Important Changes to PokerStars & Full Tilt Affiliate Terms

PokerStars affiliates will not be happy to see the latest changes in the Amaya T&C, which are likely to hit a number of major affiliate sites. The change, outlined under the Item "4.3 IMPORTANT: Duration of your right to be paid Commission", especially Items 4.3.1. - 4.5.

Late last year, a number of affiliates has already lost their contracts with PokerStars without too many specifics being revealed. PokerStars representative on 2+2 forum explained at that time that the company was closing contracts with the affiliates that were not productive enough and were not sending in new players.

Major part of 2+2 community expressed their discontent and rage over the matter, as there was a feeling in the air that no one was safe when it comes to affiliates. Although it was just a "small number" at that time, there was no guarantee that more heads wouldn't be rolling in the near future. That fear has just become a reality.

Important changes

The most important change to the T&C pertains to the longevity of the affiliate commissions. The Item 4.3.2. cites that Revenue Share will only be paid for the first two years (24 months) after the date a user has been registered as qualified by the system. This is clearly a bad news for anyone who sent players to the site back in 2011 or 2012 (or earlier).

For anyone who had high hopes for their signed players, that one day they might join the Team Pro, another bad news is, if this happens, the player will seize to be tracked to the respective affiliate and after the end of the calendar month, the commission will stop coming in (Item 4.5).

Looking at this section of the Affiliate Agreement, another interesting stipulation is the one which disqualifies any new referees coming from an electronic device that has been used previously to register a different account (unless the old account was opened on PokerStars and new one is being created on Full Tilt or vice-versa).

Is it fair?

This question was asked earlier in 2014 and it will, most certainly, be asked again - probably more loudly this time. Is it fair to the old affiliates, who were bringing the players under an expectation that their contracts would last for as long as the site is in place.

From a business stand point, this expectation may have been a bit far-fetched, as why would a company keep paying money for something that's possibly not bringing new value to them any more (or not as much as they would expect)? This is especially true if the contract has such stipulations that allow the company to back out from the deal if they deem fit.

Looking at current Terms of Termination, there seem to be quite a wide spectrum of stipulated reasons that could justify such an action. One particularly interesting is quoted below:

("Yours" above is obviously a type, should state "ours"). It just gives an idea of how detailed Terms of Termination are; some of the other stipulations include actions that may prejudice a relationship with Gambling Authority, use of unapproved web resources, such as logos and pictures etc.

Still, is it fair?

Truth of the matter is that the abstract "fairness" and real life business usually don't go hand in hand. Is it fair in that abstract sense? No, probably not. But it could also be a prudent business move. And if the money saved in this way goes towards bettering the overall state condition of online poker and bringing new players to the game, things just might work out in the end.

There is no doubt that PokerStars and Full Tilt have taken a new direction since the Amaya takeover, but I am still willing to keep an open mind and see where thins new road is leading. No matter how the things are set up, there will always be those not happy with the situation.

In the end, while there may be some unhappy affiliates out there, this development is hardly shocking, as every company has to stay focused on both the bottom line and the future. Expectation of lifetime passive income was certainly a nice one, but probably not very realistic.

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PokerTube will have lost quite a few accounts due to these changes, but that will not deter us. From a business point of view, that's not nice, nobody likes losing money. But more importantly, that doesn't change the fact that in the current situation PokerStars are well worth promoting regardless.

Some may feel that what they are doing for poker is not enough; everybody is entitled to their opinion, of course, but we have to grade these things as they relate to other players in the industry. If we take that perspective, a lot is being done. Company makes money in the process as well, no doubt, but where else are there millionaires made within minutes and who else produces great poker shows on regular basis?

We all need poker to grow, and if this money will go towards that goal, then good riddance. There is a bigger picture here.