Update
It sure has been a long time sine I've posted on the blog and a ton has changed with me! First off I bought a house and will be moving in this upcoming Friday. I'll likely post some pictures of the new place. Other than that I have been enjoying the summer and getting out a ton.
My business partner and I have been doing a lot of work and have sold one of our best sites that had low maintenance that provided decent monthly revenue. We are looking at replacing that lost income using the newly acquired capital and investing in building several mini-sites targeting specific online poker rooms. We also sold another site that we never had the proper time or ideas to monetize the site. Hopefully the new owners can make it more successful than we did.
I'll report soon after the big move.
Top 10 Online Poker Rooms
There seems to be a common discussion amongst live poker players of what site is the biggest online poker room. So each month I will set the record straight and provide details on the top 10 poker rooms on the internet. Thanks to the help of Pokerscout.com
1. Poker Stars – Stars has always been one of the largest sites and it claimed the number one spot when Party Poker left the USA market. In the last 24 hours, Poker Stars had over 23,000 cash game players.
Visit PokerStars.com
2. iPoker Network – This network has been growing rapidly and they don't even allow USA players! A few popular rooms on this network are Chan Poker, Noble Poker and Titan Poker. In the last 24 hours they reached 11,034 cash game players.
Visit ChanPoker.com
3. Full Tilt Poker – With the amount of TV ads, sponsored players and direct advertising they have, its no wonder they are one of the top rooms. They currently rank number three and hit 10,404 cash game players playing simultaneously.
Visit FulltiltPoker.com
4. Party Poker – Party is a very popular online poker room in Canada and run constant tv ads on Sportsnet and TSN. They currently hold a major portion of the only Canadian poker players market. Party does not allow USA players and are continuing to grow. In the last 24 hours they had 9,414 cash game players.
Visit PartyPoker.com
5. OnGame Network – Like the iPoker Network, OnGame does not allow USA Players either. This Network reached 9303 players in the last 24 hours.
6. Everest Poker – There is a lot of praise from around the poker world about Everest Poker and much of it is deserved. They are becoming one of the worlds leading online poker room and will only continue to grow; especially since they are the official sponsor of the 2008 World Series of Poker. In the last 24 hours Everest Poker peaked at 6301 real money cash game players.
Visit EverestPoker.com
7. Boss Media – This is another network that is focused mostly on European poker players and has grown ever since Paradise Poker joined the network. 3350 real money cash game players peaked on Boss Media in the last 24 hours.
Visit ParadisePoker.com
8. Ultimate Bet – UB is promoted heavily by superstar poker player Phil Hellmuth and in the last 24 hours they reached over 2400 real money cash game players.
9. Pacific Poker – What use to be the most fishiest online poker site is now one of the toughest. Pacific Poker lost a good chunk of their player base when they pulled out of the USA market. In the last 24 hours they produced 2027 real money cash game players.
Visit PacificPoker.com
10. Cake Poker – Cake has been the fastest growing online poker room in the last year or so. They have several other big names on their network that are helping the cause. Over the last 24 hours they had a peak of 1937 cash game players. This is a fairly low number for Cake Poker.
Visit CakePoker.com
New Website – SummitPoker.co.uk
I mentioned a few posts back that you could expect a new website to be launched. Well, its finally completed, check it out at Summit Poker. This site a mini-site that solely promotes one of the best online poker rooms, Everest Poker.
Everest Poker is currently the 6th largest website and will hit upwards of 6,000 real money players playing simultaneously. It's also was the first online poker room to focus on international markets which proved to be a huge success. From their launch Everest did not allow USA players and many critics ridiculed the company for doing this and expected them to fail. However, the opposite happened and Everest has exploded as one of the most recognized online poker rooms across the globe. They are also the official sponsor of the 2008 World Series of Poker and with all the marketing Everest will receive; one can expect them to be competing for the largest online poker room spot. If you would like to read more about Everest Poker please visit a Everest Poker Review
SummitPoker.co.uk will mainly target the European countries and the site will soon be expanded into several other languages. The site is loaded with original content and will soon be an authority Everest Poker information site. I'll do another post about this site with some results in 6 months to 12 months.
WSOP Satellites
Each year the $10,000 Main Event is filled with thousands of satellite winners. Poker sites are very busy with months leading up to the World Series of Poker and are running countless WSOP satellites. I think it was something like 2,000 seats were given away through PokerStars last year alone.
There are pros and cons of using major online poker sites (PokerStars and Full Tilt) as your satellite provider. The biggest con is that you will rarely see any added value, which means that it's a true satellite. Ex. the buy-in is $100+$10fee for a total of $110 and you play to win a $13,000 WSOP prize package. Most likely this satellite tournament will be filled up with 130 players, due to the large player base on Full Tilt and PokerStars. With a 130 players entered that is $14,300 in total buy-in and poker site is paying out one $13,000 prize package, which means they are profiting $1,300! The main advantage of entering satellites on major sites is that they are constantly running. You won't have to wait for a certain day to play a satellite since they are nearly available around the clock.
