GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 28 - April 2014

GPWAAFFILIATE INTERVIEWSERIES Transparencyand integrityare absolutelyessential When did you launch your sites? PokerAtlas.com was launched in 2006, and AllVegasPoker.com was launched in 2004. I acquired them both from their founders in 2011, with the vision of growing each of them into something muchbigger. Are youapoker player? Is the involvement with your sites personal in nature? Yes, I have been a poker player for the last 20 years, since I was a sophomore at college inArizona. Inow live inLasVegas,where I used toplaya lotbutdon’thavemuch time to play anymore. My combined love for pokerandbusiness isdefinitelywhatdrove me to start this company, andwhat keeps memotivatedandhaving funeveryday. Explain the process you went through in determining that there was a place in the market for a site dedicated not just to poker, but exclusively to poker in Las Vegas. Were you at all concerned that perhaps this was too narrow a focus? What are the similarities and the differences between your two sites? Are overlapping and duplication of content a problem? It is pretty astonishing how many people come to Las Vegas just to playpoker, and evenmore so, how far in advance they begin planning their Vegas poker trip. Although our two sites cover poker in all of NorthAmerica, Las Vegas is by far the most sought out region. There are definitely some overlapping and duplicate content issues for Las Vegas between AllVegasPoker.com and PokerAtlas.com, but each site offers a different user experience.With this being said, I ampretty sure that PokerAtlaswill eventuallyendupwithmostof theVegas- related traffic, which AVP currently has the lion's shareof. Poker Atlas tracks many different juris- dictions. Howdifficult is it tokeepall the information up to date? This is very dif- ficult and requireshavinga full-time team of five individuals in addition to having great relationships withmany properties whichenableus togainaccess tootherwise tough-to-acquire information . . . typically before the information goes public. We pride ourselves on being more accurate thanmost casinowebsites themselves, but this isnot difficult to achieve. How long did it take for you to start earning money, and which of your sites generates more revenue? Fortunately for me, both of our sites already had a fair amount of traffic when I took over ownership of them, so I was able to start generating revenues from them almost immediately. How did you become involved in the industry? I have always been fascinated with the gaming industry, going back to my childhood days on ski trips in Lake Tahoe. Iused towatchpeopleplayingwith such jealousy that I was too young. Since discovering a casino with an 18-year-old age requirement while in college, I have been a pretty frequent player and visitor ofpropertiesaround theworld for the last 20years. I just love this industry. Are you a one-person shop or are you part of a larger organization? I am the President and CEO of the holding company that wholly owns PokerAtlas and All Vegas Poker, Overlay Gaming Corporation.Wehave a teamof 15. Describe your work environment. Do you work from home or in an office? I have an office in Las Vegas with 11 full-time employees, and we have a handful of folksworking remotely.Wehavea typical start-up environment, with an organic atmosphere where we have as much fun aswe can,while still getting the jobdone. Nevada has now had online poker up and running for almost a year and New Jersey has been open for business for a few months. Do you have affiliate relationships with any sites in Nevada or New Jersey? Yes, we have affiliate relationshipswithpracticallyevery site in Nevada andNew Jersey. What do you think the future holds for affiliates who promote sites regulated in the United States? I think there will be far fewer successful affiliates in thenewly regulated environment thanwhatwe saw previously. The industry dynamics and economics are very different now, which results in less of a need for affiliates and lower lifetimeplayer values. What traits do you look for in an affiliate manager? How about in an affiliate pro- gram? I look for someone who is honest and transparent, and has a good team- working attitude. I look for the same in an affiliate program. Themost important things tome are transparency and integ- rity. It’s no funhaving toquestion the au- thenticityof tracking capabilities byoper- ators, especiallywhen they aren’t willing to provide more transparent information for us todo so. JON PokerTrip Age: 39 Hometown: Houston, Texas Living in: LasVegas, Nevada FavoriteFood: Mexican MustReadBook: Angels&Demons, byDanBrown Sites: allvegaspoker.com pokeratlas.com GPWAAffiliate InterviewSeries