A relatively slow week in news saw no additional public statements from Full Tilt or PokerStars. Meanwhile in the non-US market, Unibet leaves Spain and Schleswig-Holstein awards three new licenses. Check out these stories and more in the Weekly Industry Update. Schleswing-Holstein Issues Three Licences : Ther German state of Schleswig-Holstein has awarded three online gambling license in preperation for their regulated market. Betfair, mybet and the state lottery were the three named. Additional licenses are expected to be issued in the coming weeks. Betfair commented on the approval by stating it was a significant positive, especially when some have been doubted the company's capacity to receive licenses outside the United Kingdom. Unibet Pulls Out of Spain Regulated online poker is coming to Spain and with that comes poker sites pulling out of the market in hopes of staying within the rules and being considered for a future license. In February, various Microgaming sites and then Bodog decided to pull out of Spanish market. Now comes word that Unibet will be pulling out of Spain on May 14th and transferring players to PAF, which is on the Ongame Network. Players will have up to 30 months to withdraw their funds. Major poker sites such as PokerStars, Party Poker and iPoker have continued to service the Spanish market while being considered for the regulated market. Full Tilt Poker/Poker Stars News Quiet All was quiet after a dramatic week that saw the GBT deal fall through and PokerStars take over as most likely suitor for Full Tilt Poker. One interesting piece to come out over the last week was an article from Diamond Flush Poker detailing how Groupe Bernard Tapie may have plans to follow through with a launch of an online poker site this year. In a leaked email to key Pocket Kings staff explaining the the collapse of the Full Tilt Poker, Larent Tapie stated "I have decided to devote a significant portion of the funds that I was planning to use for the acquisition of the FTP assets instead to launch my own company, under the auspices of Game Cubed, the company I have created in Ireland." He continues by stating he would like to launch the new website in 6-7 months but only do so if all of the Pocket Kings staff accompany him. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic was down again last week 0.4%, according to PokerScout. Traffic has now been down in 11 out of the last 12 weeks. PokerStars was a notable gainer while IGT was the notable loser down 8%. Jottings: Twoplustwo forum could come back online May 12th...iPoker revenue drops...PPA continues fight for poker...Antigua online gambling dispute wages on...Latest on the regulation of online poker in the US...A look at fast fold online poker options...PPA's Rich Muny discusses how tribes can benefit from federal legislation.
The latest answer to Rush Poker is now live for real money play. Dubbed Fast Poker, players can join these games via Unibet Poker, a top poker room on the Microgaming Network. The game will also available on Betsson and iGame, as part of the new Relax Fast Poker Network. With the launch of Fast Poker, online poker players now have two Rush Poker-like options. Last month, PokerStars launched Zoom Poker to high acclaim from players. To play Fast Poker on Unibet, players must create a new poker alias from their Unibet account. Only a browser version of the software is available. According to Unibet, a download version for Windows and Macs will be also available soon. Fast Poker works in the same ways Rush Poker did. When folding a hand at Fast Poker, you are instantly moved to another table, while the previous hand continues without your presence. Players enjoy these games because it functions as an easier and more efficient way to multi-table, allowing players to play 200-250 hands per hour on a single window. For a limited time, Unibet will give the first 4,000 active players a €10 bonus for FREE then a bonus of €200 that will be paid out in installments - €5 every €25 raked. Affiliates will receive 25% affiliate commissions for the first three months and 15% thereafter. At the time of this writing there are approximately 150 real money players on eight "pools," which seem to be indicative of the number of players during peak times. It is assumed these numbers will grow over the coming weeks as more rooms are added to the player pool. Players can currently enjoy action at Hold'em and Omaha.