Visit the 2nd largest Poker Site Full Tilt Poker - to win your WSOP seat
Check out the Worlds Largest Poker Site Poker Stars - and become the next Chris Moneymaker!
Medium size sites like Everest Poker, Betfair Poker and LuckyAce Poker offer guarantee WSOP satellites. When sites guarantee "X" amount of seats to be paid out in a satellite, you have a chance to pick up some value (+EV). Ex. Since the player volume is a bit lower, there is a good chance the satellite will not fill up. Say you pay $110 total to enter a $13,00 WSOP prize package satellite, but only 100 players enter, that totals up to $11,000. Which means that the poker site is dishing out $2,000 of their own money because they guaranteed the satellite.
Currently, I've been telling players to play the Everest Poker satellite tournaments. The main reason is because Everest Poker is the official World Series of Poker sponsor and satellite provider. They are technically the only site that has the permission of the WSOP to offer satellites to their events. Also Everest Poker is guaranteeing X amount of seats each tournament they run.
Here is the current Everest Poker Tournament Schedule: Visit EverestPoker.com
Every Friday: $3,500 WSOP Prize Package - 1 package guaranteed
Each winner gets a seat in the $1,500 event of their choice plus $2,000 credited to their Everest Poker account for travel expenses.
The event has satellites running daily that include a $3.30 rebuy and an $11+1 freeze out tournament. Players also have the option to buy-in directly for $100+9.
Every Wednesday: $7,500 WSOP Prize Package – 1 package guaranteed
Each winner gets $5,000 to buy-in to the event of their choice* plus $2,500 credited to their Everest Poker account for travel expenses.
Players can enter daily satellites with a $22+2 freeze out or a $5.50 rebuy tournament. To buy-in directly will cost $200+15.
Every Monday: $13,000 Main Event WSOP Prize Package – 1 package guaranteed
Each winner gets a seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event plus $3,000 credited to their Everest Poker account for travel expenses.
Buy-in directly to this event for $500+30. Available satellites include a $100+9 Freeze out which runs once or twice per night depending on the evening and a $30+3 Rebuy ran daily at 9:00 GMT, 14:45 GMT, and 17:30 GMT.
Sunday, June 8 at 16:30 GMT
WSOP Main Event - 20 SEATS GUARANTEED!
Each winner will receive a $13,000 WSOP Prize Package which includes a seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event plus $3,000 credited to their Everest Poker account for travel expenses.
Players can buy-in directly for $1,000+50. There are also several direct satellites into this event which include: $200+15 satellite ran every Saturday. $11+1 freeze out and a $3.30 rebuy are also ran on Saturdays guaranteeing one seat into the June 8th tournament. There is also a $55+5 rebuy, $100+9 freezeout, and a $300+20 freezeout that are running.
Sunday, May 18 at 16:30 GMT
WSOP Ladies World Championship – 5 Seats Guaranteed!
Each winner will receive a $3,000 WSOP Prize Package which includes a seat in the Ladies World Championship plus $2,000 credited to their Everest Poker account for travel expenses.
This tournament is $55+5 to enter.
Everest Poker is currently 6th largest poker site and was the first multi-language poker site. They are licensed in Canada and a extremely reputable poker site. To visit Everest Poker please click here, EverestPoker.com, for a full review of Everest please click here, Everest Poker
Cake Rakeback Gets a New home
Earlier this week I received an email from Cake Poker saying this:
Hi Aidan,
It has just come to our attention that you are using cake in your URL. This is a violation of our terms and conditions and we would like you to discontinue using it. We are generally very lenient when people use our name in their url’s but we feel that people may think we are offering Rakeback to players and not letting only affiliates offer it.
Can you please confirm that you received this email and what the timeline is for your to change your url.
Thats not exactly the kind of email that I like to wake up to. Although we had no idea that this was against Cake's T&C's. A lot of poker sites will allow affiliates to use their brand name within a domain and many are uber strict about the use of their domain like Everest Poker. Cake falls somewhere in between. So we ended up changing our mini rakeback site that was formally named Cake-Rakeback.com to Rakebackbonus.net.
We were at fault and we took no time switching the domain name. Jim, my business partner, was able find a new domain, create a new hosting account, transfer the site and do all that fun stuff within a few days. Good job Jim! It's not an easy task switching domains. Because you also have to change all your email addresses keep a hosting account and forward the old email addresses to the new ones and many little things like that.
