15 April 2008

Special Edition
Casino Affiliate Convention - Amsterdam
Casino Club Party - Curacao

Dear Reader,

It's been a whirlwind week - the CAC in Amsterdam topped with a way too short trip to Curacao. If reading about the tripiness of Amsterdam, S&M Hotels, Caribbean beaches, bitchin' restaurants, and online gaming is your thing, then read on...

Happily yours,

Bryan

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CAC 2008 - Amsterdam

Leather me not...

The Casino Affiliate Convention is one of the largest European events that is primarily focused on webmaster and marketing issues pertaining to i-Gaming. I attend this every year to make contact with casino operators and their affiliate managers. It's also a good place to party with my fellow webmasters and significant others.

I was a little late in booking my hotel in Amsterdam, and the one I usually stay at (the Victoria) was booked. Since I travel by train, location is important. I like to be able to walk to my hotel from the Central Train Station - and thus be in walking distance from the conference.

It was slim pickin's - most everything was gone. So I did a Google Earth search and found a hotel with outstanding reviews which was in the area I had hoped for. Funny that it didn't show up at Expedia or Hotels.nl - but it was listed at Tripadvisor.com (where I had read the reviews). Free WiFi, Flatscreen LCD TV with a DVD player, breakfast included, clean in a choice location - all this for €115 - which is about half the price for a low-end 4 star. So I checked it out - The Black Tulip a gay leatherman's hotel.

Hmmm, I'm not really into that scene - honest - but the accommodations sounded great, so I booked it after they said they "like them straight too".

So there I was - getting my briefing on the Hotel rules. The owner was obligated to go over these, regardless of my relationship status: "Rule number one: No Crisco - it smells and stinks up the place." Made sense to me - no worries there. "You can invite as many people into your room as you want, but please no strangers off of the street - there could be a security issue with that." Totally logical - no worries in that department as well. When he was finished, he gave me a quick tour - showed me the vast selection of gay porno DVDs (so that was what the free DVD player was in the room for - I had brought the fifth season of the Sopranos with me). And the room was warm and cozy looking. "I have to admit," he admitted, "we don't get many straight single males here." So I joked saying my wife was supposed to join me, but couldn't make it. He smiled and left me to my things. I didn't tell him that I was too cheap to shell out big cash for a five star down the road.

I even had a cage in my room - how cool. Photographic proof here.

Had dinner that evening with some of the Brightshare guys and J.Todd from The Association of Players, Casinos & Webmasters who updated us on some of his current videos. Dinner consisted of excellent Thai food - some of the best Thai I've had for a long time - probably since last year since it was the same restaurant I had eaten at with the operator of Club World Casino during last year's CAC. Deja vu I guess.

Later: Like last year, and the year before, and the year before that - EuroPartners hosted the pre-event party at the Onassis. It was pretty much packed, but it was still quite easy to get a drink. Conversation was merely mouthing words and gesticulating since the combination of the crowd noise and forgettable music dominated the nightclub. You needed to step outside in order to talk to anyone. And man, was it cold! Springtime 2008 in Europe surely sucks.

Knowing that tomorrow was to be a busy day, I called it an early night - played it like Cinderella and vanished at Midnight. Went back to my room - no men with mustaches waited for me in the hall - and I commenced to catch "The Sopranos" fifth season's second episode. Yes, I'm prepping myself for the sixth season - I haven't seen it yet.

My room was on the street level facing the canal. It was amazingly quiet until early that next morning at 0600 when some Jamaicans were going to work - jaw jacking and blabbering about whatever.

Day One CAC:
It was an early one as normal for CAC functions. Unlike most casino conferences, CAC begins early in the morning (relatively speaking) which can be quite painful for the shortsighted ones who partake in late night partying. I was fresh and my usual cheery self, and it was good seeing a number of others in the same condition. It was either you were there in good shape or still in bed.

Voice from the past - CAC 2004
The first day kicked off with "Advertising Law and Gaming Law in Europe: Where you can and can't advertise in Europe" presented by attorney Ewout Keuleers. His presentation really outlined how complex it is for any business to advertise online casinos in Europe, mainly from the complexities of many EU states. Each country has their own laws, but with online gaming there is the "cross-border" free trade issue. What is challenging for most companies is the justification of restrictions and how one can regulate the Internet. There is also the question that no one can seem to answer: where is the gaming transaction taking place? Is it on the players computer or is it where the server is located? His presentation left more questions open than giving answers, mainly because there are no clear-cut answers. Up to now, most of the laws that have been imposed are to protect the National Lotteries and have not much to do with online gaming. It's only now that some of these laws are being questioned.

Funny how some things never change...

The conference floor was full - full of booths that is. This was supposed to be the biggest show of all - more than 600 affiliates, many of these "super" affiliates - affiliates that generate $10,000 per month or more. But most of the affiliate managers I spoke with were wondering where all the affiliates were. Perhaps still in bed, or maybe in the lounge.