PokerAffiliateSolutions added dozens of new offers during 2011 to reflect demand and changing marketing conditions. For 2012, we intend to keep providing our publishers with the latest and greatest in CPA, revenue-share and rakeback deals. This week we will be launching the Unibet CPA deal as well as an enhanced revenue-share deal which will not only pay the equivalent of 30% rakeback through the VIP program to your players but will also pay publishers a 30% commission! Unibet is one of the top rooms on the Microgaming Network and has received licenses in the regulated Italian and French markets (operating under Ongame software). 2/17 Update: The Unibet VIP Upgrade previously reported in this post is not available to MGR publishers, only Unibet rakeback publishers. Unibet MGR players must earn the 30% VIP rakeback rate through the normal channels. Why should I promote Unibet? --Launched in 1997 with poker room launching in 2005 --One of the most recognizable brands on the Microgaming Network --Licensed by the European Gaming and Betting Association --Publicly Traded on the Nordic OMX --Over 3,000 real money players during peak times on the network's tables. Many of the tables are Unibet-specific. --Support in over 20 languages including English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian and Swedish --Commission Option: $100 CPA, with 250 point requirement, 30% revenue-share --Instant Play version that allows players on a Mac or Windows machine to play in their browser. What do Unibet players receive when signing up through a PAS site? -- VIP rewards up to 30%+ -- Sign-Up bonus up to €500 -- Rake Races -- New Players receive €6,000 worth of freerolls -- Bad Beat Jackpot over $400,000 (300,000 euros) How can I promote Unibet Through PAS? Existing PAS publishers can log in their Publisher admin and request the offer under the CPA tab. Revenue-share can be found under the revenue-share section. Please allow up to 72 hours processing for each offer. If you are not yet a PAS publisher/affiliate, simply use our easy sign-up form. Why Should I Use PAS for Revenue-Share or CPA Offers? PAS is your leader for revenue-share and CPA related deals. Be sure to check out the benefits of using PAS for your CPA and revenue-share needs. Where can I receive additional information? If you are a new PAS publisher, see our FAQ for answers to basic questions. In depth information about Unibet can be seen on the PAS Unibet review. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to help. Be sure to let us know we can do for you to improve your online poker affiliate business.
As I was doing my standard poker promotion update on Friday – which I post each month in the PAS forum -- I was really surprised at the extent at which European sites are stepping up to the plate again with special promotions, just as they did in the aftermath of Black Friday. Only this time poker sites are trying to scoop up European players displaced by the Full Tilt Poker situation. On Monday, Party Poker joined the parade by announcing that they would be waiving all tournament buy-in fees. These sites are clearly trying VERY hard to accumulate players while Full Tilt Poker is down. According to PokerScout, poker sites are already reaping the benefits of the shutdown. Cake Poker is up 41%, PKR up 32% (in large part due to a “lite” client release) and Party Poker is up over 23%. Other PAS sites/networks of interest include: Boss (20%) iPoker (13%), Microgaming (7%) and Entraction (7%). Keep in mind that this during a time of year when traffic is historically down. Hopefully, you’ve already begun marketing to these players looking for a new home. I don’t think I’ll ever say that bonuses and promotion are as good for players as they were 5-6 years ago, but there really seems to be a similar calculated effort to aggressively attract players -- a mini online poker player Gold Rush, if you will. In today’s follow-up to my informational post on Thursday -- where I went over the top alternatives to Full Tilt Poker – I go over the top promotions being offered by European facing poker rooms, many of them specifically targeted to European Full Tilt Poker players. __________________________________________________ ________________________________ Party Gaming Rake-Free Tournaments: For a limited time, Party Poker players will not be charged ANY buy-in fees, effectively yielding players 100% rakeback at multi-table tournaments. Hopefully we don’t see players complain about not being able to accumulating Party Points. Reload: 100% up to $200 on a player’s next deposit when using bonus code 200JULY