Since Cake Poker is one of our highest monthly earners, we did what they asked in a timely fashion without any questions. Always gotta keep the people that pay you happy 
Now that Cake-Rakeback.com has a new domain, one can expect a new design here shortly.
WSOP Promotions – Duplicate Poker
I will be posting some of the best World Series of Poker promotions that online poker rooms will be running. A normal package includes a Main Event seat, plus travel and accommodation money. Usually, the packages are worth around $12,500. Each year I would guess that half the entrants at the WSOP Main Event won their seat online. PokerStars alone sent nearly 2000 players.
The first promotion that every one should take advantage of is at Duplicate Poker. This is definitely the best WSOP promo a player will find online. I'm not joking or over exaggerating at all here. Duplicate Poker is giving away 6 seats in 6 different tournaments.
To receive an entry into all the events a player must click my special promo link and deposit a minimum of $50. Then earn 100 player points. Players will also receive a 200% deposit bonus as well.
Special Promo Link to Duplicate Poker here
Duplicate Poker is a bit different than your regular Texas Hold'em tournament. All the rules are the same as Texas Hold'em except it's in a skill based tournament format. Which means, is that there are several people sitting in your seat at a different table. Each table is dealt the exact same cards with same flop, turn and rivers.
Even though its a bit different, its still worth six shots at a Main Seat package. My buddy Jackson Anderson (yes he has two last names and looks like Jack Black) won a seat to the PokerNews Cup in Austrailia, from Duplicate Poker. His seat package was worth over $5,000 and he only had to beat out 40 other people.
I expect each one of these tournaments to have very few entrants in comparison to the prize. Which makes this a +EV promotion.
Below are the dates of each tournament:
16 Mar 2008, 13:05 EST (GMT -5) - 1st Place wins a $12,500 WSOP Package
03 Apr 2008, 8:05 EST (GMT -5) - 1st Place wins a $12,500 WSOP Package
13 Apr 2008, 13:05 EST (GMT -5) - 1st Place wins a $12,500 WSOP Package
03 May 2008, 13:05 EST (GMT -5) - 1st Place wins a $12,500 WSOP Package
01 Jun 2008, 13:05 EST (GMT -5) - 1st Place wins a $12,500 WSOP Package
14 Jun 2008, 13:05 EST (GMT -5) - 1st Place wins a $12,500 WSOP Package
To read a full review please visit my Duplicate Poker Review page.
WTF Full Tilt
Full Tilt has jumped the shark, and is now screwing over affiliates by not crediting them with players who deposit after 60 days of registering. Here is the direct quote from the latest Full Tilt affiliate newsletter, “As an affiliate, we want to make sure you get the credit you deserve for directing real-money players to Full Tilt Poker. Our Affiliate Agreement defines a real money player as someone who makes their first real money deposit within 60 days of signing up on our site.”
This is absolute ludicrous, a good majority of Full Tilt deposits occur after a 60 day period. I'm not the only one who is disappointed, there are huge threads all over affiliate communities that are packed with livid posters.
Another interesting move is that Full Tilt launched an in house rakeback program. Not sure exactly what the goals of the in house rakeback program will be. But this is about the worst news possible for rakeback affiliates and regular affiliates.
I have a slight feeling that Full Tilt may reverse this new policy, due to the outrage they have caused, although I'm not holding my breath.
I haven't updated the blog lately, because Jim and I have been coasting for a few weeks here. However, we should have a new mini site launched within a week or two. Also there is a new skin on the Cake Poker network, that is offering rakeback. This is a great opportunity to get some great search engine positions for this room by putting up some content before the competition does.
Will provide links when the new mini site is launched 
The Brick Comes Through
I guess its the power of the press, as the Brick finally decided to honor the warranty they sold me. After several phone calls with the West Edmonton Mall Brick and emailing head office a few times an unlikely source that cost me $5.00 helped me get my money back. I wrote a report on The Squeaky Wheel and I received an email within 24 hours and everything was settled from there.
I'm happy that it was resolved, but I'm utterly annoyed at the amount of hassle I had too go through. What did I get with my credit? Two recliners and a bi-cast leather Futon for when someone stays over. Maybe I'll even post a picture once it gets delivered.
How To Become a Successful Poker Affiliate – Part 2
Part 2 - If you haven't read Part one click here
What Affiliate Programs to Join? - I highly recommend joining the Poker Affiliate Programs (PAW). PAW offers higher CPA's (Cost Per Acquisition) and MGR (Monthly Gross Revenue) rates then you will find at normal affiliate programs. The Poker Affiliate Program pays once a month and has several banking options to choose from.
There are many advantages of operating your affiliate links on the PAW network, here are a few: Several affiliate programs have a certain requirement before a withdrawal can be made. Ex. Titan Poker affiliates need to make $500 before you can make a withdrawal. Now if you're sitting at $450 you can't get paid. PAW is set up differently, they will be able to pay you the $450 and all other earnings in one payment at the end of the month. If you have any more questions about the PAW network you can contact me directly via my contact page.
