In recent months there has been a lot of news and attention focused on Merge Gaming's growth after adding Sportsbook.com and PlayersOnly to their network. While this helped them grow almost instantly there is another U.S. friendly network that has had an even bigger percentage gain this year. That network is Everleaf Gaming.Everleaf Gaming started out as Poker4ever. They sold skins, lots of them. That model wasn't helping them grow very fast but then they merged their player base with the Universal Poker Network. Almost instantly their player count went from about 60 to 300. Shortly after the merger Victory Poker was added to the network. With in house players such as Antonio Esfandiari and 2007 Playboy Playmate of the Year Sara Underwood players were immediately interested in playing at Victory Poker.The network now averages 550 players according to Poker Scout and is on the rise. Due to the high number of European players the peak time tends to be during mid to late afternoon ET US. Most of the games are no limit hold'em with a few pot limit omaha games. At PAS we offer Victory Poker and Minted Poker. Both offer 40% rakeback to players. One of the perks of promoting Everleaf Gaming skins is that nothing is deducted from MGR for players or affiliates. Rakeback is also paid weekly so that players are always in the game.Affiliates sometimes get stuck on promoting only the big brands. In many cases that isn't the best marketing strategy. When affiliates send players to smaller skins, ones that take care of players and affiliates, it can be win/win for everyone involved.

For the first time since joining PAS in March 2008 I was able to leave most of the work behind and go to Las Vegas. I've taken trips before but they were always working vacation. This time I worked less than an hour a day which was a real treat. To me that is a vacation.My plane landed at 1:05pm and somehow I made it to The Orleans for their $340 HORSE at 2pm. Although I made it to day 2 I failed to cash. I busted just in time for the $340 Omaha8 but ran into a couple of bad beats and found myself out early. I went to the casino bar to play 9/6/5 Double Bonus and have a beer to unwind from virtually non stop poker for two days. Before I even got my beer I managed to catch a ten of spades into AKQJ spades for a $4000 royal flush. That was as good as coming in 3rd in the poker tournament so I'm happy and looking forward to the next day's WSOP $1500 Omaha8.I was playing and running great at the World Series of Poker. I then get into a multi way pot where I raise from the button on the flop with a massive draw (A346 into 25K). Before anyone calls my raise the dealer puts up the 3 of clubs which gives me a scooper hand but since nobody called me it got burned. After catching two running 9's and getting called down by AAxx I was as tilted as I think I have ever been. I went from being the easy chip leader at my table to being crippled. Shortly after this inexcusable dealer error I knew my time was short.My tables breaks and I get a pleasant surprise. I get seat 9 at a table where Howard Lederer is in seat 10. I'm not one that usually cares about pro poker players but he was especially classy and talkative. Unlike many well known players he was a joy to play with. Phil Ivey came over a few times and they cut up about prop bets they had been making. This table soon breaks too and I'm off to find another table to bust on. I finally got all in to a massive pot but missed my draw. It was time to go forget about being the victim of that ridiculous dealer error.I decided to take Monday off from poker to help forget. I moved hotels as planned from The Orleans to the Golden Nugget. I must say that the Golden Nugget is now my favorite place to stay. I already liked downtown and the incredibly nice rooms right in the middle of Freemont Street are in a perfect location.I find my way to the craps table, the obvious hole in my gambling game. Since there isn't craps where I live I tend to have a one day binge in Las Vegas. I got most of it out of me and made sure to leave some money behind to help stimulate the Las Vegas economy. In the end that day got me a free week in a junior suite as well as all food comped. In the end I think I came out ahead there.On Wednesday I went to Sam's Town to go see what my retirement future holds. I played the only regular Stud8 cash game in town. It was a 2-10 spread limit with 2-20 on 7th. It had a double qualifier where you had to have two pair for high or else the low would scoop. It also had a kill. I played with seven of the grumpiest old men I've ever played poker against. They didn't like each other but seemed to not mind me being there. It was certainly fun and when I'm retired I can see myself in their shoes. I found it to be quite entertaining as well as profitable.That night I ended up playing in a $100 Binion's tournament where I came in 4th, finally my first tournament cash of the trip. I would go on to cash in three other Binion tournaments with two 1st place finishes and one off the final table in HORSE. The only other tournament I played was at the Golden Nugget where I busted early in what I consider my game, Stud8.It was great to get away and just play non stop poker. It helped to take my mind off of everything and now I can start out refreshed. I spent about $800 total including airfare and rental car during a 10 day Las Vegas trip. To me that is a win.Answering support emails virtually every day for two years can take its toll. It's not as easy as it sounds but now I'm ready to come back full strength. Hopefully it won't be two years before I can go do that again and leave work behind.

