Poker Affiliate Payment Options: CPA, PRP or Hybrid?

When signing up as a poker affiliate, it is clearly stated that you can’t lose money. However, affiliates are often wondering whether they should sign up under the cost per acquisition (CPA) or percentage revenue plan (PRP) to make the most money they can. In case you didn’t already know the CPA plan pays one flat commission, while the PRP pays re-occurring commissions based off of the percentage of revenue your players generate. It can be difficult to decide which plan to utilize in your poker promotions. The information presented in the following article should give you a better understanding of what plan is right for you. It will fully explain how most affiliate plans work and which plans will make you the most money.

For the following article, the Full Tilt Poker affiliate program will be used as an example when talking about commission plans. However, most casinos and online poker rooms follow the basic affiliate plans previously stated. Which plan you choose is completely up to you, but one plan may be better suited for you based on the audience of your website.  Most people use the cost per acquisition plan so we will examine it first.

As you can see on the diagram above, sites like Full Tilt Poker separate levels of commission based on the volume of depositing players you bring to their site. Obviously, the more players that sign up the higher the commission you are eligible for. This creates an incentive for affiliates to work as hard as they can in order to move up to a higher paying bracket. The cost per acquisition plan pays a one time commission. At first glance this may seem like a bad deal. However, for certain affiliates this may be the most profitable. If your target audience is beginning players just starting out, or looking to just give poker a try, this flat payment plan may be right for you. A beginning player will tend to make the minimum deposit and lose. They will likely deposit maybe once or twice more - enough to usually clear the minimum 200 FTP needed to qualify you for a commission, but never play long term. Under the CPA plan you would likely make $75.00, while the PRP would likely make you around $5.00. CPA plans are also subject to monthly penalties and deductions. Referrals can actually generate negative earnings, penalizing your affiliate account or banning your affiliate account all together.

CPA Key Points

• Target Audience of Beginning Players
• Avoids Affiliate Fees & Penalties
• Quick Commission
• High Success Rate
• Inability to Offer Rakeback

As you can see, most affiliates offer higher commission brackets based on player and rake volume. Unlike the CPA plan, the percentage revenue plan is based off the amount of rake each affiliates players generate. Therefore, the quality of player is much more important that the volume of depositing players referred. If you intend to advertise to experienced long term players, the PRP plan should definitely be utilized. Just one or two steady limit players can easily generate $500 or more in affiliate income monthly. This is compared to a one time payment of just $75.00 under the CPA plan. The percentage revenue plan also offers affiliates the ability to offer rakeback. In order to reward or thank players, affiliates can offer a percentage of their profits back to the players under the PRP plan. Rakeback is a great marketing ploy and keeps existing players happy and sufficiently bankrolled.

PRP Key Points

• Target Audience of Long Term/Active Players
• Re-occurring Commission
• Low Success Rate
• Long Term Profits for Talented Players
• Ability to Offer Rakeback

Poker sites have recognized the struggle affiliates have when trying to determine what payment plan to use. Great minds have come up with a hybrid plan so poker affiliates can get the best of both worlds. Now you can get a small up-front commission and receive a percentage of the revenue your referrals generate. This might be the best affiliate payment plan created yet. Although your starting commission and percentage are significantly lower, you will be able to take some risk off the table. You will benefit under the hybrid plan if most of the players you refer play only a short period of time and quit. Affiliates enjoy a small commission under this plan in most circumstances. In the rare event that you land a long term winning player or "whale" you will receive a small up-front commission and will still enjoy a smaller percentage of lifetime MGR. The blending of the CPA and PRP poker affiliate programs into a hybrid model is brilliant, although not many poker sites offer this feature yet.

Key Points

• Targets All Players
• Small Commission
• Small Revenue Percentage
• No Ability to Offer Rakeback
• High Success Rate

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