until August 7th. Players must earn 6 Party Points per $1 of bonus money, the equivalent of 33% rakeback. $100,000 Freeroll: Players depositing for the 200JULY reload bonus will also receive access to a $100,000 freeroll on August 7th. VIP Upgrades: Any player that was a VIP player on Full Tilt Poker can email proof to Party Poker. Then earn 1,000 Party Points within 15 days ($500 rake) and be automatically upgraded to the second highest VIP status on Party Poker. The Rest: World Domination starts on July 8th and runs through the end of the summer. Players that accumulate Party Points will earn cities on map. Once players have earned curtained cities and conquered countries or continents they will earn freeroll entries and cash prizes. The Summer Million Freerolls provide entries to the $1,000,000 Guaranteed tournament coming. Make sure your players don’t forget about 50% VIP currently running on the site. PAS publishers can also offer player $22,000 in freerolls during the month ($12,000 in freerolls for new players, $10,000 for existing) If you have a player who has a Party Poker account that wishes to sign-up to Party Poker, refer them to WPT Poker instead. __________________________________________________ ________________________________ iPoker Network Large Sign-Up Bonuses: iPoker sites are stepping up to the plate with larger bonuses. After Black Friday, iPoker rules were thrown out the window and players and affiliates started to see skins offer $1,000 bonuses. After the Full Tilt license suspension, Titan Poker, Mansion Poker and BetFred began offering $2,000 sign-up bonuses (200% matches, with Betfred offering a 100% match). Genting Poker is offering a 400% up to $1,000 match. Mega Reload: The iPoker Network isn’t forgetting about the existing players either, offering these players a 100% up to $5,000 Mega Reload Bonus. Each site has slightly different Mega Reload terms, but most of these bonuses will be running until July 14th (Mansion and Titan will run until July 17th). The Mega Reload bonus releases in two stages. The first stage is 25% of the deposit amount up to $1250 and the Stage 2 bonus is 75% of the deposit share up to $3,750. The second part of the bonus will clear slightly slower than the first part. The Rest: Betfred is awarding a Royal Flush bonus of 100x the Big Blind up to $1,000 until the middle of September. Titan Poker’s Summer Jackpots will award over $500,000 in prizes through August. The promotion will come in the forum of 24 hour Race, Happy Hour promotions, $50k Craze Jackpots and increased Summer Guaranteed prizes. __________________________________________________ ________________________________ Boss Media Network Rake Chases: Boss Network sites PokerHeaven, Interpoker and Fortune Poker are offering special Rake Chases for players this month, paying 10% in extra rakeback to players over 10 tiers. PokerHeaven: Exclusive to new PAS players at Poker Heaven. Top prize €1,000 Fortune Poker: Standard promo for new players. Exclusively through PAS, existing players are eligible as well. Top prize €1,000 Interpoker: Standard promo for new players. Top prize: €2,500 (limited payouts) The Rest: Interpoker is running a €6,000 Rake Race from July 2nd to July 22nd. PokerHeaven and Fortune Poker will be running $15,000 in extra new player freerolls this month. Also, don’t forget that the Bad Beat Jackpot is now over €1 million. Additional PAS Monthly Promotions: $3,000 Rake Race from Interpoker, €3,000 from PokerHeaven. __________________________________________________ ________________________________ Microgaming Network €30,000 Rake Race: During the month of July, Unibet will award top point earners with cash prizes and freeroll entries into the Unibet Open in Dublin. Cash prizes will be up to €2,200 and will be awarded to the top 50 players. The top 10 players will compete in a freeroll for one Irish Open package and players finishing 11th to 100th will compete for another. The Rest: 50% Rakeback at Unibet through the end of the month, at which point players starting earning 30% again. __________________________________________________ ________________________________ Ongame Network iPad Lottery: Available through July, Redkings players that play real money games for at least 10 minutes at RedKings will participate in a daily raffle where the site will award one iPad 2 (WiFi version). Betfair: The $50,000 Raked Hand Race is doubling during July, Betfair will award the top raked hand earners a total of $50,000 in cash prizes over three buy-in levels from July 1st to July 22nd.
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