How Pokerstars Partners Made a Fortune Backstabbing Their Super Affiliates, and Players

Its been nearly two weeks since we last reported the news of Pokerstars Partners terminating affiliates, and the matter appears to be quickly heating up. Long-standing affiliates have spoken out about the issue with the Pokerstars affiliate program, players too have noticed some strange changes regarding the initial deposit bonus at Pokerstars.

The $600 welcome bonus was always a 17x multiplier, $10 released per 170 vpps. ~32.3% rakeback. 6 months to clear, after each of up to 3 qualifying deposits

Now it’s 20x multiplier, 27.5% rakeback, the 6 months now 4

It seems that Amaya Gaming, owner of Pokerstars and Full Tilt, stands to profit quite a bit from these underhanded maneuvers, and their former affiliates are considering banding together as one voice and mustering up a formal complaint to recoup the potentially millions of dollars they feel has been stolen right from under their feet.

We need to band together and file a lawsuit against Amaya. Those terms would probably not stand up to legal muster since they are so one-sided. Plus you have little to no ability to say no to the terms as if you do you lose the revenue stream. rbc21, in his post at PokerAffiliateWorld.com

There are more than just a handful of affiliates effected, and virtually all of them have sent large amounts of players to Pokerstars. The overall consensus throughout the community however, is that Pokerstars ripped them off by using a brazen tactic they knew would certainly leave affiliates unnerved.

This is just so disgusting to me. That was a big fear I had when I saw they sold Pokerstars. I honestly expected the worst case scenario would be just shutting down the program totally (and they probably still will) But to killed super affiliate accounts, while still recruiting is disgusting. – Ridge, in his post at PokerAffiliateWorld.com

A representative of Best Odds Corp chimed in, stating that their affiliate account was also terminated, and that the accompanying letter of termination cited the following clause in the Pokerstars affiliate program terms and conditions.

8.4. We may terminate this Agreement at any time on 7 days’ written notice.

The representative noted that this was not part of the original Terms and Conditions when his company began affiliating Pokerstars in 2004. He reached out to the affiliate program asking for an explanation and received a follow-up email from Ryan Harper, the Acting Head of Affiliates at Pokerstars. Ryan stated that their affiliate account was terminated for the following reason:

The decision was made to terminate the contract because the overall low level of monthly acquisitions does not justify the high monthly payment.

The member stated that he was infuriated, as Best Odds Corp had a successful relationship with the Pokerstars affiliate program for over 10 years driving thousands of players through its top property macpokeronline.com. The player pool accumulated during those years was substantial, and the affiliate continued to bring new players in the face of a declining online poker industry that began to falter from its peak in early 2007. The level of interest in online poker is only 15% of what it was during such peak, of course monthly acquisitions aren’t what they used to be, but is the affiliate to blame? Affiliates don’t seem to think so.

I congratulate you (PokerStars) on your short term gain. But know one thing, me and the people like me we will never forget. And we will never go away because this business is what we do and know and love. And we don’t do business with people who steal from us no matter who owns it. – Markus Sonermo, Poker.org

Let this be a lesson to affiliates and players everywhere. Not only does Amaya Gaming own and control the Pokerstars affiliate program, but also the Full Tilt Poker affiliate program. Additionally, they’re in the online casino space, having over 300 games according to their website.

This could be the writing on the wall that sets the standard for how Amaya Gaming is going to be treating affiliates and players in the future – although, there were problems with Pokerstars Partners in the past. In the case of being a Pokerstars affiliate, be careful, because if this happened to these super-affiliates, it could easily happen to you.

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