Question Advantage to sign-up through affiliate-links?

[BalticSea]

Hi,

I will sign-up to a couple of new casino-sites in the near future. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to sign-up through affiliate-links?
A few affiliate-sites can offer better bonuses than the standard casino-site bonus but are there any other advantages? One disadvantage could be that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses if they have to pay affiliate-revenue for the customer as well.

 

[fun4all]

The most respectable affiliate sites take the fact they are referring people to casinos seriously and will step in on the players behalf if there is a problem (or just use their contacts to get past normal cs). The best affiliate sites also only recommend the best casinos, so you can feel safe if you go through them that if you hit you will be paid.

 

[rainmaker]

The most respectable affiliate sites take the fact they are referring people to casinos seriously and will step in on the players behalf if there is a problem (or just use their contacts to get past normal cs). The best affiliate sites also only recommend the best casinos, so you can feel safe if you go through them that if you hit you will be paid.

What fun4all said

Also. Some affiliates are unfortunately not very good at updating their site(s) so bonus info etc may be outdated (ask the casino/affiliate if you are unsure).

Don't get too blinded by special welcome bonuses. I always use affiliates I trust and want to support regardless of how big bonus they offer (Casinomeister or other affiliates on this forum).

 

[vinylweatherman]

The negative aspect is that some casinos will use the information about which affiliate you signed up through to deduce your intentions. For example, if you sign up through a site dedicated to the art of finding and playing the best bonuses you may be classed as "potential bonus abuser". This could then count against you when the casino has reason to audit your play after a particularly nice win.

There have even been cases where casino staff have admitted that they have adversely branded a player due to them having signed up through what they deem to be a "bad affiliate" that sends them "poor quality traffic". Not so "poor quality" though that they feel the need to terminate the agreement with said affiliate.

 

[Matti]

I would sign up through one of the more trustworthy affiliates like Casinomeister or The Pogg. There are so many affiliates sites out there that don't ad value to the player.

 

[KasinoKing]

One disadvantage could be that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses if they have to pay affiliate-revenue for the customer as well.

This part is not true. All casinos (or at least 99.9% of them) use affiliates to promote their brands.
The offers you get after any enhanced "specials" will be exactly the same as if you went direct.

What others have said above is totally correct; some affiliates have never even played at an online casino and are basically just "marketing people", others will promote any Tom, Dick or Rogue if they think they might make some $ from it.
Others like Simmo, Rainmaker, Myself, etc actually PLAY at casinos and do know what we are talking about. I've been playing online casinos virtually daily since 2001, have joined and played over 270 different ones and read gambling forums every single day - I'm sure the other guys are the same.
We KNOW who are good, who are not so good and who are rogues.
As per the tag-line on one of my sites... "Knowledge is Power!"

KK

 

[Azzurri]

Hi,

I will sign-up to a couple of new casino-sites in the near future. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to sign-up through affiliate-links?
A few affiliate-sites can offer better bonuses than the standard casino-site bonus but are there any other advantages? One disadvantage could be that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses if they have to pay affiliate-revenue for the customer as well.

Welcome to the forum.

My advice is fairly simple.

If you intend on being a regular member here at CM and take advantage of it's use, it is a common courtesy to sign up to a few accredited sites (see link below) via this site, as not only will it allow you to be eligible for many exclusive offers and promos certain casinos run on this forum throughout the year, but it also helps the owner Bryan and his helpers fund and run the site annually.

Of course you also have the added safety of these sites being accredited, and if any issues arise, Bryan and the like have direct access, and a relationship with these casinos, hence they can act on your behalf if need be.

Just make sure the affiliate offer here is at least equal to the current standard offer at the casino, and if it's not, let Bryan know, and I'm sure he will update the offer for you.

Find accredited sites here - Link Outdated / Removed

Find Bryan here - Link Outdated / Removed

Good luck.

 

[homerbert]

I am always register throw affiliates, but with those, who really did their job.
For example, i joined all casinos at which i have no accounts in past throw Rainy website Because:
a) His website is awesome, and his website is one of not so many place which does not place huge banner of shit like grand parker and telling AWESOME CASINO GO WIN
b) Rainy is quite cool person(at least i think so)
Few from CM, since this is also great affiliate website(not sure if it is even affiliate website , as it is obviously something more, much more). And couple from LCB.
I'm not this greedy idiot who have thoughts 'ahhh, i lose, now those stupid affiliate earn some money on my lose'

 

[refre]

I usually make a point of signing up directly. Sure, you'll get any advertised bonus even if you sign up through an affiliate. When it comes to one-off discretionary Vip-style bonuses it must have an effect though. The casino may pay as much as 50% of your losses to the affiliate. Less profit = less room for loyalty rewards.

Ok, I better run and hide

 

[incrediblestuff]

Others like Simmo, Rainmaker, Myself, etc

Why am i always only mentioned as "etc." ?

Jokes aside:

One disadvantage could be that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses if they have to pay affiliate-revenue for the customer as well.

The casino may pay as much as 50% of your losses to the affiliate. Less profit = less room for loyalty rewards.

Not to worry, most sensible affiliate programs (the ones without negative carry over) have implemented in their systems that in essence, bonuses are part of "costs" which will affect the net revenue of the affiliate.

