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 
Chipleader are an affiliate group that I have had blacklisted since 2007, when the super-user scandal occurred.
My reasons for blacklisting were not just due to the situation, but they way the poker rooms handled and reacted afterwards.
In 2009, many of my rakeback players displayed interest in signing up for rakeback from either Absolute Poker or Ultimate Bet.
Despite my own personal feelings I like to do what is best for my players, so I opened a dialogue with Chipleader to see about offering rakeback.
Chipleader were extremely poor at communications, and left me no alternative but to keep them on the blacklist, and not promote them.
I have absolutely no faith in Chipleader, Absolute Poker or Ultimate Bet. I do not trust them, and I personally think that if you are recommending them to your players, you are crazy.
It’s unfortunate because from talking to other affiliates, the conversions seem to be strong at these poker rooms. But I honestly believe it’s in your, and your players best interests, not to work with either of these rooms.
June 15, 2011 Update: Post-Black Friday, everything that has came out about AP & UB is a complete mess. I remember at the time being frustrated over the discussions in 2009; now I’m glad they were such a mess.
I wish a plague on everyone involved with Absolute Poker, Ultimate Bet and Chipleader. A plague!
The rest of this review is retained for archival purposes.
BRANDS
Chipleader offer two brands, which are Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Both rooms currently accept US players.
Both poker rooms share the same network, which is the Cereus Poker Network. These are the only two rooms currently on this network.
Absolute Poker offer a 150% signup bonus to $500 for all new players.
Absolute Poker also offer a variety of player promotions like a bonus for winning with the worst hand in poker(The 7 Deuce promotion), Royal Flush and Bad Beat Jackpots, and a rewards store.
Ultimate Bet offer a 111% to $1000 signup bonus for all new players.
Ultimate Bet are famous for their “Team UB”, which features famous poker professionals like Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke. They also offer various satellites to players for big tournaments.
Ultimate Bet is a well-known brand name, which thanks to the likes of Phil Hellmuth, earns a players trust immediately. Conversion and Retention are extremely strong at both brands, especially at Ultimate Bet.
Ultimate Bet have recently rebranded to the acronym of “UB”.
COMMISSION
Both Absolute Poker and UB currently only offer revenue share.
The revenue share percentages for both are the same, and are listed below:
Net Rev Rev Share $0-$10k 25% $10k-$20k 30% $20k+ 35% MARKETING
Absolute Poker is room that still lives on reputation; they used to be known as the “bonus king” due to the great bonuses they offered. Most bonuses were 10x clearance bonuses which were easy to clear, and they used to offer as many as 5 reload bonuses per week.
Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. Reload bonuses are a lot less frequent, and the bonus clearance rates have changed. Despite that, promoting bonuses at Absolute Poker is probably the best method for conversion, as they still offer reloads more than any other US facing poker room.
At Ultimate Bet, the best method of promotion is to promote to the casual players for Team UB. Like him or hate him, Phil Hellmuth is one of the most famous poker players, and the casuals eat him up. I swear my “click here to take down Phil Hellmuth” call to action has to have been one of the most effective CTAs ever.
UB also offers a lot of high stakes games which Hellmuth often plays, so you can market to that audience too.
GLOBAL
Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet currently accept American players.
Both clients are in Windows format only.
Their websites are in English only. But they’ll screw you in any language.
FAQ
Q: What was the Potripper scandal?
There is a solid summary and timeline of it here.
This article was written on November 28, 2006 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.
