Sad Day for the GPWA Forums

[DaftDog]

Anthony has restored all my privileges over at the GPWA and has spoken to the "member" concerned about the style of their posts. Hopefully this "spammer" issue has now been resolved.

It should also be pointed out that the person who is at the centre of all this also has membership here at AGD, under a different username though.

 

[gobo]

Is the person who you are referring to the guy that writes posts all the time that makes absolutely no sense at all?

 

[DaftDog]

Is the person who you are referring to the guy that writes posts all the time that makes absolutely no sense at all?

Yes. His avatar here is of a famous young, but now deceased, rock star playing his guitar.

 

[bettingappguide]

I still can't believe they have not said anything of merit on Sky Bet and tried to fight affiliates corner. Thought that's what they were there for. I don't think anyone has even made a comment on the thread!

 

[TheGooner]

I still can't believe they have not said anything of merit on Sky Bet and tried to fight affiliates corner. Thought that's what they were there for. I don't think anyone has even made a comment on the thread!

The GPWA is a US based organisation, that has to deal with UIGEA and unlicensed and untouchable programs using tinpot licenses in dodgy jurisdictions.
It's doubtful that they have ANY experience in taking a class action on a gambling matter to a UK court - or anywhere

Apologies to anyone offended by that statement (operators, GPWA staff, affiliates and Americans) ... i know it's a huge generalization ...
But the US approach to online gaming is a basket case (nah, nah, nah pretend it's not there ) ... and there is little legal precedence or procedure to share.

This is why the fledgling UK affiliate group (which is very, very quiet - stillborn?) mentioned at the GPWA thread may become a very useful resource if it gets established.

 

[bettingappguide]

I didn't quite mean for them to take action on affiliates behalf, just something about it other than a poll would be nice.

 

[AussieDave]

@TheGooner - Lets be brutally honest here, the GPWA accepts just about any gambling sponsor who ponies up with cash. Yet, it's supposed to be an association which protects the interest of its members. The two couldn't be further apart, even if they tried. Reverting back to sponsorship's, it would seem, little to no auditing is conducted on said paid sponsors. Reiterating, as long as they can pay the fee, that seems to be the only governing prerequisite at the GPWA.

Regardless of where they're based, their protocols for checking sponsor's, at the very least, hold a severe lack of Duty of Care.

Lets take the "hacker" topic as an example. I believe it took two plus (2+) years for them to finally drop BP. Even though, there was literally oodles of factual, hard proven facts that BP were working with the "hacker". Naivety is one thing, but that buck doesn't stop at the feet of the GPWA. With all that proof, they continued to support, and essentially give ongoing credence to criminal activities, by one of their sponsor's.

I could cite many other instances where, paid sponsor programs, are given carte blanche. I've lost count to how many wayward sponsor programs have breached the GPWA sponsor T&C's, yet nothing happens. The only time the GPWA seems to care, is when a paid sponsor reneges on their payment of fee(s). They're dropped pretty damn quickly then

Anyway, I agree the UK affiliate group (being spearhead by a number of Super Affiliates), seems like we (affiliates) could finally have a bona fide association who genuinely will put affiliate's and members welfare first and foremost. As apposed to using members as cannon fodder, (numbers) to increase their bank balance and alike.

 

[gobo]

It is weird for GPWA to live off the income from sponsors while trying to represent affiliates. IMO it would have been better if affiliates paid some kind of membership fee every year or something, and that GPWA would truly represent and fight alongside affiliates and our interests.

 

[Evil Homer]

I've banged on about this in the past, so what's one more time, right

The GPWA was founded (circa 2001) to give gambling affiliate's a voice. Sure it had sponsors BUT member's welfare was first and foremost. It didn't take long before programs knew if they stepped out of line, they'd be blacklisted. Back then affiliate's had a reasonably fair-playing-field, thanks to the efforts of the GPWA.

Here's a link to the Wayback Machine, when the GPWA was for their member's: https://web.archive.org/web/20020325041827/http://www.gpwa.net

Reiterating, it had teeth and power back then. Sometime around 2003/04 a slur campaign was launched against Cynthia Carley (Slycin head of the GPWA). Why did this take place? I have my thoughts, as I'm sure other who were around back then do too. I wont bang on about that here. Point is, when the dust settled, the GPWA was in a mess. So much so, it was sold, then sold later to Corfman (2007?).

Not too many affiliate's trusted him, or had faith that his intentions were legit. However opportunity arose to change all that, and he (IMHO) seized that chance.

A Private Member (from memory... his nick was Randy). Due to his USA location and the UIGEA (2006), he was on the brink of losing his home. So Michael dug into his wallet and gave Randy US$5,000 I believe. That act of kindness, pretty much overnight gave Corfman the seal of approval he'd be desperately seeking.

I've always been outspoken, so too were a few other private members at the GPWA. We feared with Corfman at the helm, affiliate's best interests would deteriorate, to the point, where WE (all affiliate's) were at the mercy of programs they partnered with, with little to no support from the GPWA. Hence, our little group was always trying to hold everyone accountable.

But clearly our actions were the thorn in not only Corfman's side, but other's too. Slowly but surely, our outspoken group was picked off 1 by 1. To the point where I had my GPWA Private membership stripped and I was unceremoniously kicked by a Kangaroo court of Corfman's design.

Point is, once the GPWA fell into Corfman's hands the welfare of gambling affiliate's were doomed. Ironically he changed it from a .net to a .org, citing it was better suited to an organization. Yet the place is operated as a commercial business 1'st and foremost to this day.

There was also a time when Corfman seemed interested in established a centralized affiliate forum alliance. And, subsequently set out to make that a reality. While it seemed to take off, it eventually fell flat on its face.

