Slot power and vanguard casinos out of business?

Both redirecting to Manhatten slots my end. This is a sign of the times. Fly by night ops that will disapear over night.
 
Not working here (the websites).
My money is on this being a temporary server glitch - a real one, not just a lame excuse like Tradition used.
Though there is a possibility they've been taken over by Club World (who own Manhattan Slots) as part of their plan for word domination... :p

KK
 
Same thing here... web sites redirecting to Manhattan slots. Club World must be liking the attention though. They've gotten a lot of new properties of late.
 
Hi all,

First off can I just confirm that CWC have not purchased either of these two casinos in our challenge for world domination, nor the domain or anything else to do with the casinos, including the affiliate program.

I checked into this and our business relationship with these URL's extends as far as an affiliate account. It seems they have put a redirect on from their URL sending all traffic to one of our casinos, Manhattan Slots.

Sorry I cannot help any further, but if I do hear anything further I will update this thread.

Cheers,
 
This is strange!

Ooops!

Strange things indeed!

A small investigation shows that slotpower.com is correct website but if you put an www. infront of the url you are redirected to Manhattan slots.

The ip of www.slotpower.com is 195.56.65.76 and info about that IP:

Hosted domains

4players.net
4players.com
xpress.com
szahara.com
budapestbamako.org
degob.org
oplaypartner.com
ourpicturealbum.com
livevegasaction.com
london-technologies.com
phonecash.com
drothalo.com
mail.bestdamnpokersite.com
ns2.drothalo.com

If we go to livevegasaction.com we are redirected to Windows Casino!! :eek:

If we go to 4players.com we are redirected to an affiliate page called Gambling results.

What a mess!:(
 
This is all very strange, especially in view of the CWC denial.

The possibility that these two operations have gone to the wall (the owners are Cyprus-registered First Gaming Partners who acquired Slots Power - formerly Absolute Slots - in June 2009 and Vanguard a little later) is enhanced by the presence of a number of slow-play complaints on the internet dating back over the past few months.

If there are any Rival affiliates active here, now might be a good time to clarify what the position is?)
 
I can still log into my Vanguard account and they sent me a Tuesday promotion. Slot Power was uninstalled a while back.

-----------------
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Promotions
Vanguard Casino
 
Just think they also created an affiliate account at CWC and all the links redirecting players there, they are taking the credit for. I also was just told players are still able to access the casino is they have accounts, hope they don't get burned.

Rival needs to step it up and let players know wtf is going on and going to happen.
 
Just think they also created an affiliate account at CWC and all the links redirecting players there, they are taking the credit for. I also was just told players are still able to access the casino is they have accounts, hope they don't get burned.

Rival needs to step it up and let players know wtf is going on and going to happen.

Why would Rivals redirect to an RTG?

Well, this is UNBELIEVABLY shady. It looks like these two HAVE had to "fold" in the sense they have taken down their websites, and redirected to a Club World casino. This is DELIBERATE, not merely a "bug", since a redirect has been coded, and preparation IN ADVANCE has been made by opening an affiliate account with Club World. This will squeeze a little extra money from players than visit the websites, get redirected, and think that "their" casino has indeed made a PROPER business deal with Club World's Manhattan Slots.
Worst of all, NO notification to players, who are still being enticed to deposit into a company that cannot even keep it's domain live (so thesefore CANNOT so easily be contacted if things go wrong). AFFILIATES are also getting screwed, since they will still be marketing the casinos, but THEIR traffic gets "hijacked" by the redirect, and they do NOT get the chance to earn income from the traffic, since this traffic is going to be enticed to join Manhattan Slots, for which the CASINO will receive affiliate income.
 
This is soooo strange?? Even the Vanguard Casino webpage links in their promo emails instantly redirect to

http://www.manhattanslots.com/Default.aspx
 
Evening all. I am sure you can appreciate its late here in the UK, nearly 11pm, so I am limited to what I can do right now, however I have been looking into this since I arrived in work this morning.

I dont like knee jerk reactions so I'm conducting a full investigation into this and consulting the bosses also. I am very concerned as to the antics that appear to be happening with the casino URL's in question so hopefully, tomorrow, I will be able to update you all further.

Regards to player and affiliate issues I cannot help in answering that unfortunately, hopefully you will be able to contact the casino support, affiliate manager or someone?
 
Evening all. I am sure you can appreciate its late here in the UK, nearly 11pm, so I am limited to what I can do right now, however I have been looking into this since I arrived in work this morning.

I dont like knee jerk reactions so I'm conducting a full investigation into this and consulting the bosses also. I am very concerned as to the antics that appear to be happening with the casino URL's in question so hopefully, tomorrow, I will be able to update you all further.

