GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 13 - June 2010

STEVE RUBIN | AffiliateWIDE This issue’s interviewees caredeeplyabout our industryandaredoing their bit tomake it work better for all of us. AffiliateWIDE’s SteveRubinwants toweedout all the “nitwits.” Sarah Psaila of betsafe hopes to seea change in the negative feelings certain countries haveabout onlinegaming. Industry veteranAaronO’Sullivan from JackpotGames is obsessedwith findingbetterways to identifyandeliminate spammers–andhealsoownsacastle. Should you be doing business with any of these people? After you read what theyhave to say,we thinkyou’ll be ready togive it ago! MEET THE AFFILIATE MANAGERS “Iwould love to haveaffiliates, players and operators keepingeach other informed sonothing slips through the cracks. Itwould alsobegreat if thenitwits in thisbusiness would stop makingall of our livesmore difficult.” AffiliateWIDE represents two brands – Black Diamond Casino and Box 24 Casino. Both brands are standalone casinos. What are the advantages of promot- ing standalone casinos for af- filiates? What challenges do you face innotofferingpoker, sports- books andbingo, like someother brandsdo? In an industrywith so many different markets and tar- geted traffic, it only makes sense that both affiliates and operators attempt to conquer a particular niche before taking on too many directions at once. I have never been an affiliate – nor do I plan to jump down that road–however,withall the people competing for traffic,making your- self established within one target market is definitely the best way, professionally speaking, to prepare yourself for the long run as youwill then be more adept in the future at approach- ing a new sector within thisbusiness. In terms of challenges facing us, I look at it as theexactopposite, really. Bynot focusingonpoker orsportsbetting,wehave beenable togo full speed into the casino market without having to set unrealistic goals for our- selves. AffiliateWIDE is a family-sizedoperationwithall the tools and expertise toposition itself as a prime choice for casino traffic andweare in this for the longhaul. Shouldthetimeberighttodelveinto otherprojects,wewill notmiss that opportunity. For now, though, we have a set goal beforewe canmove on to thenextphase. What distinguishes your two ca- sinos from other casinos in the market?Whatmakes themdiffer- ent and unique in comparison to other casinos powered by Rival software? IthinkBox24andBlack Diamond stand out in particular due to theway inwhich the own- ership plays such an active role in both player communication and satisfaction. The owner of these brands has a 24-hour role inwhat ishappening from the top down in terms of his staffmaking sure players are never getting the short end of the stick. The word “vacation” is not a part of his vo- cabulary, and as a result I think the players can feel the hands-on roleof theoperatorhimself. AffiliateWIDE’sbrandsrunevery- thing completely in house: sup- port, processing, retention, etc. Up todate, we are theLARGEST, NONWHITELABEL, Rival-pow- ered group. As an affiliate it only seems logical topromote this type of program– assuming the affili- ate focuseson the typeof traffic to which we cater. Once we launch Spartan Slots Casino, there will be no question about the direc- tion in which we are headed and howwe should effectively be able tomonopolize theRivalmarket. Earlier this year, Rival decided to charge affiliateswhen their play- ers playedprogressives andpass on losses from MasterCard pro- cessing issues to affiliates. But AffiliateWIDE announced Box 24 would absorb the MasterCard chargesandNOTchargeaffiliates forprogressiveplay. Whydidyou make these decisions?Whywere you able to split withRival here? Andwhydidyou choose tomove Black Diamond to Rival? Eating the MasterCard charges was an easy decision even though it was a huge financial loss to the com- pany.However, this is something we hadprepared for awhile back, knowing that something like this is never too far away. Simplyput, there is no reason for affiliates to get shafted for business estab- lished between the processing companies and the operators. That would be like employees of AffiliateWIDE having to chip in some of their wages because of damages to Wael’s [the casino owner’s] car! This along with the decision not to charge for pro- gressive play was a no brainer, andRival knows thatwearecom- pletely incontrol of all of ourown company matters, except when it comes to issues regarding the software itself. Rival allows op- erators to set their own business terms and structure; so for us, it makes sense to handle the pro- gressive issue in line with the 62 AffiliateManager Interview Series Due to space constraints,we couldnotprint the interview in itsentirety.The complete textwill bepostedatgpwa.org.