Chipsplit - splits! ARGH

[WCD Admin]

more money "disappearing" - chipsplit has announced final payment date before I guess... carbon etc just takes all the $$ kind of expected, still bad news though.

Dear Valued Affiliate,

Effective July 1st, 2016 the ChipSplit Affiliate Program is ending. This decision is due to the current state of the ever-changing online iGaming industry.

We wanted to give our marketing partners sufficient and fair notice with plenty of time to plan ahead. The final commission payment will be made for all revenue earned up until June 30th, 2016.

The affiliate commission payments from March through May 2016 will remain unchanged. The change in payment will come with the final June 2016 commission payment.

On June 10th, 2016, we will lower the minimum payment threshold to $0.01 for all active affiliates. For those affiliates that were unable to meet the minimum threshold previously, this will allow us to pay out the entire outstanding balance.

Bitcoin will be the only affiliate commission payment type available for the final June 2016 payment. Within the month of June, affiliates must login to their affiliate account to update their payment option to Bitcoin.

Go to Finances > Payment Instructions > Bitcoin Payment and enter your Bitcoin address and leave the minimum payment amount blank.

Please note that failure to make this Bitcoin update prior to July 1st, 2016, will result in not receiving the final commission payment. The final payment will be processed within 45 days after July 1st, 2016.

We are saddened that our long partnership together over the years is coming to a close. It was an absolute pleasure having a working relationship with you. We wish you the best of luck on all future endeavors.

Kind Regards,

The ChipSplit Affiliate Team

personally i think they should double our final earnings from here on out till the end... rats!!

 

[slotplayer]

So you have to go establish a bitcoin account to get the final payment?

 

[TheGooner]

So you have to go establish a bitcoin account to get the final payment?

Yes that's correct ...

Ah well - I'll have to treat it as a chance to learn the practicalities of bitcon ... opps I mean bitcoin

 

[AussieDave]

I'll have to treat it as a chance to learn the practicalities of bitcon ... opps I mean bitcoin

Had a couple of stabs at this but can't make head nor tail of it. If you manage to succeed, would you be so kinda as to post a how-to dummy guide

 

[hand2mouth]

I knew this would happen after Chipsplit announced last year that they were no longer accepting new players. It was just a matter of time before the whole program was shuttered. Such a shame. I really enjoyed promoting this particular brand. It converted well. In a short amount of time, I had signed up around 2,500 players.

When that unfortunate change came last year, it was soon afterwards that Chipsplit would no longer deposit my commissions into my player account, from which I could withdraw and have a check sent to me (being a US based affiliate, this was my only option). Instead of paying out to the player account, the only new option for payment was Bitcoin. Now, I'm not a fan of Bitcoin. I've read a lot about it, both bad and good. But the bad is REALLY bad, and so I preferred to stay away from it.

But after a few months of decent commission earnings, I decided that it was time to open a Bitcoin account, since it was the only method by which to receive monies due me.

That was over a month ago, and I still have not been paid, in Bitcoin or otherwise.

I was not aware of the message that Chipsplit has sent out to affiliates about the closing of the entire operation. I never received it. Reading it hear was the first I heard about it. Thank you, Affiliate Guard Dog!

Now, I don't know what to do. I have updated my account with my Bitcoin info, but there has been no action whatsoever. Zero. I was under the impression that a payment would be sent as soon as the threshold was met. Which it is. As it sits now, I am owed around $5,000 USD. Well over the $250 minimum payout threshold. And that commission is growing with each passing month.

Has anyone here on this useful forum ever been paid in Bitcoin by Chipsplit? If so, how long did it take for the payment to process?

Many thanks for your thoughts, ideas and responses.

 

[PROFRBcom]

Yes that's correct ...

Ah well - I'll have to treat it as a chance to learn the practicalities of bitcon ... opps I mean bitcoin

Had a couple of stabs at this but can't make head nor tail of it. If you manage to succeed, would you be so kinda as to post a how-to dummy guide

I've been using bitcoin for a while now. It was a necessity as an affiliate promoting US-friendly sites. We created a pretty good guide for our user base to get started using bitcoins. I know I'm new to AGD, but I participate over at GPWA & CAP for years so I hope putting this link in on my 4th post isn't considered spammy... as it should be very helpful to anyone using bitcoin for the first time. It is a step-by-step guide with pictures!

http://professionalrakeback.com/how-to-set-up-bitcoin-for-online-gambling

 

[PROFRBcom]

That was over a month ago, and I still have not been paid, in Bitcoin or otherwise.


Has anyone here on this useful forum ever been paid in Bitcoin by Chipsplit? If so, how long did it take for the payment to process?

We have been getting paid via bitcoin from them since they instituted it, I think we were one of the first affs to get it b/c we had requested it a few times in prior months. Normally it's rather smooth and paid by the middle of the month for the prior month's earnings.

However, 2 months ago an email arrived saying that we needed to create a new bitcoin address for each monthly payment. It's not that difficult to do and it is safer for the sites (helps ensure anonymity) to do it this way, so we generated a new bitcoin address for them to send to us. However, our February payment never arrived.



