a fasciniating insight – many thanks Dominique.
What surprises me is that the Poker Rooms are prepared to squeeze their margins so easily and give away 50%-52% of total rake.
I guess that the feeling there is that 48% of a whales rake is better than 70% (assuming stand affiliate share of 30%) of a departed player ?
Some questions pop up in my mind :
1) I’m a small time poker player so I’ve never really noticed the extent of the rake – what share is it really of my bankroll over the course of a month?
It’s 1-2% of pot total isn’t it? and it usually caps off at a couple of bucks per hand at my level. That seems like it might only be 0.5% of turnover ??
Doesn’t seem much.
2) How do whales differ ? Is it higher or lower because of the cap?
3) In real life casinos offer whales complimentary things. That’s the form that “rakeback” takes – and it doesn’t need sneaky middlemen. Why does the online world differ?
So I feel the the poker rooms should :
a) Simply squash transferal of players between affiliates (immediately eliminating the commercial drive for rackback within a room)
b) go back to a standard set of affiliate payouts – drop rackback referrals completely.
c) most importantly – poker rooms and casinos can take that money saved – and start rewarding their whales directly with gifts and freebies.
Imagine getting a bottle of fine wine / scotch / brandy, or cigars, or a poker set, or quality crystal glasses, or a trip to vegas (or whatever). Make your whales feel appreciated or special with tangible rewards !!
:la-de-da:
How do you think a top player is going to feel when they receive this? What will they think about the poker room?
:inlove:
Set up a customer relations area and talk to your whales and comp them ! It’s a model that has worked well in the physical world for decades. Real world Poker rooms do not hand back cash and say here – this is half of what we’ve taken from you !!
:omg:
In my experience the “emotional value” associated with a physical and enjoyable comp far outweighs the monetary value and does make players feel “appreciated”.
Online poker rooms and casinos have the stats to quickly identify and reward whales. The first poker room to start doing this well will take a market lead.
In summary – I’m not offering rakeback – I have nothing to do with rackback rooms – simply will not cover them. So I’m just a small time affiliate.
But it seems to me that online gambling needs to go back to basics.
Would the first poker room that sees sense and starts this up please contact me by PM – I’d love to promote your site.
And I believe that many other big CAP affiliates would too. A comping (non-rackback) online poker room would really make a difference and shake up this model !!
I’d be prepared to bump it up and make it my feature room.
Why not lead the market – don’t follow it down a dead end.
Food for thought affiliate managers ???
:notify: