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Handling Player Disputes with Non-Licensed Operators: Online Poker Case Study

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At brick and mortar casinos, poker players can get into all kinds of disputes ranging from the wrong amount of rake taken from a poker pot to someone breaking the rules at the table. The procedure for solving the dispute goes as follows: The floor is called to evaluate the situation and then a final decision.

It’s easy to notice most cases of a player breaking the rules when you have security cameras all over the place. At online poker tables, the situation is different though. You can’t see what the players are doing at their computer while playing cards. Recently, cases like using various tournament hand charts or real-time assistance software during gameplay have been discussed widely in the poker community. While it’s almost impossible to completely prevent those, handling player disputes should be relatively straightforward in case someone is found cheating. You ban the cheater and reimburse lost money to players who have played at the same tables with them.

What if you’re playing on a non-licensed poker room instead? The case gets much more complicated right away. While every operator has interest in protecting their players from cheating at the tables, having any kind of guarantee of that is nearly impossible. Worse yet, if affiliates are working with non-licensed operators as well, they might get into a tough spot if their players lose their money in against colluders or users of RTA software.

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In this article, team members of Beastsofpoker.com discuss various aspects of solving player disputes as an affiliate and what kind of safety measures you should have with non-licensed poker operators. Let’s start with monitoring the games:

Monitoring the games for potential risks

The most common cases of fraudulent activity at the online poker felts are collusion and use of prohibited software. The third significant risk is the counter-party risk on unlicensed poker clubs. Depending the rules of the poker room, players might be able to use software like trackers during gameplay but any software that directly assists you in the decision-making is strictly out of question.

Collusion

Detecting collusion is much easier than detecting real-time assistance software usage, especially if the colluders do not use sophisticated strategies to hide what they’re doing. By monitoring a cash game or tournament table for 10-20 minutes, you can usually notice if something doesn’t add up with players’ actions.

Forbidden software

There’s not much you can do as an affiliate for detecting forbidden software unless you happen to play the games regularly and notice weird patterns by yourself. RTA users might try to play on licensed poker sites as well, so this risk is present no matter where you choose to play online poker. The only practical way to prevent your players from getting abused is to make sure the gambling operator has a security team to monitor the games for these cases.

Before you choose to promote a certain brand or an online poker club, it’s recommended to do a bit of research. Browsing through a few internet forums is not enough in this case. You should reach out to players and other affiliates on how it’s like to work with this brand, and if possible, meet the people behind the brand in person. Even after everything seems to click on paper, you might have to give your players a guarantee on their deposits, which can obviously be a big risk. Still, you don’t want to end up in a situation where a player has a dispute and nobody is able to reimburse them or handle the complaint properly.

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Leveraging industry relationships to solve disputes

We’ve countered several cases where players have been unable to claim their winnings from a poker room. On licensed poker sites, the cases are usually about the player breaking some of the site’s T&Cs, which results in their winnings being frozen or the operator being shut down due to running out of cash.

While there’s counter-party risk in every business, with non-licensed operators the players will have a hard time to get reimbursed in case the operator runs out of money or refuses to pay a player if they conclude some T&C s have been broken, since there’s no regulatory body to handle the disputes. This leaves affiliates with just one option with player disputes: Negotiating with the operator.

From player’s point of view, having their account opened under an affiliate brings added safety. If something goes wrong with the gambling operator and the player feels like he is out of luck, the affiliate can try negotiating with the operator to get things sorted out. Again, there are no guarantees that the negotiations end up with a satisfying result for all parties involved. Yet, it’s definitely worth a try.

Final words

In general, preventive measures are easier to set in place than and preferrable to handling player disputes & trying to fix damage that has already occurred. As an affiliate, you should be prepared to help your players with any disputes, whether they were abused by other players breaking the rules or an operator confiscating their winnings. Lastly, it’s never a bad idea to keep up-to-date with the latest dispute resolutions procedures by following industry news.

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Affiliate Industry

Casino Guru shortlisted for GamingTECH CEE Awards 2024 in two prestigious categories

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Casino Guru, the biggest and most up-to-date online casino database and an online gambling authority, has been shortlisted for two esteemed categories at the GamingTECH CEE Awards 2024. The company has been recognized for its exceptional performance and dedication to excellence in the field of online gambling.

Casino Guru is proud to announce its shortlisting for the categories of “Best Affiliate in CEE” and “Best Support for Responsible Gambling”. This acknowledgement highlights the company’s unwavering commitment to providing a safe and responsible gaming environment while delivering outstanding affiliate services in the Central and Eastern European region.

Casino Guru has firmly established itself as a frontrunner in both categories, thanks to its consistent delivery of top-notch services across all facets of the iGaming industry. The company’s dedication to promoting responsible gambling practices has been particularly noteworthy.

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In the category of “Best Support for Responsible Gambling,” Casino Guru’s participation in safer gambling stands as a testament to its innovative approach towards ensuring player safety. The company’s Gamtegrity platform, home to groundbreaking projects like the Global Self-Exclusion System (GSES), the Casino Guru Academy, and the Casino Guru Awards, has set a new standard for responsible gaming initiatives.

Moreover, Casino Guru’s commitment to transparency and integrity in providing comprehensive information about casino operators and brands has earned it a well-deserved place on the shortlist for Best Casino Affiliate. The company’s efforts in this regard have significantly contributed to enhancing the overall player experience in the iGaming industry.