Regards to player and affiliate issues I cannot help in answering that unfortunately, hopefully you will be able to contact the casino support, affiliate manager or someone?

THIS is one of my concerns, how can you look up contact details if they have pulled the website. This is the action of a casino that has ALREADY closed down, yet they are STILL taking deposits, and presumably affiliates are still sending players to what is now a CWC casino.

The biggest problem for CWC is the fact that in the eyes of the PLAYER, a connection has been made between the two, and IF the Rival outfits simply "do a runner" leaving no forwarding details, players with outstanding issues will pursue the casinos the sites redirect to.

This also shows that it is far too easy to become an affiliate, as I would have expected such an investigation into these "antics" to have taken place BEFORE an affiliate account was permitted to be made active to earn commission from these redirects.

Since this is a CASINO becoming an affiliate for one of it's Rivals, and seeming to be closing itself down, this should have been handled through a formal B2B agreement, with clear guidelines as to which responsibilities would remain with the operator (such as honouring player balances), and which would transfer (such as player accounts, or merely traffic).
 
THIS is one of my concerns, how can you look up contact details if they have pulled the website. This is the action of a casino that has ALREADY closed down, yet they are STILL taking deposits, and presumably affiliates are still sending players to what is now a CWC casino.

Two things on this, most players have some kind of contact with a casino. It's worth a try and I was mearly offering some kind of option to help out those affected. Nothing more.

Most players that are aware of the various platforms available will be able to clearly differentiate between Rival and RTG and understand that these are two separate providers and competitors. It doesnt make sense, or is that just me?

The biggest problem for CWC is the fact that in the eyes of the PLAYER, a connection has been made between the two, and IF the Rival outfits simply "do a runner" leaving no forwarding details, players with outstanding issues will pursue the casinos the sites redirect to.

I think if this were the case these players would be redirected to Rival as there really is nothing that we could do. I dont know if this would be the case for sure but a possible solution for the player in the short term.

This also shows that it is far too easy to become an affiliate, as I would have expected such an investigation into these "antics" to have taken place BEFORE an affiliate account was permitted to be made active to earn commission from these redirects.

I think that if the affiliate in this case planned on doing something that could affect potential earnings, do you think they would inform us first, even if asked?

Since this is a CASINO becoming an affiliate for one of it's Rivals, and seeming to be closing itself down, this should have been handled through a formal B2B agreement, with clear guidelines as to which responsibilities would remain with the operator (such as honouring player balances), and which would transfer (such as player accounts, or merely traffic).

In essence yes, but the duty here is at the feet of the casino to firstly inform both players and affiliates of any intended action regards the future of the casino or casinos, then to inform me of intended practice. Thats in an ideal world.
 
FWIW

info: You are now chatting with 'Lucy'
Lucy: Welcome to casino Live Chat. How may I help you?
me: Hi, I have a question about the Vanguard Casino website. It redirects to a website called manhattan slots. Do you know anything about that?
Lucy: Yes we have also noticed this, The technical department is working to find out what happened exactly.
me: Old / Expired Link
me: Oh
me: Ok, well I received an emailed promotion from Vanguard
Lucy: May I have your Login name and email address please?
me: me
me: me1@comcast.net
Lucy: Which promotion are you referring to?
me: Hang on 1 second so I can get it...
Lucy: No problem.
me: Vanguard Tuesday Bonus Dear Me, It's Tuesday and that means it's me for the Tuesday Bonus at Vanguard Casino! Get 60% up to $120 FREE (rest deleted)
me: My concern was the website redirecting to a completely different brand of casino
Lucy: As I can see the 60% up to $120 Free is already available in your account, Please refresh your casino and claim the bonus.
Lucy: That is just a very odd technical problem that was discovered yesterday.
me: At first I though the casino was closing down...
me: I mean I get an email saying to deposit
me: and the website is gone?
me: SCARY!!
Lucy: I can assure that we are not, That is just a technical failure.
Lucy: The technical department is working on this.
me: Ok well it's a strange thing to happen
Lucy: We totally agree!
me: Is this the only Rival casino that was redirected?
Lucy: Slot power is also redirecting to the same site.
me: Strange
me: Well I'll wait until the website is back up
Lucy: Ok.
Lucy: Is there anything else I can help you with?
me: Thanks and hopefully all will work out!
Lucy: You are very welcome.
Lucy: Thank you for visiting. Please contact us at any mee.
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to me1@comcast.net at the end of your chat.
me: bye
 