It's that time of the year again. The World Series of Poker is less than two weeks away. I plan to make my annual journey to play at least one event. Since I don't play no limit hold'em I have to plan ahead. I'll be playing in the May 30th $1500 Omaha High/Low. What will you be doing during this summer's biggest poker event?Hundreds if not thousands of poker related businesses will be using the opportunity to market to the biggest live poker crowd you can find. Some will set up booths, some will broadcast their news stories, some will send their players in their logo wear. Maybe you are a small affiliate and can't afford to send players to play wearing your logo, set up a booth or afford a license to broadcast the event. What can you do?One of the best ideas is to play in one of the smaller events. While I'm there I plan on wearing either a PAS or RakeTracker shirt. In the other events I've worn the shirt they have become conversation pieces. You will be at the same table for hours and it will drag. People will want to discuss anything to pass the time and your subtle advertising will be an easy conversation starter.Even if you don't play poker or don't think you are good enough to cash in an event at least making an appearance will be a good idea. You never know when you might run into a player that will now be able to put a face with your affiliate business. The more a player or customer knows about you the more likely you are to convert or retain them.

I started working for PAS in March 2008. I set up an office in the basement of my house in a spare bedroom. It seemed like a dream to be able to work from home and watch the kids grow up. As time went by and the workload from PAS grew it became more and more difficult to stay efficient. I started to associate work with home life and it all seemed to blur together. It became especially hard as my now 3 year old daughter grew and always wanted to play which interfered with work.Since I live in a remote mountain community the only place away from home that was close with the internet was the local tavern. It is a rowdy, smoky hole in the wall biker bar with a small casino in it. Not exactly the place to be productive although it was nice to get away to a change of scenery.Recently PAS hired a former coworker of mine Craig from Bonus Whores aka Gonzo787 to help with the ever growing content needs of PAS. He lives about 15 miles from me so it was decided PAS would expand into a second office. We now have a "PAS West" office. I had mixed feelings. I knew a change of scenery for work would help with my productivity and Craig and I needed a place for training and meetings. We rented a small office about 12 miles from my house. That sounds far but most of the drive is scenic mountain two lane roads and there isn't anything closer.We have been in the office for two weeks and there is a noticeable change in my productivity. The location change certainly helped with some of the inefficiencies and more importantly it gives me somewhere mentally to leave my work. I can leave the stress at the office and go home and enjoy my two kids and wife's company.If you work at home and feel home and work becoming one consider finding a professional suite or small office where you can leave work behind. The office I found was very inexpensive. You might just find the small expense of an office will help your productivity skyrocket and make your home life happier.

It has been exactly one month since PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com moved to Merge Gaming. There were a couple of servers issues at first but for the most part it was a smooth transition. Looking back over the last month it is safe to say this was a successful move for both Merge Gaming and Jazette, parent company of PlayersOnly and Sportsbook.com.Using the traffic figures from Poker Scout Merge Gaming traffic nearly tripled overnight. On April 14th the traffic peaked at 381. The next day it skyrocketed to 996. The traffic peaked on May 10th at 1204 but the numbers have been consistent. What does that mean to you, a PAS publisher?I can tell you from answering support tickets that players interest in Merge Gaming is higher than it ever has been. The new signups to the network are higher than ever. If you have not moved Carbon Poker and PlayersOnly up in position on your site it isn't too late. There is still plenty of interest from players. Adding some custom content and using the SEO features in the PAS CMS will also help you capture more exposure in the search engines. If you write a blog you can also post about the explosion in game selection and how the games on Merge Gaming might even be the best available for U.S. players. Make sure to link to your Merge Gaming offers in that blog.Having worked closely with PlayersOnly, Carbon Poker and Merge Gaming over the last two years I can tell you that this group has high expectations and will work hard to make sure these expectations are met. If you have any questions about the PlayersOnly move to Merge Gaming or anything else about the network don't hesitate to contact us or post in the PAS forum.