Why Gambling Affiliating?

You may be wondering why becoming a gambling affiliate can be a good idea when there are so many markets online you can enter in order to earn money online. Well, that´s a good question actually, so is gambling (Casino, Sports-Betting, Poker) the best niche for affiliates and if so, why is that? Well, as shallow as this may sound: You can make absolutely crazy amounts of money as a successful affiliate in the gambling space. You don´t even need to become a top affiliate (one that easily makes 6 figures a month!), as a great affiliate you will also be making more than enough, like 5 figures are definitely possible. All you have to do is putting in hard work and writing good content on a regular base, in order to build a nice website and if you do so, you will definitely be able to make a min of 4 figures a month. Sounds too good to be true? Well, maybe - please note that I am not trying to sell anything, I am only sharing my personal experience, I know the game in and out. All you need to do is invest hard work and be patient.

By the way - of course there are other industries online, where you can also make good money - the money involved in gambling (by nature) is so big though that it is an awesome industry to join. Gambling online is getting more and more popular and has actually outranked traditional gambling by now - dozens of thousands of players from everywhere in the world are signing up for online bookmakers, online casinos and online poker rooms each and every day.

Gambling attracts players of all ages and the target market is huge for that reason - get your slice of the cake now, only few industries are more lucrative (porn maybe or financial loan related stuff). Everyone always thinks: Isn´t it too late now? No, it´s not - it´s never too late but the sooner you take action, the better of course. Especially when thinking about the crypto gambling niche, which is still in it´s beginning compared with fiat gambling, there couldn´t be a better timing than now!

When you are an an affiliate in a great affiliate niche you will possibly make so much money that you can quit your regular job and become a full time gambling affiliate, being your own boss and having financial freedom. You decide how much you work, you decide when you take breaks etc. Needless to say that the more you work, the more money you will make - still, in the end it is you who decides and not some random employer...

Having read this so far you may be wondering: That sounds so good, it´s such a great industry and business, wouldn´t everyone do it, if so?! That´s the best question you could ask and it´s key! I love this question and in the past, people asked me the very same all the time!

The thing why not everyone is becoming a gambling affiliate:

1. Only few people know they can earn money by affiliating for online gambling operators. The few who know, often don´t do it for another good reason - they just don´t have the time, don´t want to invest their time to do it, they think it´s too hard to be successful and not worth it.

2. Here it get´s interesting. Lots of people who learn they can make good money as gambling affiliates actually give it a try, they start, fail and give up. The percentage of gambling affiliates who make significant money is very small and this is because all the rest gives up way too easy when they don´t see a return quickly enough. The reason why those people are only making little money to no money is not the industry itself, it´s because they dont know how to build a decent gambling affiliate website and dont have the patience. While the gambling industry is an awesome online niche to make money as an affiliate, it also requires lots of work and time before you start seeing results.

People like you, who actually read this post, are different than the ones I mentioned previously - I mean, you are reading this post and I will make sure to provide all the necessary information so anyone can run a successful gambling affiliate website or blog. I dont want to trick you into anything - again, I am not earning at all by providing this information - I just love to share my knowledge/experience and I will be happy to see some of you soaking up what I have to say and take the opportunity.

I am realistic - most of you guys will definitely not have the drive to do what´s required to become a successful gambling affiliate. I will even be happy if even one of you gets in touch in a few months/year(s) from now telling me about being a full time gambling affiliate and making more money than ever before in that lame office job they had.

I don't know a lot about affiliate business. I know they exist and make good money, but I am relatively immune to it Don't think I ever registered with a gambling site using a ref link, but anyway.

Maybe you will (or planned to) elaborate the specific conditions - which surely varies a bit in the different sites - in a later post, but I can't wait^^


From all I know, just sending them players isnt enough, no ? They have to deposit, play, lose (in best case ) etc. Or are there models, where you just get money by people creating accounts and doing nothing afterwards ? Do you also get money from winning accounts or just a share from losses ?

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And another question: Do you think this whole business is a win-win-win situation ? No losers ?

Earning from affiliates (referrals) definitely possible, and I envy you guys who can freely do content creation about gambling in your country. For example, in Indonesia, creating promotional content for gambling is forbidden. It sucks! Anyway, I tried affiliate programs for exchanges and e-commerce, and yes, it can give me some money.

