How are you doing with Rival?

[TheGamblingGuru]

May stats were not the best when comparing them to March or April but it sounds like many affiliates had a dip in May with all programs. I saw no change with Rockbet and This is Vegas had a 20% drop in deposits. For the month of June both casinos are doing better than expected based on May's stats. I don't know if this is a Rival thing specifically but the software has only improved (new progressive and upgraded 3 reels) and nothing has changed with the server performance or payment processing conversions. I would expect maybe a 5-10% drop each month leading into the summer but May was noticeable for This is Vegas.

I'm really sorry to hear that everyone is having a hard time with Rival this June.

For us at Regal Affiliates, we haven't had any drop in anything... on the contrary we are seeing strong growth. However, I must admit that being a fairly new casino, we are still in a growth period.

Kind Regards,
Nicolas Johnson

Don't you guys actually think that most of us here seeing these drops in stats maybe is due in part to the Irish Luck fiasco? That ordeal certainly didn't help any of us you know. The other thing that a lot of my players keep asking me about in emails and private chat is why are there constantly so many updates to the slot machines when they actually log-in to a particular slot and then they see nothing has changed other that the RTP and that alone makes players leery.

What are the main reasons for all the constant updates to the slots especially when there are no noticeable changes to the slot in particular? I've never seen any gaming software platform have so many updates all the time.

[Engineer]

June is over... Did anyone see an upswing during the second half of June?

I didn't. My earnings increased only slightly, which is very alarming to me. I made $350 total among all of the Rival casinos. That truly sucks.

What is going on? Where's the retention?

Out of all the players I sent in the past, why are only a small few playing today? And why are they only deposing $25 a pop? It's insane.

Conversions were way off, too -- 248 clicks per new depositor in June. That's awful, especially since Rival casinos accept US players.

Vegas Tech, RTG and Microgaming converted at 89:1, 137:1 and 145:1 in June, respectively.

Rival people, please, do whatever you can to improve this ASAP. I'm dying here....

[Guard Dog]

June is over... Did anyone see an upswing during the second half of June?

I didn't. My earnings increased only slightly, which is very alarming to me. I made $350 total among all of the Rival casinos. That truly sucks.

What is going on? Where's the retention?

Out of all the players I sent in the past, why are only a small few playing today? And why are they only deposing $25 a pop? It's insane.

Conversions were way off, too -- 248 clicks per new depositor in June. That's awful, especially since Rival casinos accept US players.

Vegas Tech, RTG and Microgaming converted at 89:1, 137:1 and 145:1 in June, respectively.

Rival people, please, do whatever you can to improve this ASAP. I'm dying here....

My stats went up, but not much Here is what I have now:

$591.87
-$437.59
-$215.92
$107.45
$-104.98
$84.63
$65.32
$15.20

Totalling up the positive numbers: $864.47

Earlier in the month it was: $637.80.


So - that is a pretty dismal end of the month for me.

[WCD Admin]

Hi,

I agree, Rival is stinking bad at most places.

My numbers were between 0-300$ per program EXCEPT Superior casino. This program made me nearly 6,000$ this month alone. I boosted them up at my site, to the top position (they are not my top earner but they only occupy ONE spot) - my top programs have multiple casinos and therefore get more exposure.

I will say it again, although you've all heard it. Superior Casino kicks ass. They have an ultra alert marketing team that will get you what you want. The retention there is like no other. Look at all the languages they have with proper landing pages.

I've met a couple of the people behind Superior, and I can say they are an honest and hard working group. The retention team is real and active. They are not only super at their job, but the program is run by GOOD people.

[dominique]

I came across this thread at Meister: Casino Complaint Most Rivals should be on Rogue list - Casinomeister's Online Casino and Poker Forum

Perhaps it explains some of the issues with player retention there...

[RockbetJohn]

I can't see the info on these players on casinomeister so it's hard for me to comment on it but I don't think it's fair to use that thread as a means to say if the program retains or not. If we didn't retain at all then ThisisVegas wouldn't have made it past 3 years or Rival itself. Whenever a player gets bonus banned they always make the most noise and I won't argue with those players either.

I really don't want to comment more on the CM thread as it's a can of worms discussion that I think will turn into forum fights, since I do both the affiliate manager and casino manager jobs.

If anybody wants to hear what I do behind the scenes for retention, acquisition, bonus hunters and fraud I don't mind doing this over the phone or in person but I don't think it is the place to do it on a forum.

If you want a better idea of how well any program retains ask your affiliate managers to not only hear what each program does but to see if your affiliate manager also understands that part of the business. It is always good to do testing yourself to see how a program treats it's players and I know many affiliates that do this themselves. I have done this myself to improve my own program and it has paid off. I can't say that Rivals are the best in the business but things are improving all the time and for staying in the biz for more than 3 years that says someone is doing something right.

John

[Guard Dog]

Good thread at CM, IMO. I agree with John as well, though. There are definitely 2 sides to this and I think the question in all our minds is this....

Could issues like these relate to the low player value at Rival Casions? I have talked to quite a few affiliates who say that Microgaming players are of much higher value what is the difference?

I have many more player across the Rivals I promote than any other platform, but my MGS players make me waaaaaaayyy more in commissions.

I can't get players at Rival who deposit more than $200 at a time. Microgaming, though, $thousands at a time.