The final voting for the GamingTECH CEE Awards 2024 will take place on March 26th during the prestigious Prague Gaming & TECH Summit. Attendees will have the opportunity to cast their votes, and the winners will be announced and honored at the GamingTECH CEE Awards 2024 Ceremony, which will be held at the exclusive Endorphina Club 777 Networking Party.

The Endorphina Club 777 Networking Party, sponsored and hosted by Endorphina, is scheduled to take place on March 26 at 19:00 at the Theater Royal, Vinohradská 2165, 120 00 Vinohrady. The Awards Ceremony is set to commence around 21:30, promising an evening of celebration and recognition for the industry’s top performers.

Casino Guru extends its gratitude to GamingTECH for the nominations and looks forward to the final results with great anticipation.

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ICE and iGB Affiliate smash all records ahead of next chapter opening in Barcelona

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  • 52,345 unique attendees •100,000+ visitor days • 164 nations represented • ‘Perfect platform’ to grasp opportunities offered by Barcelona

The international gaming industry turned out in huge numbers to mark the last editions of ICE and iGB Affiliate to be held in London with a record 52,345 gaming professionals attending both shows.

New records were set across the board ahead of the January 2025 relocation to Barcelona.  The ICE unique attendance of 45,050 represented a 12% year-on-year increase with iGB Affiliate registering a total of 7,295 unique visitors, an uplift of 27% on the previous highest which was set at the 2023 show.

Visitation figures, which measure the number of person days gaming industry professionals spent at ExCeL London topped 100,000 for the first time in the exhibition’s near nine decade history.

The international appeal of ICE and iGB Affiliate was very much in evidence with representatives travelling to London from 164 nations stretching from the United States to Uruguay, Brazil to Botswana and Spain to Singapore.

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Excluding host country the United Kingdom the nations registering a four figure attendance comprised: Malta (3,364 visitors), United States (1,913), Bulgaria (1,659), Cyprus (1,658), Spain (1,483), Germany (1,235) and Brazil (1,134).

Stuart Hunter, Managing Director, Clarion Gaming said: “February’s historic editions of ICE and iGB Affiliate were what I would describe as ‘I was there’ events. ICE and iGB Affiliate occupied every square millimetre of exhibition and meeting space available at ExCeL London and I am hugely grateful to everyone in the industry for creating an experience which was full of energy, excitement and optimism for the future

“Our exhibitors made a herculean effort to bid farewell to London in style and from all of the feedback received at show and from subsequent emails and conversations the celebratory mood connected with everyone who was present.”

He added: “Each year we commission an extensive and independent programme of research conducted amongst both exhibitors and visitors. That process is currently underway and it needs to run its course for me to share the findings. What I can say is that the headline figures are hugely encouraging. The response rates are unprecedented which shows a community of customers that’s really engaged with the brand.

“In terms of the satisfaction rating ICE is enjoying an approval score of 95 (out of 100) compared to the average for all UK-based business-to-business events of around 50. Whilst that’s really satisfying we are very aware that the bar has been set for Barcelona 2025. The entire team is confident that we can maintain and improve on what London has delivered. Make no mistake these are hugely exciting times for everyone that’s involved with ICE and iGB Affiliate.”

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Portfolio Director Naomi Barton, who led the team responsible for delivering iGB Affiliate described the response to the  show as being ‘phenomenal’.  She confirmed: “The 2024 edition of iGB Affiliate re-wrote the record books with more attendees than at any time in the event’s history. The 7,295 unique visitors was 27% up on 2023 and represented the fourth consecutive year of double digit growth.

“All of the key performance indicators that we apply came out in positive territory with the number of exhibitors and sponsors totalling 250 (+11% year-on-year) occupying a total of 13,647 sqm of space (+16% year-on-year).  We are recording best ever satisfaction ratings and the volume of re-bookings for iGB Affiliate in Barcelona is off the scale.

“I don’t believe an iGB event has ever been in such a healthy position as we all look forward to an even brighter future for our market-leading event brands.”

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Blaze Gaming turns up the heat by joining First Look Games

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Rising star studio gets serious about game promotion by partnering with award-winning marketing platform that directly connects providers and affiliates

First Look Games, the ultimate marketing platform for game studios, has partnered with Blaze Gaming as the up-and-coming provider looks to drive awareness of its titles among affiliates and players.

As a partner of First Look Games, Blaze Gaming gains access to a fully branded library where it can upload information and assets for each of its games. This can then be downloaded by a network of approved affiliates and used to create reviews and previews.

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The First Look Games library is powerful and sophisticated, with providers such as Blaze Gaming able to upload game sheets, logos, images and videos for each title in their portfolio.

The provider can even offer demo links for each of its games, with player verification that is carried out seamlessly by 1account. This means that affiliates in highly regulated markets such as the UK can still offer demo games to their audiences.

Blaze Gaming has complete control over the assets it shares via its library, and when those assets are made available to affiliates. It can even offer a “first look” to certain affiliates up to two weeks before a new game launches.

This allows affiliates to build anticipation of the game ahead of its launch – when it goes live, players can then fire up the reels without delay.

Elliott Resnick of First Look Games, said: “It’s great to see Blaze Gaming engaging with affiliates by using our award-winning platform. First Look Games provides cost-effective game marketing that is proven to work, and Blaze can now take advantage of its unrivalled power and reach.”

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Keith Goddard, CEO at Blaze Gaming, added: “We are excited to leverage First Look Games and its suite of features and tools to directly connect with affiliates and make them aware of the awesome games in our portfolio so that more players can discover Blaze Gaming and our innovative, entertaining slots for the first time.”

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