Here the link to that place: hxxp://affiliateforumalliance.com (catch cry - where affiliates come first... lol). Frankly, all this seemed to add up to one thing... smoke, mirror's, promising X but pissing in people's pockets, with the ultimate goal of using affiliate's to make cash.

The way I see it, Corfman's long term plan was to gain a monopoly of the gambling affiliate industry, and its affiliate's were the cannon fodder.

I agree with Shay, it is truly a "Sad Day for the GPWA Forums".

However in retrospect, this day has been coming for years. I've been banging on about it for years.

The GPWA in its current format, has little to no Duty of Care, and does little to nothing to ensure its member's welfare is placed 1'st and foremost. Gambling Affiliate's certainly DO NOT COME FIRST with Corfman at the helm.

EDIT:

Point in question... The GPWA took the side of Condor Affiliate's, without an scrap of proof, they allowed Condor to treat a member with not only contempt, but allowed them to not pay this affiliate EU$4.5K in earnings. Currently that money is now held in Escrow by the GPWA (aka Corfman).

Other than the fact that there are no apostrophes in plurals, this is one of the best posts I've ever read. Kudos.

 

[Shay]

It is weird for GPWA to live off the income from sponsors while trying to represent affiliates. IMO it would have been better if affiliates paid some kind of membership fee every year or something, and that GPWA would truly represent and fight alongside affiliates and our interests.

The problem with this is that I personally would not pay a penny for membership to GPWA. GPWA were quick to cry foul when Foxy pulled their crap. I suspect this is because they had significant business with Foxy. Yet, not a peep when Sky pulled a very similar stunt. So I guess it boils down to they will cry and perhaps fight if their income is impacted but they can't be bothered if it is just yours or mine.

 

[Evil Homer]

It's pretty obvious they don't give a shit for the welfare of affiliates. They are not an association, they are simply a forum. They provide a facility for people to air their views, but zero practical help or support, and it will ever be thus. The only way this *may* change is is influential members (eg Shay, Wonderpunter) migrate elsewhere (eg here) permanently. Then they'll just be left with people like vtyssdgigsd wishing everyone a peaceful day.

 

[Biti]

@TheGooner - Lets be brutally honest here, the GPWA accepts just about any gambling sponsor who ponies up with cash. Yet, it's supposed to be an association which protects the interest of its members. The two couldn't be further apart, even if they tried. Reverting back to sponsorship's, it would seem, little to no auditing is conducted on said paid sponsors. Reiterating, as long as they can pay the fee, that seems to be the only governing prerequisite at the GPWA.

Regardless of where they're based, their protocols for checking sponsor's, at the very least, hold a severe lack of Duty of Care.

Lets take the "hacker" topic as an example. I believe it took two plus (2+) years for them to finally drop BP. Even though, there was literally oodles of factual, hard proven facts that BP were working with the "hacker". Naivety is one thing, but that buck doesn't stop at the feet of the GPWA. With all that proof, they continued to support, and essentially give ongoing credence to criminal activities, by one of their sponsor's.

I could cite many other instances where, paid sponsor programs, are given carte blanche. I've lost count to how many wayward sponsor programs have breached the GPWA sponsor T&C's, yet nothing happens. The only time the GPWA seems to care, is when a paid sponsor reneges on their payment of fee(s). They're dropped pretty damn quickly then

Anyway, I agree the UK affiliate group (being spearhead by a number of Super Affiliates), seems like we (affiliates) could finally have a bona fide association who genuinely will put affiliate's and members welfare first and foremost. As apposed to using members as cannon fodder, (numbers) to increase their bank balance and alike.

Perhaps they didn't even drop Buffalo. Maybe it was just the end of the sponsorship term. The list can be longer: Condor Affiliates, for example, is protected. Why? It's a completely useless and dodgy casino / affiliate program. Also 1xbet is quite s shame.

 

[AidanLCFC]

good to see everyone still not posting on there

 

[Shay]

good to see everyone still not posting on there

1 October will begin my boycott.

 

[inspiration]

I hope others will follow suit, the frequent posters Roulette Zeitung etc
We just do not need programs sponsors like Income Access, Coral and the likes to give us a hard time !

 

[NoLuckNeeded]

I'd just like to wish everyone a peaceful day. I'd also like to suggest a new thread title of "A Sad Decade for GPWA forums". The fact that anyone has taken that site seriously in the last 10 years is laughable.

 

[AussieDave]

Other than the fact that there are no apostrophes in plurals, this is one of the best posts I've ever read. Kudos.

Thank you

With regard to the punctuation, never been my strong point. More so, its always been my Achilles' heel, the weak link in my wordsmith skills.

 

[AussieDave]

@thebookiesoffers - I noticed you requested your Private GPWA membership to be terminated. Did they action that request for you?

I only ask because for years after being kicked out, they had no qualms using my email addy for promotional emails from their sponsors. Hence, my personal data was obviously not deleted on my private membership termination.

 

[Biti]

I must say here also that a forum usually get the sponsors it deserves... Many affiliates around there are promoting the most dodgy brands. One week they're complaining a casino is 4 or 5 months behind, the other weet it's again an awesome brand, legit and very fast payments.

 

[AussieDave]

While I'm on a roll...
There was paper commissioned by an anti USA gambling entity sometime back in 2006 (?), which identified a number of key people in the industry. They coined that group, the 'Online Gambling Cartel'. Members of the elite group were people such as, Corfman, Caselli (IGB), Dominique and others.

I usually have all manner of backups, so if I can find that PDF (on a backup HDD) I'll throw it up on a server, so people can read it.

Edit:
This is probably why some people have been hell bent on trying to discredit me for years. I've got a memory like an elephant, especially on all the dodgy shit that's gone down (but been swept under the carpet) in this industry.