[dominique]

I guess the thing that baffles me is that I sort of expected Rival to fill the gap microgaming left in the US market.

For me, this hasn't happened. I'm not the type of aff that sends lots and oodles of players at a time, but I build up nice solid player bases of long term hobby players across a number of properties. As such, I tend to be off to a slow start with new programs but over time my income (and the casino's) keeps growing and multiplying until after a couple of years we make a nice, constant revenue together.

This has happened for a while with Rival but then it seems to have hit a brick wall.

I have no player complaints on file, but my players don't seem to stick around like I am used to seeing.

I am trying to figure out what the cause is, since the software is good and getting better and I don't see the problem there.

I am in no way trying to create trouble or flames, I am interested in fixing whatever it is that's broke.

Maybe it's just the economy, but I would sure like to find something I can sink my teeth into to improve things.

PS. and the deposit amounts are low, and just weird, I see this month for instance a deposit for $47.50, or 91.20. Who deposits amounts like that? That makes me think its a processing issue. Some players will deposit $40 5 times in a day. I am just not used to seeing numbers like that.

[RockbetJohn]

ok, now we are getting somewhere.

To answer the last 2 posts I'll try my best.

I don't think it's the issues posted at CM. I have heard many other players say they get treated like a nobody at MG but I also think treatment and support vary from place to place.

Regarding the competition I know Rival isn't the best yet but the software is making big improvements and catching up. The processing is a big issue and it's another sensitive area I can't comment much on but this is a difficult thing to achieve to get the best processors and it doesn't happen over night either. Most MGs probably had the best in the business especially for US traffic. Most of the Rival processors have improved over the past 8 months and I would say by end of the year it would be comparable to what some of the other top programs have.

Another factor I'll admit to is casino experience and progressives. Rival just launched progressives late in 2008 and these are adding more value for players but it will take a year to try to compare some of the jackpot values. Having said that I think Rival had to make up for this in many areas just to stay competitive without them and I think the software and graphics make up for a lot. Going back to casino experience this is very important. A program like 888 should be top of the game in terms of experience and having the best possible program in place for acquisition and retention. Most Microgaming casinos have 10 years experience and I think this can factor in. This is why I say to ask your AM to see what they do behind the scenes to acquire and retain and it's equally important to do testing yourself. If your stats can't show you which programs are worth more of your traffic then dig a little deeper to find out.

I don't think this discussion will end but to conclude I would just say that Rival are good but not the best. If you can only promote a few programs that I don't know if Rival would make a top 3, it does for some affiliates but not all.

I'll give my own report card of Rockbet and I don't mind if people pick this apart either. Some pertains to Rockbet but most of this pertains to Rival.

Custom Support 7/10
At the moment the CSR team is shared with other Bonne Chance. I think they do a great job but it isn't as customized as say a large casino like 888. Plans for Rockbet are to have it's own CSR team. I have personally tested other programs and some of the treatment I have received was mind boggling.

Payment Processing 6/10
There isn't much I can comment on here but across all Rivals they have improved over the past year and I am confident to say that it will be better over the next few months. I would say this will be 8/10 or 9/10 in a few months.

Game Selection 7/10
The games get better all the time and I might be biased but I like the rate of new games launched by Rival and the diversity of them. I would say that things holding Rival back are the lack of progressives but this is already being addressed and I would say by 2010 Rival should have a great selection of games and progressives.

Software and Features 7/10
I give Rival a good score but with room for improvement. The software itself I think has worked out it's main bugs and is fast to download and doesn't take up anywhere near as much space as others. Being a relatively new software has it's pros and cons, the cons are the experience but the pros are the ability to work on a newer platform and new technologies. From a programmers' point of view implementing a new feature on Rival would be easier and faster compared to Microgaming. Some of the features Rival could use and I would expect to see by the end of the year are slot tournaments with a lobby and mac download client in addition to a flash no download version (only a few Rivals have this at the moment like Rockbet but these things add up).

Rockbet Acquisition 8/10
You could say I am patting myself on the back but I have researched the competition and made improvements on my own program based on feedback and results. I have some years of experience seeing what has worked and what hasn't. I think it would be tough to improve my program to make it go to 9 or 10 but I think to do that would be to have a nearly perfect retention program. Last year I would have given This is Vegas a 6/10.


Rockbet Retention 7/10
This is even harder to research the competition but I have done it and I know of affiliates who do this as well. 2 years ago I would have given This is Vegas a 5/10. I think by end of this year Rockbet will be 8 or 9/10 and I'm not going to share those strategies but I will have some player announcements and program improvements launching soon. For retention and acquisition strategies I won't post this info on a forum but again I have no issues doing this in person or over the phone.

Perhaps in the future I might publish some casino statistics but I won't for now. I do have 2 affiliates who had very bad acquisition stats and I'll do my best to investigate when things don't seem to add up but sometimes I see some affiliates have bad months while others are through the roof but overall I look at all of the data. If all affiliates had as bad of stats as Engineer and WCD Admin I would really be out of a job. May was a bad month for what I think for everyone. June was a great month for the casino and affiliates overall at Rockbet while July is looking even better.

Hope that helps.

It is late here and I'm going to slow it down for the rest of the night. bbq time

John

[TheGamblingGuru]

added more....jump to next post please..