Interview with Poker.com Marketing Director Kris Robinson

by mitchell posted Aug 27th 2006 at 14:00PM

http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.pokeraffiliateworld.com/news/interview-with-pokercom-marketing-director-kris-robinson&title=Interview with Poker.com Marketing Director Kris Robinson

How long have you been with Poker.com?

I helped manage Poker.com when it was purely an affiliate website from 2003-2005. I moved over to the current Poker.com company in early 2005 just as the first version of the software was released. I've been working online with affiliate programs, domain management, online games and pay per click advertising since 2000.

Are you a poker player as well? If so, what is your best game?

I love the game and like to play, but wouldn't call myself a 'player'. I worked as a casino dealer through college, and am most experienced playing NL Holdem, but 7 card stud is probably my favorite. I need to work on my patience in tournaments though as I get bored too easily sitting at the poker table.

Tell us a little about how Poker.com went from a portal to being one of the leading online poker sites.

We saw the volume of players we were sending to other poker rooms and thought that we'd be better off with our own software. The people behind Poker.com have been doing business online since the mid 90s, and we always prefer to do things ourselves if possible.

How does the Poker.com affiliate program differentiate itself from all the other programs in the market?

The most obvious thing the Poker.com Affiliate Program does is that we pay the most. With a 40% front door commission affiliates can simply earn more with us. With our extensive freeroll program giving away money to players, I think Poker.com is one of the only sites that will pay affiliates for players that have never even deposited. We also know the affiliate game because we are still affiliates ourselves.

In terms of conversion and retention, most affiliates think of Poker.com being towards the top. What do you attribute this too?

Our community approach. We treat our players (and affiliates) as family and listen to their needs and ideas. We also try to keep poker fun. A lot of sites seem to forget that we are ultimately entertainers. Sure, you can win money playing poker online, but for most people it is a fun way to kill some time. Our software has some fun features that you don't get elsewhere like rabbit hunting, exposing one card, tagging players, changing table graphics etc. We try to make sure that our players enjoy themselves at all times. If players like a feature that is exclusively available at your site, they are not going to leave and play elsewhere.

We're also lucky because we have our own software and develop absolutely everything ourselves, from the poker software to the affiliate tracking. If we notice something isn't working effectively we can tweak it that day, whereas most other programs either have licensed software or dev teams based internationally that will add big delays to getting anything done.

Are there any special promotions for either players or affiliates that you have coming up in the next few months?

We run constant promotions and try to do something different every month. Right now we are giving affiliates the chance to win their trip to the CAC in Las Vegas next month just by giving Poker.com a little extra exposure on their site. A great promotion we constantly run that I don't see affiliates take advantage of enough is every new depositor at Poker.com getting a seat in a WPT or Aussie Millions freeroll. I believe Poker.com has the best sign up offer on the market, with a an easy to achieve 100% bonus, 7 days of entry into $500 freerolls exclusively for new players and a seat in a WPT freeroll there's no other offer that comes close.

What do you see as the most essential things that a poker affiliate must be doing today to achieve long-term success?

Develop good content and keep it updated, and if you have site that you envisage being around for a long time, work on rev share arrangements with a select number of rooms you trust. In most situations (not all) I think that CPA deals are bad business. There is always a loser - either the affiliate doesn't receive enough of the revenue or the poker room pays too much. Any affiliate with good traffic that works on a CPA basis is selling themselves short. Your business will always have a strong revenue stream if you work on revenue share, whereas if you get bumped from the serps and only work on CPA - you can say goodbye to your earnings for a few months!

What are your candid thoughts on the situation in the U.S. with respect to HR4411 and the potential prohibition of online gaming?

How can somebody say with a straight face that a citizen playing a game of poker for 10c a hand in the privacy of their own home whilst their kids sleep safely in the next room is worse for the country than parents spending all hours of the night playing blackjack for $20 a hand in a smoke & alcohol filled casino an hour away on an indian reservation? The fact they they specifically want to allow lottery and horse racing bets to be placed online, but not casino games shows that their agenda has no moral basis at all.

Anybody can see that the wisest thing to do would be to regulate the industry as the UK and Europe has. Governments that have been around for a lot longer than the US have learnt than banning things is not the way to go. The US government seems to have lost their way on a lot of issues, but hopefully the voice of reason from their people can get them back on track. Polticians need to be exposed for their money-hungry motives and be forced to do what is actually best for the people they represent rather than what is best or easiest for them personally.

And finally who is the best looking female poker player in the world?

Tina Wallmann of course, the Poker.com Queen of Hearts! If you're going to be in Las Vegas for the Casino Affiliate Convention, be sure to stop by and say hi to Tina at the Poker.com booth.

For more information and to get signed up with the Poker.com Affiliate Program, click here.

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