May is finally almost over, and that can mean only one thing; it’s time for the WSOP!
Earlier this week, the 45th annual World Series of Poker kicked off in Nevada at the Rio in the Pavillion Ballroom. This year’s series of tournaments brings something different with it however, online real money satellites at WSOP.com.
In both New Jersey and Nevada where online gambling is legal and regulated, players have been able to play in online satellites to win entries into the various events leading up to the WSOP. And with online poker now legal in the Nevada, WSOP.com is being heavily promoted to visitors to this year’s iconic tournament series.
WSOP.com unites their online and offline brands
One of the areas that the land based casinos in New Jersey and Nevada have been heavily criticized about in recent months is their lack of cross-promotion with their online counterparts.
And while some casinos or poker sites have awarded overnight stays and other types comps, none have been very heavily promoted. That however has all changed with the beginning of this year World Series of Poker. It goes without saying that WSOP.com and Caesars Interactive have just raised the bar.
In a recent column I outline the various ways in which this years World Series of Poker is cross promoting their online property to land based players.
Some of the groundbreaking things they are doing to help bridge the gap between land based and online poker are:
- Proactively informing players on KYC documents needed
- The ability to deposit at WSOP.com from the land based casino cages
- Continuous online satellites in Nevada thoughout the WSOP
- A “Grind Room” at the Rio for players to sign up and play online
- Online play from tablets and mobile devices being permitted at the tables
Then in New Jersey for players that couldn’t make the trip to Nevada, the WSOP.com is hosting an online tournament series with over $550,000 in guaranteed prizes.
With the WSOP just getting underway, it will be interesting to observe the results of this all-in effort by Caesars Interactive when it’s all said and done.
The New Jersey DGE drops the hammer on affiliates
Since the inception of regulated online gambling in New Jersey, there has been one gray area that nobody seemed to have the answer to; Can affiliates promote unregulated sites alongside NJ’s newly regulated sites?
Last week the New Jersey boldly answered that question when they sent six of our fellow gambling affiliates cease and desist letters.
The letters were actually issued by the New Jersey Assistant Attorney, George N. Rover, and cited the New Jersey Casino Control Act. The cleverly worded C&D letters stated that online poker affiliates in violation may be guilty of a fourth degree crime and subject to a fine of up to $100,000.
The affiliates confirmed to receive these letters were:
- CardsChat.com
- PokerSource.com
- RakeBrain.com
- Pokersites.com
- RaketheRake.com
- One unnamed site
A full version of this ”cease and desist” letter from the DGE was provided by one of the affiliates involved and can be read in its entirety here.
In one respect this is great for the overall New Jersey market as it is fighting for liquidity with the unregulated sites, but from the affiliate standpoint, well, it sucks. So if you’re thinking about being an affiliate in New Jersey, you better start thinking about a mini-site, or promotional method that doesn’t also promote non-regulated U.S. rooms.
Unregulated sites continue to leave New Jersey and Nevada
Around the same time affiliates began receiving C&D letters from New Jersey’s DGE, all the poker sites on the Winning Poker Network began not allowing New Jersey players.
Shortly thereafter it was also announced that sites on another unregulated network, the Equity poker network, would also stop allowing players from New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware.
It should also be noted that sites on the Merge Network also left the markets months ago.
There is plenty of speculation as to whether these networks have received C&D’s themselves from authorities, but in my opinion, it’s more than likely they are just attempting to stay off the radar.
Although, in the last 48 hours Bovada.lv unexpectedly left the New Jersey market as well. With the mass exodus of all the other rooms, and then the powerhouse sports, casino, and poker brand of Bovada, one has to ask, is there more to the story here?
What is the status of poker affiliate marketing in New Jersey?
As it stands right now, the affiliates that have been working with the operators in the Garden State have been doing it through paid advertising deals. There are currently no revenue sharing or CPA models in place.
And even with the paid advertising deals, affiliates are still required to have a vendor’s permit that comes with a fee of $2000.
I do expect in the very near future however that the DGE is going to loosen up their guidelines and allow affiliates with vendor’s permits to promote through CPA’s. Stay tuned for that.
One of the most important aspects of how affiliate marketing transpires in New Jersey is that it very well may set the precedence for how other markets approach working with affiliates. A pure CPA model is actually favorable for affiliates in many respects.
As professional marketers with numerous ways to make money on the Internet though, it seems crazy that we should have to pay a state $2000 for the privilege to promote gambling brands which the state actually is profiting from anyways.
