The biggest Online Poker Scam in history for affiliates at WPT Global

We at YourPokerDream have been in the market for 15 years and have seen a lot, but what WPTGlobal has just announced leaves us speechless.

“Scam” is certainly a harsh word, but it’s the only word that fits here. We are not inclined to speak badly and negatively of any of our current partners, and until now, there was no reason to say anything bad about WPTGlobal. However, we owe it to ourselves, our community, and the global poker scene to report honestly and transparently on this topic.

First, let us explain in detail what this is about. It’s no secret that the poker market has changed over the years. Due to numerous regulations in different countries, the player pool is shrinking, and there are many poker schools training players to become winning players. It’s crucial for a poker room to have a healthy balance between so-called winning players and recreational players. What many forget is that winning players are actually the more important target group. Why is that? Simply put, they are the players who fill the tables for 6-10 hours every day, generate the rake, and ultimately bring in the money for the poker room and the affiliate. The money is not made from the player who deposits a few thousand euros each month but loses it quickly and generates only $100 in rake. It comes from players who play 30-40 hours a week and generate €1,500+ in rake EVERY MONTH. If these players then take out an average of €2,000-3,000 per month with rakeback, the world doesn’t end. The same goes for high rollers who generate €5,000-10,000 in rake per month and might walk away with €5,000-10,000 in winnings per month. Again, it’s clear that you shouldn’t have only such players as affiliates, but these players are part of the ecosystem.

Now, WPTGlobal thinks they are very clever, and starting from August 1st, there will be no commission for affiliates and agents for Texas Holdem players who are winning players. Not like iPoker, which may only count 50% of the rake for professional players, or like GGPoker, where the PVI results in only 20-30% in the end. No, WPTGlobal wants to keep all the money for themselves and pay 0% commission!

For months, WPTGlobal has been actively approaching affiliates and asking for traffic, specifically high rollers who generate revenue. And now that they have acceptable traffic for Texas No Limit Holdem, they see it as the perfect opportunity to line their pockets even more. Don’t get us wrong; it’s perfectly fine to consider the issue of winning players and ecology, as other poker rooms do. But what kind of behavior is this from WPTGlobal?

As if all this wasn’t bad enough, WPTGlobal actually asks affiliates to continue promoting them, especially for MTTs, Pot Limit Omaha (PLO), and Spins, because there is still full commission for every player in these variants. Sure, that makes sense since the other variants are almost dead. So, WPTGlobal actually thinks that any normal affiliate will continue generating traffic for other game types, and when that traffic eventually becomes as high as Texas Holdem, they will introduce the same policy for those variants. The players who generate the rake and the revenue will then be taken away again so that only WPTGlobal earns in the end? Interesting strategy, one must say! Who is so foolish to go along with that?

Some might have expected at least clear guidelines defining who is a winning player and who is not. For example, a player who generates less than €1,000 in rake per month but consistently cashes out at least €2,000+ could be classified as a winning player. But no, it’s all very vague, and there is no clear information. This is the biggest problem. And to claim that this change is necessary and to sell it as an advantage while at the same time asking for more traffic for the other variants is just unbelievable.

See for yourself what WPTGlobal’s explanations for the changes are:

After careful consideration, WPT Global has decided to make some changes to commission structures.

These changes will allow us to spend more money growing MTTs, Global Spins, Omaha and other games, and create better incentives for partners to bring the players that add the most value to our ecosystem.

In our quest to grow as quickly as possible, we have sometimes created the wrong incentives. The result is that WPT Global spent the most money, often double or more, to acquire and keep players who a) already knew about us; b) generally have a negative impact on the value of the other players on the network; c) already retain very well because they cannot win as much anywhere else.

How do we determine skill?

High skill players are labeled by a proprietary ML (machine learning) algorithm that utilises strategy & behavior features to calculate skill classification

The model is trained by using gameplay data from top winners on our site with the goal to identify long term winners at an early stage

How early is the skill classification applied?

The model produces a prediction in the first 300-500 hands with ~90% long term accuracy

The system continues to evaluate players as they play more hands to adjust the label accordingly. Precision increases as the player’s sample size increases

How do we deal with errors/edge cases?

The algorithm has a function to determine error rates and does not produce an early classification until a certain confidence level is reached

We have implemented an additional set of heuristics to protect recreational players & losing players from being mislabeled

How is skill level determined at each stake?

The system classifies skill levels separately at each stake to take into consideration different skill & play styles in various player pools. This also prevents players from manipulating their play style at lower stakes to gain access to higher stakes games

If a player is labeled PRO/high skill at any stake, they will be automatically labeled high skill at all lower stakes

If a player is labeled Pro/high skill at any stake, they will not automatically be labeled high skill at higher stakes

It is possible for a player to be labeled PRO at at a given stake but labeled non-pro in stakes/games above their PRO label

How is the skill label applied to the seating mechanism?

Non-Pro View

Recreational players can view all tables in the lobby and have access to all available seats

PRO view

Configurations are set which cap the number of PRO players that can join the table

PRO restrictions vary depending on the makeup of the player pool and are subject to change at our discretion

When PRO seats are full/occupied at a given table, that table disappears from the lobby for other PRO’s

Is there any player pool segmentation to separate Recreationals from PRO’s?

