Rivalwide Progressive Issue - Rogue Poll.

[TheGamblingGuru]

Just got this:

Yep, just read that awhile ago in my email too Dom. What a crock of $hit that all is!

Changing the terms of all of our agreements retroactively like this...

Are we all going to just roll over and take this up the ole a$$ like good little boys and girls or are most of you going to stop promoting Rival Casino Properties now?
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[Guard Dog]

I will try to do my own calculations on Monday, however, Rival making affiliates responsable for processor seizures is ridiculous.

As of today, my Rival sites will be sending players to RTG and Vegas Technology casinos. I will determine after Monday if this will stick.

Something is very wrong when Rival feels the need to penalize their partners for their own issues.

[Guard Dog]

First site:

Rival Casino Online Slots

There will be huge warnings about Rival Casinos on all of my Rival slots. I have been focusing on Rivals for about 2 years now - thank you, Rival, for making sure I diversify

[TheGamblingGuru]

Another thing too that I guess we all should consider is the fact that we are going to have to "TRUST" Rival even more now with their math calculations as far as their negative progressive adjustments to our accounts go, as we cannot see whether or not any of our players have actually even played the progressives!

We will just simply have to take each casinos word for it that our adjusted stats are correct and that no extra shaving has gone on there...again...what a F*cking crock of $hit!!

What other business model works this way? I know I have never encountered one like this in the real world, that's a fact!
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[Vladi]

Question for Rival and their affiliate managers..

Apart from you seemingly being caught with your pants down on the progressives, what on earth have processor seizures got to do with player fraud?

If you have shitty processors or you are doing some unscrupulous things behind the scenes then suck it up, its your cost of doing business. Why should I pay for it?

[lots0]

I don't understand all this crap from Rival.

Went through it several times, all I see is my earnings being cut down and me having to now pay for expenses that have traditionally been the casinos responsibility.

I guess I am going to start cutting the traffic I send them, starting tomorrow. Like I don't already have enough to do... Thanks RIVAL!

[NDN]

I'm really bummed out about this one.

Up until now, I've really enjoyed working with all of the new and existing Rival brands. It's been refreshing to know that there is (perhaps was now) a software provider who makes sure their license holders run things in a reputable manner from day one.

Although initially they weren't able to handle larger deposits, I've been noticing that trend changing and their retention is getting to be better than I have ever seen in most instances.

I'll be really upset if this is their final stance on the matter. It will be quite frustrating after putting so much energy into building up a player base at a quite a few Rival brands.

On a semi-side note, has anyone else been experiencing extremely slow response time (or no response at all) to their affiliate inquiries? Lately I have been having trouble getting speedy responses (or any type of response at all in some cases) from quite a few Rival affiliate managers. It seems a little strange because in the past I've received lightning fast responses to all of my emails. Note to AM's: I've been pulling the brands that haven't responded in a timely fashion.

Anyhow, I'm ready to stick with my fellow affiliates on this one and pull all Rival brands. I'll give it a few days to make sure this can't be corrected for the benefit of affiliates (too much work to pull them all and put them back if things are amended).

Here's to hoping this is resolved quickly!

[royalapollo]

Dear Affiliate,

As you are probably aware Rival as recently changed the method it uses to calculate its progressive jackpots affiliate contribution and fraud charges and processor seizures.

We understand that these new calculation method has some drawbacks to affiliates promoting our Brand.

As a result Royal Apollo Affiliates is stepping up and adding to all of our active affiliates (that delivered a min of one player in the last month) 5% extra to the current Revenue share agreement.

This should cover the progressive contribution and possible fraud charges and processor seizures.

We are doing this across the board to all of our affiliates (regardless if their players play progressive slots).
Royal Apollo Affiliates believes that our affiliates are the most important part of our casino marketing and this step is the best action we can take to assure that our affiliates receive the limited damages from these new calculation.

This change will be effective as of March 1st. Please make sure to contact your affiliate manager to verify the additional 5% to your commission.

Detailed Description of affiliate contribution to progressive System

Affiliates will continue to have progressive contributions deducted and will continue to get credit for all progressive cash outs. Additionally, affiliates will receive credit for any progressive wagering losses once a players balance reaches 10% or less of the original jackpot win amount. Any progressive deductions will carry forward month on month if an account shall go negative. An affiliate will participate in the progressive deductions in the same way as an operator. This system will be effective as of March 1st, 2010.

Example)

Player wins $25k jackpot
Seed is $4k
Affiliate contributes their % of each progressive wager for all cases

Case 1:
Player cashes out $25K
Affiliate is limited to having ANW reduced by an amount up to the seed amount so ANW is reduced by -4K

Case 2:
Player cashes out $22K and loses the remaining 3K
Affiliate gets ANW reduced by seed amount (4K) but then increased by 3K on payout completion (10% or below) for a net ANW of -1K

Case 3:
Player cashes out $10K and loses the remaining 15K
Affiliate gets ANW reduced by seed amount (4K) but then increased by 15K on payout completion (10% or below) for a net ANW of +11K

Case 4 :
Player loses the entire 25K
Affiliate gets ANW reduced by seed amount (4K) but then increased by 25K on payout completion (10% or below) for a net ANW of +21K

Case 5:
Player loses 10k of the 25K, he doesn't cash out
Affiliate does not have any ANW adjustment

Case 6:

Player loses 5k, cashes out 10k and has balance of $10k
Affiliate gets ANW reduced by seed amount (4k) but then increased by 10k for a net ANW of +6k

[Guard Dog]

Thanks Michael (Royal Apollo).

Here is another message from a Rival Operator (Superior):

Dear Affiliate,
We have very important news.
First off, we’d like to say that we have done everything possible in our hands to avoid this situation. Unfortunately, Master Card and credit card processing in general is going through a difficult season.
As you may already know, Master Card has stopped taking ALL gaming transactions in the US and this lead to a chain of unfortunate events. The completed deposits (funds) through Master Card, during the last month that we were accepting MC deposits, are being investigated by this company. They have confiscated most of the money with no chance of recovery at the moment.
Henceforth, seized deposits due to the facts explained above, will show up as an adjustment in the affiliate commission reports as: "Bad Deposit - Lost Deposits".
* Please note that it’s most probable to see a reduction in commissions earned in March.
If in the future Master Card releases any of these funds, we will update your reports accordingly. We apologize for the inconvenience.
All American players are being moved to EwalletXpress, or Quicktender in some cases. This depends on the player level and the distribution of invitations we have available. More Quicktender invitations are on their way. Furthermore, NEW PROCESSORS for US Players are being tested and implemented soon, this being our highest priority at the moment.
Please stay tuned for more updates and, of course, we’ll be waiting for your questions so we can answer them as soon as we receive them.
Regards,
With best regards,
Paul Art

I know this was posted in another thread, but wanted to make sure it was in this large one as well.

[Guard Dog]

I don't really care that Rival is having processor issues, this is not the affiliate's fault whatsoever. Not even close.

Chargebacks are a different issue, of course, and we have been dealing with that for years. But why should I promote any Rival Casinos from now on? When I can get 35% that MEANS 35% from RTG, MGS, Vegas Technology, and any number of operators?

Rival needs to take another look at this or their player base is going to dry right up. I hate to say that because some of the Rival operators are very good friends. But this is not their doing.

If anyone wants to sell me their Rival sites, let me know. I'm converting mine over to promote other properties and I'll purchase Rival sites to do the same with them.