but others don't, for example, How do I get Rakebak deal from FullTilt or Betfair?

Other is the tracking. Can be done fully automatic? What do I receive from poker sites to know how much to pay every player?

And last, I've seen at PAS an offer to do rakeback without any work just show at the website, any comments about this?

Thanks.

[PokerNations]

If you're relatively new and unfamiliar with the whole process, working with an established affiliate system like PAS might help you ease into the market.

You'll get access to a dedicated support staff that can answer your questions, plus be able to provide tens of thousands in bonuses each month to potential signups.

Obviously for these extras you give up some of your long-term potential profit. So perhaps try them out with a few specific room offers and then decide moving forward if you want to use them for all of your rooms or if you'd like to branch out and try to get your own deals through sites.

I know a lot of the more successful affiliates recommend going it alone and keeping as much profit for yourself as possible. You just won't have access to the resources that someone like PAS can provide, so it will be more work on your part to make things happen.

[Ridge]

Most poker rooms that offer rakeback will pay your players for you. The only ones that don't are FT and Bodog. All merge sites pay players for you, and that is several rooms. Since you are new, I agree with PN that PAS or Rakeupdate may be the best way for you to break into the market. Long term though, you need to do this on your own.

Getting RB at FT is tough because you will be responsible for playing your players manually until you get really big. Bodog is tough too because they openly deny offering RB, but they do and make you do it privately.

Overall, unless you have an established players base, there is no reason to offer RB because RB is based on trust and without that most players will opt for an established affiliate over you..

[MAC]

I will have a look at what exactly PAS and rakeupdate require/offer.
If merge network is so easy I will try separately with those offers.

I set a rakeback page at my website (incentive marketing) with an email for further info and many people are asking for it.
Also I have a newsletter with 1k subscribers who were low limit players some time ago and now they should be at the "rakeback is interesting" frontier, if still playing of course.

[MJ]

BetFair is also direct, easy, and automatic.

[Tim]

Most poker rooms that offer rakeback will pay your players for you. The only ones that don't are FT and Bodog.

I don't think this is correct. I've been speaking with FTP recently and they said RB would go direct to the players.

I have looked into both PAS and RakeReduction (rakeupdate) and they are both well trusted, from what I understand. The commissions at PAS are lower than RR, but if your site is devoted to RB then PAS is probably the best bet, since they offer more rooms, and you can completely customize the system. With RR the players have to visit rakeupdate, which while generic, is not as good as your own site.

[Pokerkeep]

I'm working with PAS (link to site in siggy) and am very happy with the arrangement so far. I give them 2 thumbs up and highly recommend that anyone just getting into the rakeback biz use their services.

[Ridge]

Most poker rooms that offer rakeback will pay your players for you. The only ones that don't are FT and Bodog.

Well, I think they do everything on a case by case basis at FT.. I know I pay mine directly..

[pokerprop]

Obviously I disagree with most of what was said in this thread, but anyways fwiw here's my idea.

Create two websites. The first one has your own affiliate accounts linked to it. The second one is a PAS site. All of your marketing goes to the first site, the second site is used because for now you link your Full Tilt pages to it, as well as some other rooms your not set up with a deal at yet.

For your main site, go after the impulse conversions to start. There are tons of these and you'll land some big fish as you grow. As a new rakeback provider the more confusing you make it: ex: rake races, live stats, referral program, blah blah. the lower your conversion rates will be.

Focus first on maximizing conversions to your main site.

Next work on developing relationships with several larger affiliates, you're not limited to just your own site and you PAS site. Have a page for VIP and high volume affiliates to contact you, and then you can leverage these relationships from there and down the road market yourself as an agent.

Yes a bit more work, but a heck of a lot more $ doing it this way.

[Giorgio]

Great piece of advice Prop!