FWIW

info: You are now chatting with 'Lucy'
Lucy: Welcome to casino Live Chat. How may I help you?
me: Hi, I have a question about the Vanguard Casino website. It redirects to a website called manhattan slots. Do you know anything about that?
Lucy: Yes we have also noticed this, The technical department is working to find out what happened exactly.
me: Old / Expired Link
me: Oh
me: Ok, well I received an emailed promotion from Vanguard
Lucy: May I have your Login name and email address please?
me: me
me: me1@comcast.net
Lucy: Which promotion are you referring to?
me: Hang on 1 second so I can get it...
Lucy: No problem.
me: Vanguard Tuesday Bonus Dear Me, It's Tuesday and that means it's me for the Tuesday Bonus at Vanguard Casino! Get 60% up to $120 FREE (rest deleted)
me: My concern was the website redirecting to a completely different brand of casino
Lucy: As I can see the 60% up to $120 Free is already available in your account, Please refresh your casino and claim the bonus.
Lucy: That is just a very odd technical problem that was discovered yesterday.
me: At first I though the casino was closing down...
me: I mean I get an email saying to deposit
me: and the website is gone?
me: SCARY!!
Lucy: I can assure that we are not, That is just a technical failure.
Lucy: The technical department is working on this.
me: Ok well it's a strange thing to happen
Lucy: We totally agree!
me: Is this the only Rival casino that was redirected?
Lucy: Slot power is also redirecting to the same site.
me: Strange
me: Well I'll wait until the website is back up
Lucy: Ok.
Lucy: Is there anything else I can help you with?
me: Thanks and hopefully all will work out!
Lucy: You are very welcome.
Lucy: Thank you for visiting. Please contact us at any mee.
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to me1@comcast.net at the end of your chat.
me: bye

STRANGE!!
 
VERY strange indeed.

ONE possibility is that their servers have been HACKED by an unscrupulous CWC affiliate as a means to steal traffic.

IF this turns out to be the case, this DOES then fall back into CWC jurisdiction, since this would be a VERY rogue affiliate indeed, worse even than those that insist on spamming. CWC certainly know WHO runs the affiliate account behind these redirects.

The argument about "unrelated brands, so players would instinctively know" no longer applies, since other casinos have ALSO entered into this kind of traffic redirection agreement, and this means some players EXPECT this, and thus assume everything has been agreed when it happens.

Take Jackpot Factory, they have set up an agreement to redirect traffic coming from the US to a "partner" operator, which is ALSO a completely different software to them. This is NOT a "strange" action, nor a "technical failure", it was an agreement between the two operators that JF would forward any US "new player" traffic to them, presumably on a commission earning basis.

Based on the above, players who visit Vanguard, but get redirected to Manhattan slots, will assume this is just the latest JF style tie-up, and that both operators have signed up to some kind of deal.

As long as players are getting paid, they are unlikely to be contacting CWC for redress, but NO NEW PLAYERS can join Vanguard, and they don't see this as "urgent", but are simply "looking into it". Surely, the "urgent" response would be to refresh the website content from the previous backup, and at least stop the redirects, and loss of business from new players - even though the content itself might be a little dated (being from a backup).

IF, on the other hand, these casinos HAVE closed some while ago, yet support are LYING to players when they deposit, this will have SERIOUS consequences for RIVAL, as well as the casinos concerned.
 
This is where we stand right now.

We have been in contact with the affiliate involved and ordered that they cease and desist with this activity in promoting CWC brands. In addition we have closed the affiliate account in question.

I will keep you informed of any further developments

Cheers,

Martyn
 
Whether this is a case of the sites being hacked or not makes no difference to me. I am still pulling their brands for the simple reason that not a single Affiliate Manager or Representative of Slot Power or Vanguard Casino has bothered to notify their affiliates by email or the forums to explain what has happened.
This all happened yesterday. 24 hours later still no word from them and Slot Power is still down.
This tells me this is a Mickey Mouse operation who cannot be bothered to keep their affiliates informed.
 
I have just gone onto their affiliate site and this is the message that appears

Dear First Gaming Partner Affiliate,

Unfortunately the Rival gaming platform hasn't lived up to our expectations over the past few months.
Because of continued and prolonged processing problems you might have seen your conversion ratios
and player values erode. We had no other option, but to drop Rival. We sincerely hope that Rival will
continue honoring their affiliate commitments as they have done in the past. Your players will be able
to continue playing on the sytem and thus you will continue receiving checks from them. However
we ask you not to send further traffic to our front page.

We wish you continued success in your affiliate endeavors.

Best regards,

First Gaming Partners Team

I guess this answers our questions!!
 

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