From what I see, successful affiliates often are thought leaders, celebrities, and ones who create communities. That said, if you are trusted, then people will be more comfortable to click your links and decide to support you. Plus, it works better if there is a bonus for users who registered via your links.

Hey,

well, what exactly do you mean when saying gambling content creation is forbidden? In general, promotion of online gambling is still missing regulation (almost everywhere) and even here in Europe, there are EU-laws but the countries just dont give a sh**... In Germany for example, bookmakers and casinos are running tv ads and are being promoted in football stadiums etc. - the very same operators do not have legal licenses though, you see, its wild wild west... Needless to say that the promotion of crypto gambling is completely out of space - who would/could stop you from setting up a website for example in English and promote crypto casinos, no matter where you are located?

Regarding bonuses for users that use your links - yeah, all affiliates can promote the welcome bonus to their website visitors. Some are negotiating custom (and better deals) in order to attract more users. Giving additional incentives is mostly forbidden - what I mean is: Sign up through our links, receive a $100 welcome bonus at XXX Casino and we will send you another $20. Affiliate programs usually dont want that because affiliates are abusing the system.

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I knew you would be one of those guys and guess what... I am, too. Clearing cookies before signing up except if I like the work the respective website did by providing high quality content - then I dont mind them earning for my referral.

Of course I know the guy and he sucked big time and that´s exactly what I meant - as long as affiliates are ethical, we are really talking about win-win-win for everyone involved! Unfortunately, many affiliates arent working that way and even the big ones are promoting lame operators for the $$$$$... Nowadays, there are billion dollar companies who run hundreds of gambling affiliate sites and I am always shocked to see they are promoting scammers. Then again, thats exactly where any new affiliate can jump in and why there is a big chance to succeed, simply by being honest and ethical.

How do gambling affiliates make money online

Are you wondering how and even more importantly, why, gambling affiliates make money? Let me to try to explain how things work. Whenever you visit an online gambling site, no matter if it is a casino, an online poker room or a sports book, you will be able to play for real money as well as for play money. Poker rooms and casinos are offering play money games in order to attract more potential customers, hoping they will one day switch over to real money play. Those gambling sites obviously make their money by providing real money games to their customers and whenever they lose, the house wins. Actually, no matter what happens, solid sportsbooks for example can´t lose based on the oddds they are offering - casinos can´t lose long term due to house edge and poker rooms make their money based on the generated rake, that is taken in every cash game.

Poker rooms, casinos, sportsbooks, they all want as many players as possible on their sites and I am talking about people playing for real money. The more real money players, the more money they make. The question is, how do those gambling sites attract players and what´s the role of gambling affiliates?

Gambling affiliates have one simple job - they let people know about the various gambling destinations and send players. The big gambling brands are doing all sorts of marketing nowadays but still - all of them have an affiliate program in place and for a good reason - what´s better for them than having "free" advertising unless sites refer real money players, in which case they will gladly share a % of the earnings they make - affiliates have been f***** in the past by operators and their respective affiliate programs acting shady but thats a whole different story... - So, gambling operators reward people for sending them traffic.

The gambling affiliate´s choice - go with Revenue Share or CPA?

When joining an affiliate program, gambling affiliates will most often have the choice whether to go for Revenue Share or CPA. Revenue Share means that affiliates will earn money based on how their referred players are performing. If they play and lose, affiliates will earn as long as they do so. Concretely, the gambling affiliate is paid a percentage of the player´s losses "forever". CPA on the other hand means that gambling affiliates will get paid a lump sum for every first depositing player they send to the site.

Revenue Share deals usually offer up to %40, sometimes even more, depending on the gambling site that you promote. CPA deals also vary of course, something around $100 can be considered a standard deal - even $200 (and higher) CPAs are possible though. Affiliate programs that offer both options (Revenue Share & CPA) let the affiliate decide - in most cases it´s wiser to go for Revenue Share, provided you are in the game for the longer term. I will write a separate and more detailed post on the various payment plans such as Rev. Share, CPA, CPL and link it here as soon as it´s ready

What many people really misunderstand: Anyone can be a gambling affiliate - all it takes is visiting a gambling operator´s website, signing up as an affiliate and then send players who make real money deposits. It´s not like those gambling sites are specifically recruiting people to become affiliates. 95% of all affiliates will launch a gambling website where they write reviews, give tips etc., in order to send their visitors to the various gambling operators. Still, you can also be a gambling affiliate offline (uncommon these days but still possible).

