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 
It was announced today that the online poker room PokerKings will not be letting any Canadians join their poker room as of September 24th. This is the beginning of ALL Boss/IPN websites on that network blocking Canadians. Boss’s new name is GTech BTW.
This is information that I’ve been privvy to for a couple of weeks now, however my hands were unfortunately tied as I was told everything in confidence. People are worried that this is the beginning of some sort of legisilation or ban on Canadian players much like the UIEGA which has affected the USA.
It’s actually a lot more simple than that. First of all, there may be a “front” story spread about that this is “due to concerns over the legal situation in Canada”. I wouldn’t believe that for a second.
My hands are still tied in regard to what I can write and what I can’t – so let’s say this all guess work by me, and nothing more. Let’s say hypothetically the government signed a contract with the Boss Network. And hypothetically, the government will create their own poker network within Canada(Atlantic Provinces, BC & Quebec), using the Boss Software.
(On a totally unrelated note 😉 – canadapokernetwork.ca is registered to the BC Lottery Corporation)
So if all that happened – and you were the Canadian government – well, the less competition the better when it comes to online poker, and having numerous poker rooms that accept Canadian players being told that they can’t – by the same company that the Government is using their software…..well, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on this one.
I will say this – this really sucks. It sucks for the players. It sucks for the affiliates. And it sucks for the owners of poker skins that made this network what it is – even if it’s still not that great a network. This network has played host to a lot of Canadian favourites like Paradise Poker and Bowmans.
Of course it’s all just guess work from me and I could be completely wrong!
The main thing to do now for you is be proactive. As an affiliate it’s easy to get depressed about this stuff, whine and complain on forums or instant messaging programs, while doing absolutely nothing. Believe me – I went through a situation very similar to this during the UIEGA. The UIEGA was a big telling point for affiliates because it showed who the good ones were, and who the bad ones were.
Every cloud has a silver lining. What we are going to have come September is thousands of Canadian Poker Players looking for a new place to play. These regulars on the Boss Network will be told “You can’t play here anymore” and even if the poker room managers try to promote another room – you’ll still have thousands of players googling and searching the web and posting on forums, wanting to find another option for playing online poker.
So be pro-active about it. Get out there and start marketing to these Canadians. Help them find the best home possible, and take advantage of a bad situation.
If you are looking for a program to promote them to, I would highly highly highly recommend Party Poker. Big things are happening at Party, and I expect them to be the #2 online poker room this time next year. Click here to promote Party Partners.
This article was written on August 11, 2010 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.