I didn't notice an absence of affiliates. It was still a difficult task to find a free seat in the lobby to make a meeting. And the bar was full. But then, I didn't have a booth.

That evening was a typical "Amsterdam" trek. A fabulous dinner at Pasta e Basta - an Italian restaurant mixing pasta and singing waiters and waitresses. They were really pretty good, and we all had a very enjoyable time thanks to the operator of Club World Casinos.

From there, a number of us moved on to the more sordid part of town and pub crawled through the red light district. We ended up at one of the Bulldog cafe bars (so I was told). One of the most memorable images that night was of a rotating mannequin head at the end of the bar. It was perched on some shelf, and revolved much like a disco mirror ball. Bizarro - and feeling that contact "high", I mosied on back to my leatherman's hotel.

The following morning came fast, thanks to a 730 am wake-up call from my wife wondering how things were. Too bad she was only on the phone. If she had been there, I would have put her in the cage.

Did I get out of bed? To find out, just scroll on down...

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CAC PART II

No, I'm not a perv...
Finally rousing myself out of bed, I was relieved to be walking in a normal fashion and had a very nice breakfast at my hotel - eggs to order. I then headed back to the Krasnapolsky Hotel and continued to meet a number of casino representatives. It was a pretty busy yet productive day. I finally met Natalie, the affiliate manager of Betus who has been assisting me in a few player issues. And of course I met with a couple of casinos which will be joining Casinomeister's Accredited Casinos section. I'll keep you posted on that.

The traditional Beer session went over well. This is where at the end of the conference a panel session commences and there is free beer for all. There really didn't seem to be any pressing issues this year - no black hat scandals, no roguish affiliate problems. It was a fairly mild mannered event.

Immediately afterwards, Moniker held an auction for domain names. Winnings.com went for $27,000, Roulette.mobi $15,000, OnlineCasino.at $7,500 - you can read the entire list here. I had already left since I was getting ready for a bitchin' "Curry" dinner with my buddy and fellow curry fan - Simmo!. Venue: the Balti House on Albert Cuypstraat 41 (no website). I highly recommend this place, and I also highly recommend going out for a curry with Simmo! since he seems to know what he's talking about when ordering. We all ate well, and I have pleasant memories of my mouth being on fire. Great stuff.

Voice from the past - CAC 2006
And then *poof* the convention was over. Everyone was packing their bags and heading to the airport. I was exhausted. Too fast - too quick - and here I was going out to dinner with Simmo! and Webzcas and Brian Susskind from Wagershare (who had cordially invited us). It was a trippy modern cuisine that served creative odds and ends. One dish was a small bowl of Octopus that sat in a concoction derived from its own Octopus ink. Yummy!

The highlight of the meal was desert. The Flan was really very good. But I was ready to pass out at the table. I could hardly keep my eyes open.

From there it was another trip through the Red-light district - no I'm not a perv - but this is "Party Central" of Amsterdam. And I'm a people watcher - and I find the women showcasing themselves intriguing - not in a pedestrian sexy way - but a more analytical approach. They have compelling histories - and futures - and I wonder what's going on in their heads.

It's also interesting to observe the masses of people - students, tourists, couples, groups of guys - all wandering the same streets.

We sat outside at a tavern across from De Waag in Nieuwmarkt, and the guys ragged on me for my abode up the street. Yet, most of them were all paying twice as much as my place, and they didn't have free wifi or a free breakfast. So I was having the last laugh.

That night, my hotel wasn't as quiet as the night before. There was some serious activity going on upstairs. Sounded like someone doing gymnastics on the furniture - stuff being moved around the room in a rhythmic way. It didn't last long and all went quiet. That was good. I needed to rise early to catch my flight to Curacao...

CURACAO - BEACHFEST

Lazy man me irie...
Flying out of Amsterdam was a little nervy at first. I was about six kilos over my weight limit thanks to my mules who bring me stuff from the States that I can't get over here. Notably chocolate chips, Aunt Jemima pancake syrup, and a selection of hot sauces were the heaviest items. But for some reason, KLM allowed me to check my bag without charging me for extra poundage.

Thanks to Casino Club, a few of us webmasters were treated to a couple of days on the beach on this little Caribbean island. Snorkeling, a 4-wheeling ATV tour, and more than enough jovial jocularities to linger as memories for quite a while.

A few of these webmasters I have known for quite a while, or have been acquainted with sometime in the past. We had a fantastic time - this was a great bunch to party with. Kudos go to all at Casino Club who made this happen, and a special thanks to the affiliate manager, Claire Leighton, who kept us in order and made sure that we were well taken care of. A major meister thumbs up.

Photographic proof here.

And it seemed...as soon as the party started, it was over. Before I knew it, I was back in the Amsterdam airport looking for my train to head home to Germany. The whirlwind tour was just about to become a memory.

Closing note: I had the Sopranos' fifth season to accompany me on the train - what a great show.

Complaints? Kudos? Please let me know.

Peace

Bryan Bailey
Webmeister
Casinomeister