And how do gambling sites know which players are being referred by who?

This is easy and you dont need to worry about not being credited for players you send. Assuming you are an online gambling affiliate, you will receive so called "affiliate links "referral links" "tracking links", that you can use on your site and that are uniquely designed for you. A typical affiliate link looks something like xcasino.com/code and whenever any of your visitors uses your link and navigates to the gambling operator´s website through that link, they will be tracked back to you. That´s how gambling sites know when they have to pay an affiliate for a specific player.

Last but not least, gambling sites may also provide so called "bonus codes" "referral codes", that gambling affiliates can use in order for their players to get tracked correctly. It´s very common for a poker room, a casino or a sportsbook to ask a player for a bonus code before he/she makes a deposit. And whenever players enter the unique bonus code you gave them, they will be tracked to you and you will make money when they play for real money. In the end of each month, you will get paid via one of the various payment options the respective programs offer - it´s as simple as this and best of all: no matter how simple the process is, lots of money is waiting to be made!ayers you have sent to the room. It really is pretty simple, this is it! And there is a lot of money to be made from this simple process.

Interesting, some people including me will definitely ask, how to begin and what have we do next?. Like me, it has a big problem when trying to be an affiliate because I don't know how to market it and how to get a new user. maybe this is just a simple question, but this point which is to be the next determining of success, I think.

I read all your posts, you are optimistic, you have talented, which definitely everyone can't do like you did.

Hi,

I will also write a post on the first steps shortly - I have so many topics in mind that I can write about, keep ideas/questions coming. If you have read the posts so far, you should have a better idea by now as to what it takes. Thing will get more detailed soon. Believe me... anyone willing to work hard... can succeed! By the way: I am actually considering doing some sort of "live experiment" where I start a project and document its progress right from the beginning in a seperate thread here on bitcointalk - curious if people would be interested in something like that.

OP, Very detailed and informative thread. I have read all of your posts, but this FAQ makes me wonder why?


If I may ask, why did you stop being a full-time affiliate earning 4 - 6 figures? Because, as you said, it's not an easy task and requires dedication and hard to become successful. Personally, if I'm successful in a field after much hardwork, I wouldn't just quit it until and unless I find a much better option.

can i ask just some questions please. just wanted to learn too.

1. if you are to once again planning to start an affiliate business, which gambling site are you looking to promote?

2. which platform to find clients as well, social media or just organic traffic from search by dong seo articles?

The different payment plans in the gambling affiliate industry

This is an important topic and definitely one that can be discussed for hours and hours - what´s the best payment plan? Is there a "best" payment plan? What would you go for? I will start right from the beginning by describing the common payment plans there are for gambling affiliates and also share my opinion when it comes to advantages/disadvantages. Please note that there are many more payment models available in other affiliate niches and in the end, anyone can of course negotiate custom deals, such as flat fee advertising.

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Common gambling affiliate payment plans: Revenue Share, CPA (Cost Per Aquisition)

Okay, you are given the choice between Revenue Share and CPA - which one should a new gambling affiliate choose?

Let me first explain what Revenue Share and CPA exactly mean and I will try to answer the question afterwards.

Revenue Share: Affiliates are paid a percentage of their referred players losses, lifetime. Your payment depends on how your referred players are doing and if they lose, you make money. A 40% revenue share deal means that the operator will share 40% of their revenue with you. (There are several slightly different revenue share models but I wont get into detail here, just keep that in mind and dont forget that there may be terms such as bonuses etc., that are also being deducted)

CPA: Affiliates are paid a lump sum for each new depositing player they refer to the gambling site. CPA deals usually come with a number of different requirements regarding deposit amount, minimum turnover etc. The gambling operators want to make sure that you dont refer players who make the minimum deposit of $10 and leave right away while you are being credited a high CPA - this is to prevent fraud and yes, lots of affiliate try to abuse of course...

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So, you decided to become an affiliate and promote a gambling site. In order to so, you will have to sign up for the respective operator´s affiliate program and sometimes, you will be able to choose between Revenue Share and CPA (Cost Per Aquisition) - even though CPA deals are harder to get nowadays and usually not "standard". Most operators restrict new affiliates to Revenue Share these days, some may also restrict affiliates to CPA and some may offer both options. Lets assume you will have the choice, which one should you go for and why?

