GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 36 - October 2016

I am also a big fan of online poker and have won a few big tournaments at Pok- erStars. But playing poker professionally, or semi-professionally in my case, is a full-time job, so I find myself playing less and on more of a recreational basis now. I do like to gamble in brick-and-mortar casinos. Las Vegas is one of my favorite destinations, and I made my fourth trip there this summer. I also have plans to go to Monte Carlo this year. How often do you get to see and inter- act with other people in the industry? Have you attended any conferences? I am a regular at the industry conferences, and do enjoy them a lot. I mostly attend the bigger and affiliate-related events. I still remember my very first conference in Budapest. I believe it was back in 2009. I was literally blown away. Some of the industry people I met there are still my friends today. And this is one of the reasons I like these events so much: You get a chance not just to discuss business in a semi-casual way, but you get to meet people from all these differ- ent countries and learn about different cultures. That has definitely helped me grow as a person. What traits do you look for in an affili- ate manager? How about in an affiliate program? Personally, I don’t do much marketing these days. We have our dedi- cated marketing team, run by our lovely marketing manager Melanie Attwell. Nonetheless, theAMhas to be prompt and accommodating, and must knowwho we are and what our sites are all about. A perfect example of AMs not doing their job would be not understanding LCB’s business model. So, if we tell them we provide a value to our visitors in terms of free bonuses, exclusives, rewards and other promotions, and if their reply is that they can’t do that but they can offer some- thing else, it is obvious that we will be less than happy to send them traffic. If anyone knows our traffic that would be us, so if an AM wants to get the traffic from us, they need to meet our needs and do what we require of them. We also need AMs to register at our fo- rum and be there to assist our members and represent their brand. Again, a big part of our business model is to help play- ers with their issues and complaints, to mediate between them and our industry partners. This is why it is crucial for AMs to understand this and be present at our site. This is also a good PR for them, as it is saying they care about their customers, especially keeping in mind that LCB has the biggest casino forum online, with over 84,000 registered members. From an affiliate program, we are looking to be transparent, have real-time tracking, and pay us on time with no issues or ex- cuses. They also need to offer us the deal we want, stick to it, and not change it sud- denly and retroactively. Plus, it has to be an honest affiliate program and not cheat the players. Otherwise, we will blacklist them on our site. AGE FACT SHEET HOMETOWN LIVING IN FAVORITE FOOD SITES 34 Kotor, Montenegro Belgrade, Serbia Sushi, dumplings latestcasinobonuses.com latestbingobonuses.com bingoreviewer.co.uk latestpokerbonuses.com latestsportsbonuses.com nodepositbingo.co.uk Nik knows how to make friends at a party. W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G 55