Poker Affiliate Programs

Poker was one of the best online industries in the first decade of this millennium. And it's still strong, although the growth rates have lowered somehow in the last years. Poker is definitely worth trying to advertise, as the profits can be huge.

How is the market organized now?

Market leader is Pokerstars, followed by Full Tilt Poker, Partypoker and the iPoker network. After that some medium sites and networks and even more smaller sites and networks.

Actual numbers can be seen on Pokerscout.com.

How is money earned in this business?

The poker sites earn a commission from every hand played where the flop is reached and the pot has a certain minimum size. Additionally they earn from tournament fees or jackpot tables. Many poker room have also an online casino connected.
There are generally two forms of commissions paid:

REV Share
here you get a percentage (between 20% and 50%) of the commissions the poker site is earning from your players, and that's for the lifetime of this player.
But transaction costs, bonuses, etc. are deducted from this.
CPA
when a new player signs up via your site, deposits money and is earning a certain number of points (different from site to site and deal to deal) you get one payment for this player
( numbers are between $50 and $200 )

Some sites offer only Rev Share, others only CPA and there are also sites where you can decide between these earning models. Depending on your player quality, Rev Share or CPA can be better for you. For long-term oriented webmasters Rev Share should be the choice, as you earn several years from the same players.

The only problem is: Attracting players and making them sign-up with your links isn't easy.

Possible solutions are: