Affiliate Industry
Handling Player Disputes with Non-Licensed Operators: Online Poker Case Study
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.
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.
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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Affilka by SOFTSWISS reports its business performance in Q1 2025, continuing its steady growth as one of the industry’s leading affiliate marketing platforms.
The first quarter of the year marked a period of significant achievements for Affilka by SOFTSWISS. In January, it was named Affiliate Company of the Year at the International Gaming Awards 2025, highlighting its growing recognition in the industry.
In the first three months of 2025, 44 new brands joined the Affilka platform, bringing the total number to over 450 brands. During the same period, affiliate GGR rose by 2.7%, the number of visits increased by 3.1%, and affiliate payments grew by 13.2% compared to Q4 2024. Overall, Affilka now supports over 400 thousand affiliate accounts (+23.1% vs Q4 2024) and tracks more than 98 million registered players, up from 87 million in Q4 2024.
Alongside its financial gains, Affilka maintains an active pace of product development. The team is now preparing to release a new feature: Cross-Brand Player Duplicate Detection. It will enable operators to detect identical player accounts across multiple brands within a single affiliate program. The tool will allow operators to optimise their marketing costs and improve traffic quality.
The innovation is the third major update released by Affilka in the last six months. Earlier, the platform introduced the Geo-Distributed Redirect feature, which reduces user redirect times by fivefold and boosts player conversion. The most recent tool, the Cohort Analysis Report, enables operators to track and evaluate player behaviour more effectively.
“Affiliate marketing is evolving fast, and Affilka evolves with it,” says Anastasia Borovaya, Head of Affilka by SOFTSWISS. “We’re focused on helping our partners meet emerging challenges – whether that means offering new ways to analyse player behaviour, refine traffic strategy, or cut costs without losing efficiency. The Cross-Brand Duplicate Detection tool is one more example of how we turn real-world operator needs into functional, high-impact solutions.”
Anastasia Borovaya recently participated as a guest lecturer at the Academy of Gaming Operations, where she led a session on the Affiliate Management course. She is expected to return to teach the course again in the second half of 2025.
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience in developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS complies with a number of gaming licences and provides comprehensive software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 27,800 casino games, the Affilka Affiliate Platform, the Sportsbook Software and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS revolutionised the industry by introducing the world’s first Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution. The expert team, based in Malta, Poland, and Georgia, counts over 2,000 employees.
The post 44 New Brands Growth in Q1’25: Affilka by SOFTSWISS Results appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Casino Guru has been shortlisted for the inaugural SBC Awards Europe 2025, joining a competitive field of contestants in the “Casino Affiliate of the Year” category. SBC Awards Europe 2025 is the first edition in what will be a recurring event, celebrating excellence at the SBC Summit Malta, which was rebranded from CasinoBeats Summit.
The event ceremony is due to take place on Thursday, June 12, at the Hilton Malta and will reunite 300 industry guests. Casino Guru is honored to have been distinguished by making the shortlist and competing against other industry leaders such as Gentoo Media, Gambling.com Group, and Brian Christopher’s Flip the Switch.
Casino Guru is more than an affiliate, with a distinguished track record for favoring player safety and empowering consumers to make the right choices about the casinos they play at.
With a review database that exceeds 8,296 casinos, 17,414 bonuses, and 20,194 casino games, Casino Guru is constantly growing as the Internet’s largest and most reliable database for anything that has to do with iGaming.
Commenting on Casino Guru’s shortlisting in the ‘Casino Affiliate of the Year’ category at the SBC Awards Europe 2025, Daniela Sliva, Public Relations and Creative Projects Director, said:
Being shortlisted for the inaugural SBC Awards Europe is a testament to Casino Guru’s impact and recognition as a trusted voice in the industry. Through continuous efforts to educate both industry professionals and players, we have consistently promoted the core values that should define the entire iGaming industry – transparency, fairness, and openness. Casino Guru is proud to be considered for the Casino Affiliate of the Year award, a reflection of our unwavering commitment to player protection and ethical industry standards.
Casino Guru is an outlier with groundbreaking initiatives, including the Complaint Resolution Center, which returned more than $40,000,000 to players by February 2025, making it an unmatched industry specialist.
Casino Guru is one of the few industry companies – and possibly the only one – to actively champion industry-wide improvement of casino standards through its unique Safety Index reviewing methodology.
Each of the more than 8,296 casinos in the Casino Guru database is reviewed manually and scrutinized for the fairness of their terms and conditions.
Ratings are fluid and are continuously subjected to reassessment to ensure that players looking for recommendations will get the most up-to-date and reliable information.
Casino Guru has spearheaded sustainable efforts in responsible gambling through the launch of the Gamtegrity platform and has worked with sector leaders to advance the importance of safe & positive play.
Casino Guru continues to set industry standards by taking a truly player-centric approach, one that challenges industry practices and upholds transparency, fairness, and openness as core principles of play.
The post Casino Guru shortlisted for prestigious SBC Awards Europe 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Boomerang is a contender for Sportsbook Operator of the Year and Bonus Offer of the Year
Boomerang, a rapidly growing global brand behind the annual Golden Boomerang Awards, has been shortlisted for the AffPapa Awards 2025 in 2 categories: Boomerang Bet on Sportsbook Operator of the Year and Boomerang Partners on Bonus Offer of the Year.
Inclusion in the Sportsbook Operator of the Year nomination is a testament to Boomerang’s success in the online betting industry. Over 2024-2025, the brand has achieved great results: the betting segment has grown fivefold (5x), and the number of sports betting offers surged more than 6 times. Six new brands were added to Boomerang’s portfolio in 2024, contributing to an almost 1.5-fold increase in end-users. In addition, Boomerang is the Official Regional Betting Partner of AC Milan, one of the world’s most famous and titled football clubs.
The Bonus Offer of the Year nomination confirms the high level and detailed elaboration of Boomerang’s bonus policy. Its portfolio includes more than 15 brands, each operating in strict compliance with the Terms and Conditions, including Bonus rules. Boomerang ensures fairness, transparency, and visibility of key bonus information for partners and users. It regularly collects feedback to improve its bonus policy and make it consistent with the expectations of its audience.
Boomerang actively develops community and works on building long-term trusting relationships with partners. This is demonstrated, among other things, by the second annual tournament for affiliate teams – Golden Boomerang Awards 2025. It will run until May 11. The top 30 teams on the leaderboard will be invited to Milan. There, the best of the best will be named, and 11 awards will be presented, including the main one – the Grand Prix.
The voting phase of the AffPapa Awards has started and will run until May 11. Users can choose their favorites in the nominations and influence the final results. Vote on the AffPapa Awards 2025 website. The award ceremony will take place on May 28 in Malaga during the AffPapa – iGaming Club Conference Malaga 2025.
About Boomerang
Boomerang Partners is a rapidly growing global brand offering a wide range of services. Boomerang is the Official Regional Betting Partner of AC Milan and collaborates with women’s football star and influencer Alisha Lehmann. In 2024, it launched the inaugural Golden Boomerang Awards 2024, the first annual global affiliate tournament. Boomerang Partners’ betting segment surged 5x, and gambling — 2x in 2024. Its affiliate program demonstrated a 120% increase in partners, and the number of sports betting offers surged more than 6 times. Six new products were launched by Boomerang in 2024, which contributed to an almost 1.5-fold increase in product users.
Boomerang’s portfolio contains 15+ gambling brands, including sportsbooks. They cover over 35 GEOs and offer a wide range of betting options with favorable odds. These products provide personalized bonuses and 24/7 multilingual support.
The post Voting is open: Boomerang nominated in 2 categories at the AffPapa Awards 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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