Hi,
If you’re interested i wrote an article on casino affiliate programs, it’s located here:
http://dotaffiliate.com/cgi-bin/yawps/topics.cgi?op=view_topic;cat=affiliate;id=25
As for spending 45k you might consider spending less on web design and keeping a good portion for advertising. Once you’ve done well with a couple of websites you could then expand the number of sites as you’d have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t. The best of luck with your venture.
Antoine