Keeping tabs on the health of your operator and any potential legal issues it may face has become a very important factor for gaming affiliates in the U.S., as well as overseas.
Witness the recent case of Full Tilt Poker. Once the world’s second-largest online poker room, the site has all but been forced out of business for the time being, due to the “Black Friday’ U.S. online poker crackdown.
After having its site shut down, Full Tilt wasn’t able to pay players money owed, and soon after had its gambling license suspended. At the moment, the site is down, and its future is highly uncertain. Several lawsuits have been brought against Full Tilt on behalf of unpaid players.
So affiliates are left with angry players and unpaid funds. What could Full Tilt Poker affiliate partners have done to avoid getting caught in this kind of situation?
1. Watch the forums
A lot of times, potential problems with operators are caught early by affiliates themselves. And, as any regular visitor to the CasinoAffiliateProgarms.com forum knows well, affiliates aren’t shy about bringing the matter to the attention of the larger online gaming affiliate community.
For example, when Best Casino Partners first started having trouble making its payouts, affiliates were the first to notice, posting their experiences on the CAP forum.
“I have consistently sent them between 50 and 150 players a month since the day they opened,” Steve S wrote at the CAP forum a few months ago. “Have not been paid for March or April. The amount I am owed is significant.”
It doesn’t always turn out to be so, but in this case, it was: The warning was the first sign that the company was shutting down. CAP forum visitors heard it first, although probably not early enough to prevent the damage.
And, although it’s the largest and oldest online gaming affiliate forum on the internet, the CAP forum certainly isn’t the only online gaming forum where you can stay on top of the latest news regarding operators, payments, and other related topics. Also check out:
- Poker Affiliate Listings
- Poker Affiliate Solutions
- Two Plus Two Forum
- Affiliate Guard Dog
- CasinoMeister
2. Watch the news
There’s a reason why we offer daily news updates here at the CasinoAffiliatePrograms.com blog. Well, there are a few reasons, but one of them is to keep you informed on the relative health of the many online gambling companies out there.
Of course, there are hundreds of companies, spread out over dozens of countries, with various regulations and payment processing issues all their own. Still, keeping on top of a daily news resource, whether it’s the CAP Blog or CalvinAyre.com or Poker News Daily, will help you find any potential problems at a relatively early stage.
3. Do your research
But probably not early enough. If you were a Best Casino Partners affiliate, the warning on CAP wouldn’t have given you enough time to act. To get information that far in advance, you’ll have to really actively monitor the brand by checking their financial reports and monitoring multiple news sites to see if any legal or regulatory action is pending.
The best solution, really, is to partner with as reputable of companies as you can in the first place. As we’ve explored a few weeks ago at the CAP Blog, that’s not tough to do. Find out where your operator is licensed and what its legal status is before you start doing business with it, and you’ll be much less likely to be surprised by problems down the road.
Final thoughts
What’s been your experience with gaming operators and legal risks? Do you have any concerns about potential issues in the future? Let us know your thoughts.