Card Spike

[mojo]

I saw this posted numerous places. Not a poker player here but players should probably stay away.

http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-...ap-010109.html

[Casinomeister]

Strong allegations, but where are the facts? FWIW - there have been no PABs submitted concerning this operation, and no one has posted any complaints here as well. I'm not saying that there are no aggrieved affiliates and/or players, but I am always skeptical when there is a report on many people getting stiffed.

If anyone is getting screwed over by them, they are welcome to submit their complaints here. The winter's break is about over in Casinomeisterland

[pokeraddict]

There are dozens of stories over the internet about this. It is a mess. Players are having cashout issues and many or most affiliates are not getting paid. Hopefully whoever is behind this (G911 reports what everyone else thinks about that) will fix it. Cake Poker has also announced they are investigating CardSpike. Hopefully they can speed up the process. CardSpike appears to be a microskin of Sportsbook.com, a group of D- sportsbooks.

[jetset]

As PA says, this has been running for a couple months now - CardSpike launched late last year and within a few weeks there were reports of hassles in the no-slow payment area.

The excuses given suggested classic stalling-and-cashflow-problem tactics and it seems to have degenerated further as it has become a subject of intense disciussion on major online poker message boards.

Nat Arem has gone so far as to warn readers of his blog after looking into this, and PAP fired CardSpike's ass on December 31st.

With Cake Poker also investigating, the future for CardSpike does not look good imv, and players and affiliates alike need to be cautious.

Something nasty is going on there imo - despite this site being a member of a fairly large group - Domain Holdings Limited, which owns around 17 other websites.

[pokeraddict]

They also had a promo at CAP where they had a giveaway for a free CAP London trip. It is safe to assume they never gave it away.

http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.c...com.31425.html

[pokeraddict]

Also I can't remember where this was posted originally but do remember this post:

http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-...ke-010609.html

It is quite a drama. I guess in the end the true story will come out but the shares the community belief about who owns CardSpike and who has stiffed affiliates. For sure the stiffed affiliates part is true as well as quite a few players having their own problems getting cashouts and rakeback owed. For the good of the industry I hope whoever is behind this fixes it soon. There has been no news from CardSpike or CAP/PAP about this in about 2 weeks.

[mojo]

Another fine mess. The first order of business should be getting people paid what is due.

edit to add: I should add that I have confidence and trust in Michael as a leader in the affiliate community. It will all work out eventually.

[jetset]

Also I can't remember where this was posted originally but do remember this post:

http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-...ke-010609.html

It is quite a drama. I guess in the end the true story will come out but the shares the community belief about who owns CardSpike and who has stiffed affiliates. For sure the stiffed affiliates part is true as well as quite a few players having their own problems getting cashouts and rakeback owed. For the good of the industry I hope whoever is behind this fixes it soon. There has been no news from CardSpike or CAP/PAP about this in about 2 weeks.

I think 911 probably based their story on this GPWA forum posting:

GPWA forum - http://www.gpwa.org/forum/cardspike-...11-178366.html

Michael is certainly nailing his colours to the mast in that post and presumably feels he has enough hard evidence to safely make this sort of statement, but his own directory lists Cardspike as a property in the Domain Holdings group.

Unless Cardspike is another of those excerable 'white label' deals....

[bonustreak]

Be nice to see hard evidence Also if this is the case why has none come to Meister for help? I find that a bit odd, usually this is the first stopping ground when there are any player issues.

[Casinomeister]

Be nice to see hard evidence Also if this is the case why has none come to Meister for help? I find that a bit odd, usually this is the first stopping ground when there are any player issues.

Not just players - I've never turned down a PAB for affiliates either.

PAB doors are open if anyone cares to have me or Max look into this.