Also, as an FYI, CommissionAccounts, the other Merge affiliate program run by Jazette, also sent out the same closure notice as ChipSplit. It looks as if there is no way to be an affiliate on the Merge Gaming Network any longer. Which is a shame, because it was a high converting program, and as a poker affiliate, they do have the best software in the US friendly market

 

[Headphones]

Is it just me that thinks it is completely unacceptable for ChipSplit to do this?

We bring hundreds of players to their site and they decide they don't want to pay us out anymore? Surely this can not be legal? Is anyone planning on taking it
further?

 

[PROFRBcom]

It is very much unacceptable but what exactly are you going to do about it? Sue them? Sue who exactly? In what jurisdiction? And even if you win, get compensation how exactly? By raiding their offshore bank accounts?

They know these are the hurdles and they know they have free reign. It's all about trust in this business b/c the contracts aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

 

[Guard Dog]

In the most case, we have to vote with our feet/traffic if we cannot get a group for a class-action suit.

 

[PROFRBcom]

In the most case, we have to vote with our feet/traffic if we cannot get a group for a class-action suit.

Has there ever been a successful suit against an offshore operator?

 

[Guard Dog]

I'm not aware of any, but doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My guess is that any company would have settled out of court anyway.

 

[Headphones]

It is very much unacceptable but what exactly are you going to do about it? Sue them? Sue who exactly? In what jurisdiction? And even if you win, get compensation how exactly? By raiding their offshore bank accounts?

They know these are the hurdles and they know they have free reign. It's all about trust in this business b/c the contracts aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

In terms of compensation how, I would like them to just honor the agreement and continue to pay out affiliates that have sent them players for the past x amount of years.

Surely they do not want to go through any court law suit and have all the bad publicity behind it?

 

[PROFRBcom]

In terms of compensation how, I would like them to just honor the agreement and continue to pay out affiliates that have sent them players for the past x amount of years.

Surely they do not want to go through any court law suit and have all the bad publicity behind it?

We wish they'd honor the agreement as well. We worked very hard for the clients we sent them. And this time last year we were making fantastic money with them. However, that has been over and done with for quite some time. All their new fees and charges have effectively cut our affiliate income by 80-90% per month year over year.

This company never had good PR, or any for that matter. For some people that would be a deterrent, but I sincerely doubt they care about a lawsuit and bad press. They never seemed to give a damn while they were still taking in new customers.

My questions to you would be:

1) Who exactly are you going to sue?
2) What attorney is going to pursue the case?
3) What jurisdiction are you going to sue them in?
4) If you win, how do you intend to collect on your judgement?

 

[Headphones]

I haven't done research into your questions yet. Problem is, it wouldn't be cheap and the chance that they go back and honour payments seem slim at best.

Just accepting what they are doing doesn't seem fair either.

 

[PROFRBcom]

Well I agree wholeheartedly, it is quite unfair.

 

[TheGooner]

It is very much unacceptable but what exactly are you going to do about it? Sue them? Sue who exactly? In what jurisdiction? And even if you win, get compensation how exactly? By raiding their offshore bank accounts?

They know these are the hurdles and they know they have free reign. It's all about trust in this business b/c the contracts aren't worth the paper they are printed on.

With Chipsplit we have a corporate entity that flits between jurisdictions - no individual names - no signed contracts - and (once the online site shuts down) no way to nail down what is owed.
They are effectively avoiding US laws and enforcement by offering online poker play to US players ...
How do you think individual affiliates are going to get an enforceable and binding court decision when Uncle Sam can't?

Six months ago there was a lot of talk about taking SkyBet to court over the unilateral redrawing of contracts (share % reducing downwards).
There we had names, corporate details, financial details, and a UK jurisdiction ... I've heard nothing after the initial three weeks of big talk on the forums .. NOTHING.

 

[PROFRBcom]

I feel there is a niche waiting on some entrepreneurial attorney here. To go after rogue operators in the gaming industry.

 

[RyanWeb]

Had a couple of stabs at this but can't make head nor tail of it. If you manage to succeed, would you be so kinda as to post a how-to dummy guide

I spent about 3 days researching bitcoin before I accepted it as a payment. Most guides make it way more technical then need be. Slots.lv has a good guide on how to get started: https://www.slots.lv/bitcoin-tutorial

(they had great video on it as well... for whatever reason its gone now)

Anyway, if you want to link your bank account to coinbase, you can use it just like any other ewallet and transfer your bitcoins to $ and deposit into your bank account.

But more or less, you just generate a bitcoin address, give it to them and they deposit money onto it. You then control the bitcoins on that address, to trade, spend or deposit into your bank account through a bitcoin exchange (coinbase or other).

 

[PROFRBcom]

Anyway, if you want to link your bank account to coinbase, you can use it just like any other ewallet and transfer your bitcoins to $ and deposit into your bank account.

But more or less, you just generate a bitcoin address, give it to them and they deposit money onto it. You then control the bitcoins on that address, to trade, spend or deposit into your bank account through a bitcoin exchange (coinbase or other).

Coinbase doesn't allow you to use its services for online gambling funds. Affiliate payments are pretty close to that. The very cheap and easy way to get around that and make sure you don't have any issues with your Coinbase account being closed is to use an intermediary wallet that doesn't care such as blockchain.info - which I listed, step by step, in the article I linked to in my first post ITT.