So you as a player will never be "punished" for signing up through an affiliate - except for the ones that send bad or abusive traffic maybe like in VWM's example, or get less bonuses.

Note that many Casino's have different views on bonuses they award to certain levels of play.. some will reward frequent play a lot, while others might decrease the amount of bonuses for that same level of activity.. Factors that add weight are mostly the deposit/withdrawal ratio, weekly, monthly and yearly activity and of course if a player is "new" or "old".

 

[rainmaker]

b) Rainy is quite cool person(at least i think so)

Thank you for your kind words. You are also cool

 

[BalticSea]

You've all got some good points.

A summary so far:

Pros:
1. The affiliate could offer a better bonus than the default in some cases.

2. Some affiliate-sites can help you solve any problem or dispute with the casino-site. However, several affiliate-sites seems to have that service for all players but they might try a little harder if they know it's one of their affiliated player? Is it possible for the affiliate-site to see the names/ids of all the customer they referred?

3. You support honest and hard-working affiliate-people so they can continue to save the world. Advanced, correct and updated information about casino-sites and games are good but in this context it doesn't really give the player any direct short-term extra to use the affiliate-links.

Cons:
1. There is a risk that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses if they have to pay affiliate-revenue for the customer as well. This probability is reduced by the fact that the bonus-cost is usually deducted from the gross revenue when the affiliate net revenue is calculated.

2. There is a risk that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses and/or confiscate funds if the referred affiliate-site has a lot of useful and advanced bonus-strategy information.



Casino rake/cash-back seems to be forbidden in most affiliate-programs. However, the affiliate-sites should be able to offer some sort of sign up reward or benefit without breaking the T&Cs. If this or any other site has something similar you can contact me.

 

[Simmo!]

There's no real advantage / disadvantage to the player to be honest. If you think the affiliate helped you or saved you some aggro then you could help them back by clicking the link. If they didn't, then you may not feel inclined to do so.

Something like CM's Link Outdated / Removed is valuable to players because a lot of your research has been done for you so it's a nice thing to do to click CM's link - then win a sh*tload of dosh

 

[Jono777]

....not as 'clued up' as I thought.

If I'd realised that Casino Meister benefited by signing up thru site I would of joined that way as I love this site and have learnt a lot through it.

Then again I think I may have been a member of most if not all accredited before I joined CM.

I will certainly join 'newbie sites' in the future via CM but I'm guessing after new UK laws these may be few and far between.

 

[KasinoKing]

You've all got some good points.

A summary so far:

Pros:
1. The affiliate could offer a better bonus than the default in some cases.

2. Some affiliate-sites can help you solve any problem or dispute with the casino-site. However, several affiliate-sites seems to have that service for all players but they might try a little harder if they know it's one of their affiliated player? Is it possible for the affiliate-site to see the names/ids of all the customer they referred?

3. You support honest and hard-working affiliate-people so they can continue to save the world. Advanced, correct and updated information about casino-sites and games are good but in this context it doesn't really give the player any direct short-term extra to use the affiliate-links.

Cons:
1. There is a risk that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses if they have to pay affiliate-revenue for the customer as well. This probability is reduced by the fact that the bonus-cost is usually deducted from the gross revenue when the affiliate net revenue is calculated.

2. There is a risk that the casino-site will offer fewer reload-bonuses and/or confiscate funds if the referred affiliate-site has a lot of useful and advanced bonus-strategy information.



Casino rake/cash-back seems to be forbidden in most affiliate-programs. However, the affiliate-sites should be able to offer some sort of sign up reward or benefit without breaking the T&Cs. If this or any other site has something similar you can contact me.

Pros:
1. Yes, this is an advantage.

2. No reputable casinos tell affiliates ANY personal details about the players (i.e. Full names, e-mail or physical address). With a few you can see the player's account ref number - but with no other details this is pretty meaningless.

3. It depends on the affiliate site. The only reason I started my site was because as a player, I got fed up with looking for new casinos but not finding the vital information I needed on existing affy sites. Yeah these other site said "get a YYY% bonus up to $XXX", but what they didn't say was, what is the WR? Is it Cashable or Phantom? Which games are allowed or not? Many don't even say what the software is!
So my site may not add any $value, but it does save player hours of tedious T&Cs reading on multiple casino websites trying to find a bonus which appeals to them, with the games they want to play.
The other factor is, you wont find any rogue casinos on my site - if you just relied on Google for your searching you'd likely end up at one of two rip-off clip-joints. I put in a hell of a lot of hours to get the information for my site, so that players don't have to. I'm sure all the other affiliates who are members here at CM are just the same.

Cons:
1. As per my first reply in this thread - it's make NO difference to the player, unless the casino does not use affiliates at all - and I don't think there are many of them. Affiliate fees are just part of the overheads - just the same as TV ads are for those casinos who use them.

2. No reputable casino would allow themselves to be advertised on an "advantage play" site and then confiscate winnings because of some "spirit of the bonus" rule. Of course, the dodgy and rogue ones would - which is why players have to be careful about where they look and which casinos they chose to play. In essence this is the whole reason CasinoMeister started his site in the first place - to guide players in the direction of the reputable, honest operators and away from the shady casinos on the dark side. Those principles are what make this the best gambling forum on the net.

KK