Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
If you promote any poker room that also has a built-in casino, like PKR or Chili Poker, you will have no doubt have noticed that a lot of poker players migrate to the casino, even if just to play a few hands of Blackjack on a bored weeknight. Poker players love to gamble, and if you run a poker site you should also be able to market at least one casino to them too.
The question is – what is the best online casino to promote to poker players?
Poker players, while sharing similarities with casino players, also have enough differences that you have to look at them as a separate demographic, and market to them differently.
Poker players for example, are more likely to be part of an online gambling community than casino players, and are going to be more “savvy” when it comes to strategy.
Casino players aren’t as interested in strategy as online poker players, with online poker players preferring to play the likes of table games like Blackjack, compared to casino players and slots.
One big advantage in promoting an online casino to poker players is the lack of customer service they will get from poker rooms, compared to an online casino. Most poker rooms only offer one way to contact them – e-mail – which is a big concern for players, especially if their account gets hacked.
Barely a week goes by without reading on a forum about a player having their Full Tilt account hacked, then freaking out because they e-mailed support about it and haven’t had a response in a day.
Poker players will often also view people who play at online casinos as “suckers” – as they play a game where the odds can be in their favour to win, they can look down on people that play at casinos. Also we all know not a day goes by without a new “poker is rigged” post on a forum, so think how they react when playing against the house.
This is why it is also important to allow poker players to try out a site with free money at first – via my experience they will get the gambling bug, win or lose.
Of course, we also want a casino to promote which is US-friendly, which is probably the biggest priority. Something that is also very important to us all, is a solid affiliate manager, one who understands both poker players and casino players, is prompt on communication, and understands there is more to promoting a site than “put our banner at the top of your page”.
So after determining the requirements, what is the best online casino to promote to online poker players? There really is only one option:
Rockbet is ran by John Wright, one of the best managers I have ever dealt with. I first met John at a poker affiliate meet-up in Niagara Falls earlier this year. He is a big participant in all gambling affiliate communities, and we went to Hooters to watch UFC 88 together. We then headed to Fallsview casino where we stood around, drank and talked until the wee hours of the morning.
I next met John in Barcelona for the CAP conference. John had lived in Barcelona for over a year, and offered to show me and my wife around. We spent many days and nights with John as he made being in a foreign country so much easier, and was quite the tourist guide.
One night, we were all out having dinner and discussing football, when I realized something. Throughout the conference, I was accosted by affiliate managers who tried to get me to sign up and promote their casino brands. They’d throw phrases at me like “We convert the best”, “best retention in the industry”, and “highest revenue share around”.
I would have meetings with affiliate managers where all they wanted was me to promote their casino, and showed no interest in discussing anything else. Yet I realized that I had been in the company of John for over 30 hours, yet he had not once tried to sell me on his casino. The reason for this was because he simply wanted to be friends – unlike other affiliate managers, he had no ulterior motive.
That’s why I’ve been in the process of making Rockbet my #1 casino property, and referring as many players there as possible. While yes, they are in it to make money just like everyone else, their priorities are a lot different, and making the customer happy by providing excellent service is one of their biggest priorities.
Everything I mentioned above about what an online poker player needs in a casino? Rockbet provides it. They provide excellent customer service, both from a player and an affiliate standpoint. They are sponsored programs on the prominent affiliate forums, and John is always available on the likes of MSN, Skype or via telephone.
For customer service, they provide e-mail, live chat and telephone 24 hours, 7 days a week. Their website has no hidden or misleading terms and conditions – everything is out in the open, to make the player more comfortable.
For a free trial to players, they also offer $15 free just for players to try their casino. Also with constant bonuses, players can play at the casino with bonuses all the time. They also do a Las Vegas trip giveaway, which can be especially important for the poker player.
Most importantly, they are one of the only online casinos that currently offer service to US players. Their software is also top notch, and the type of simplistic, easy to navigate software that appeals strongly to poker players. One other thing that as an affiliate really appeals to me, is they never have any “gimmicky” promotions like “earn 75% revshare in your first month”, or have different revenue share percentages depending on how much you earn. They offer a flat 35% commission regardless of revenue, one of the highest in the industry, and they present an extremely solid product, that always brings results.
You won’t regret it. I haven’t.
This article was written on November 26, 2008 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