Plug: Please use this form to sign up to PAW
Focus on 3 or 4 poker rooms to start – One of the worst things you can do, is start signing up at all the different affiliate programs. Its important not to rush this for several reasons. First off, you can probably find someone who will help you out, as in give you a link or provide you with a higher percentage if you sign up to the affiliate program under another poker affiliate. Second, you won't have to worry about promoting several rooms. When you're looking to promote a new brand, look for one that is running a promotion. Many programs will give higher percentages of MGR or bigger CPA's during a promotional period.
Its much easier for new affiliates to start small and promote 3 or 4 poker rooms. New affiliates will remain much more focused and can build better SERPs (search engine ranking positions) on their new website. When starting out, you will not have an instant full time job. It can take a long time before the ball gets rolling. However, if you can delegate your time wisely and focus on updating your site with good quality content on these 3 or 4 poker rooms, you will see the results a lot quicker then if you were spending the same amount of time trying to stay updated on 10 or more poker rooms.
Learn and become apart of a poker affiliate community – There are several poker affiliate communities around, GPWA and PAP are the most popular ones. I'm most familiar with PAP (PokerAffiliatePrograms.com). The guys that run it are great and very successful. PAP has a blog that is updated constantly with advice and affiliate news.
The forums on PAP is an absolute gold mine. There are countless threads of information on SEO, Affiliate Programs, and marketing ideas. If you have a question or need some help; you'll find the members at PAP are more then willing to give you a hand. Just remember to use the search feature first.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – I can't stress how important SEO will become when you start building your website. From meta information to keyword research. There is far much to cover in a paragraph for optimizing your website for search engines. You'll find countless threads at PAP and there are many websites dedicated to SEO.
How To Become a Successful Poker Affiliate – Part 1
I always get asked from friends and family about my “job” and how they can get involved. Normally I try and avoid these questions, and answer with very lame responses to avoid more probing questions. I've decided to briefly address some of these questions. In a three part series, I will touch base on how a person can enter the poker affiliate industry and what they will need to do, to become successful.
Part 1: The Basics
A Website and a Niche – Although there are other ways to promote online poker, affiliating through a website will most likely provide the best results. I do not have any experience promoting poker offline, but from my research its not very profitable. Building a website and using it as a portal to online poker sites is the way to go.
Just because you have a website and put up some online poker site banners, does not mean you will receive RMPs (Real money players). With the poker affiliate industry becoming more saturated each day, its more important then ever to find a solid niche. There are still several niche markets that are very profitable. One of the niche markets that my business partner and I target is the Mac Computer poker software. Once you find your niche, you will want to target the keywords for that term and hopefully become an authority.
A lot of people get scared when they hear they will need to manage a website. However, there are many simple solutions today, that offer free website templates with awesome code. A great example is using a WordPress blog. With a little editing of a WordPress blog, you can create a solid design with great SEO (search engine optimization) code. Also, there is a lot of designers/programers that will customize WordPress blogs for a couple hundred dollars. This is a small investment. Even just a few years ago, having a CMS (content management system) like the free WordPress blogs today, could of cost you in the thousands of dollars.
Content – You will always here the phrase “Content is King” among successful website owners. I can't stress this enough. There is no such thing as too much content. Of course you'll want quality content that people will want to read. Search engines absolutely love websites that are enriched with quality content. The more content you site has the more keywords you'll target, even if you're not intending too.
Internet and Computer Savvy – With computer software and hardware technology advancing at such a rapid pace; one needs to stay on top and be accustomed to the changes. The internet has gone from the Web 1.0 and now we are in the process of being full transformed into the “Web 2.0”. Prime examples of web 2.0 is social bookmarking sites like Digg.com, Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon.com. Other popular examples are MySpace and Facebook. These sites are extremely powerful and rely heavily on human editing and linking. Another great example is Wikipedia, where any human can actually edit/update the content.
As of now, we are transitioning into Web 2.0. Poker affiliates need to be asking themselves, How can I take advantage of the new web 2.0? and What can I do to build my link value on these popular 2.0 websites? Being internet savvy allows affiliates to transform and participate with these new websites without much effort. Without much knowledge of the internet, popular software programs and computer skills, I would highly recommend not getting involved in the poker affiliate industry.
Patience – Websites do not make money over night. Especially, when you create a site that will rely on search engines like Google to send traffic to your website. It can take several months just to get search engines to start sending a significant amount traffic to your website. It can take even more time, before you start earning money from your new website. Its very important that you remain patient and continue to update your websites content. Content is king, remember that, it will be why you succeed as a online poker affiliate.
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