I will start by talking about what a "good" gambling CPA deal may look like. Established gambling affiliates can easily negotiate CPA deals as high as $200 (or even way more than that) for every depositing player they refer to the site. Sounds too good to be true? Trust me, some gambling affiliates are getting even more than that and as crazy as this may sound, with a $200 CPA you would need to refer only 5 depositing players per month for a $1000 pay-cheque - that´s 4 digits! And now lets get back to reality - as a new affiliate, no gambling site will offer you such a high CPA deal. Gambling sites will evaluate the players you are referring and the CPA deal highly depends on that. Not all traffic is worth the same - assuming you are running a gambling affiliate site that ranks highly on Google for high-roller related terms, the players you will be sending should be worth much more than if you were to run a gambling affiliate site focusing on no deposit bonuses. A player that signs up on a gambling site through your links for a no deposit bonus, will likely gamble his free money and never come back - there are exceptions all the time of course, but in general, that´s how things are. So naturally, any gambling site will only grant you a "standard" CPA deal - if any - in the beginning. A standard rate is something like $50-$60 per player, if you are lucky, maybe $100. Still a nice pay, isnt it? I definitely recommend discussing your deal with your affiliate manager after a few weeks/months and if you are sending good traffic, they may give you a much better CPA deal.

Revenue Share vs CPA

Bla bla bla - so, what´s better, Revenue Share or CPA? You could say that CPA is the more attractive option, just send a few players per month and make hundreds of dollars just like that, right away. Yes, you will definitely have quicker (higher) returns when going for CPA, in the long run though, you will earn much (much much much much) more money with Revenue Share.

New affiliates often prefer CPA and its normal, they dont know their player´s value and they want the cash - as quickly as possible. You should never forget though - any CPA deal always favors the gambling operator - no exception! Yes, of course, not all of your referred players will lose hundreds/thousands of $$$$ and so what I just wrote might seem odd - still, this is how it is. Trust me, a few "real, bigger players" make up for it all. Plus, dont dare to believe any affiliate program in the world is going to pay you $100 CPAs forever if you only refer players that generate $10 for them - they will simply terminate the CPA deal and - provided you werent trying to scam them - switch you over to a revenue share deal. No casino will pay you $1000 in CPAs if the 10 players you referred only made them $100 - thats just not gonna happen. With CPA, you will always get a worse deal as an affiliate, I mean, never will you get paid more than your players are actually worth and most importantly - the big players you send - you will never get a fair pay for them. Imagine you refer a whale gambling thousands of $$$$ each day and having taken a $100, just because you wanted those 100 bucks as soon as possible...

Revenue share is the way to go if you are serious about your business and its a payment plan that´s actually based on a real "partnership" with the respective operator - you bring good traffic, the operator makes money, you make money - as simple as that.

Is it really so easy, Revenue Share for the win?!

Its of course not as easy as I made it look and there are several scenarios that need to be taken into consideration. Say the CPA is soooo high when comparing it to a low end revenue share deal, then it makes sense going for the CPA - 20% revenue share for example sucks and if they are offering a $150 CPA instead, then go for the CPA - I would... With a 20% revenue share deal, I will have a hard time with my referred players generating me $150. That´s one of the main scenarios where a CPA might be the better option.

Then it also depends on what you are really trying to achieve - do you really want to establish a serious affiliate business? Or are you desperate for quick cash in order to pay for the costs you have had building your website? Generally speaking though, one should always prefer the deal making as much money as possible - and that´s not CPA, but Revenue Share!

In one of my previous posts I have mentioned another disadvantage of revenue share - affiliate programs claim to pay you for the life of the players you refer. I have personally experienced programs shutting down, cutting big players and all that shit - it happens and it sucks big time. Not much you can do legally, so you are always at risk having invested lots of work, time, money, receiving nice income for a long time and then one day, you lose that income stream. That´s why it always makes sense to diversify and not completely depend on one program. That topic actually deserves a separate post.

So whats my conclusion?

Building a nice player base that gets you some good amount of money will take some time but thats about the only disadvantage if you are thinking long-term as an affiliate. Whenever and wherever possible, I would choose the revenue share deal over the CPA deal.

Oh, what about CPL?

Well, cost per lead is really uncommon these days and most operators wont pay you per lead anymore. They used to do in some cases back in the day. I have posted about that here: https://bt.irlbtc.com/view/5240342.msg54225709#msg54225709