No, the player pool is not “hard” segmented by skill. We only restrict seats for high skill players at each table, so recreational players can view and join all available seats on the network

Why can I not see more empty tables at a given stake?

Our goal is to prevent predatory game selection & to reward high skill players that contribute to liquidity. We do not spawn new tables until players start playing at the inactive table to prevent players from opening new tables and waiting for a recreational player to join

If a high skill player is not willing to start a game they may lose the opportunity to join when the table fills up

In our opinion, traffic will gradually decrease as the major affiliates will certainly not support this approach. Why should they? Under these circumstances, affiliates cannot make any real money. The same goes for players. Why should a player sign up with WPTGlobal through an affiliate if they will be untracked and receive no extra rakeback or other exclusive benefits?

WPTGlobal may speculate that players will still sign up without an affiliate, and some will. However, the majority will be redirected by affiliates to GGPoker, Winning Poker Network(WPN), iPoker, the Chico Network, PartyPoker, or elsewhere.

WPTGlobal is making the same mistake as PokerStars did a few years ago. They think they can fool the affiliates and the community with poorly thought-out changes and explanations. We know how well that worked out for PokerStars. Now, higher stakes tables are dead, and they are chasing after affiliates. The difference was that PokerStars was the clear number one in the poker market at that time and ruined everything with such actions. By the time they realized the damage they had done, it was too late. Now, WPTGlobal is doing something even more catastrophic, but they are far from being a market leader! You don’t need to be a professor to know where these changes will lead.

We at YourPokerDream will not support this, and we currently see no possibility of continuing to promote WPTGlobal as a partner under these conditions. As if the changes weren’t bad enough, there are no clear transparent guidelines, and the peak of it all is that WPTGlobal wants to sell it as a necessary change and would love for us to advertise the other poker variants to revive them. That certainly won’t happen with us!

It is very unfortunate that WPT has decided to take this highly dubious path, but we have to accept it. For YourPokerDream, this has no significant impact as we don’t have nearly as many players there as we do with our other partners. We are always very cautious with new poker rooms at the beginning, and even though we never expected something like this from WPTGlobal, we are glad that we don’t have thousands of players there.

To all players who are tracked through us as an affiliate at WPTGlobal, we can only apologize. We don’t know who among you will be affected by these changes since, as mentioned, there are no clear guidelines from WPTGlobal. If we continue to be paid for existing players, you will of course continue to receive rakeback from our rake chase. However, we recommend switching to another of our poker partners, where you will be better off in the long run.

If anything changes and WPTGlobal reconsiders and adjusts the situation promptly, we will keep you informed and are not opposed to actively collaborating with WPTGlobal again and recommending them to our community. Currently, however, we cannot support this for moral and financial reasons.

Update 27.07.2024: Our management has decided not to promote WPTGlobal from August 1st, 2024 until further notice. If WPTGlobal’s decision changes and they understand that this is not the right way, we at YourPokerDream are happy to work with them again, but under these circumstances, it is impossible for us.

Of course, we will continue to support existing players who want to continue playing there, as long as they are not marked as “Pro” and we receive a commission from WPTGlobal, we will continue to pay rakeback to these players.

It may take some time, but since this is not the first time in our industry that a poker room thinks they can simply ignore affiliates and behave like this, we already know the result and the impact, which will not be positive. Even though there have been similar cases in recent years where you have to shake your head, WPTGlobal is now at least by far the number one when it comes to “unwise decisions” and “affiliate scams”.

Finally, we would like to mention that the WPTGlobal team that we have dealt with as an affiliate has always done a great job and there was nothing to complain about, regardless of whether it was about communication, payments, or anything else. They did and do a good job! The problem is unfortunately more in the higher positions.

Update 26.08.2024:WPTGlobal is trying to save the situation, but unfortunately too late and with the wrong means. The players who generate the rake and fill the tables are gradually moving to other poker rooms, as was to be expected. That’s just the problem when people in senior positions think they are untouchable and introduce stupid changes without thinking them through and planning the consequences.

Unfortunately, WPTGlobal still thinks that poker players and affiliates are incredibly stupid because the latest changes are not much better. For some reason, WPT thinks this is a concession to save the situation, but it won’t change anything. It’s commendable that they seem to be thinking about it, but they should start thinking sensibly before it’s really too late.

The newest changes:

Within the GGR Calculation Period (Previous 180 days):

If the GGR generated by a Pro Player is greater than 3x winnings, the corresponding partner can receive 70% of the Pro’s commission (for example, if the partner’s commission is 35%, then for the qualified Pros, the partner can receive 35% x 70% = 24.5% commission on those players).

If the GGR generated by Pro Players is less than or equal to 3x the winnings, the Pro and the corresponding partner will not receive any commission.

Update 07.11.2024: Our latest update concerns the current President of WPTGlobal Alex Scott. What he thinks about affiliates and what his strategy is can be clearly seen in his recent statement on the TwoPlusTwo forum.

Statement Alex Scott: It’s not necessary to signup via an affiliate at all.

What can one say? How ignorant and self-confident must a person be to make such a statement? Well, he was the Head of Poker at the Microgaming network. We all know how that turned out. It’s always surprising how people with very little understanding of poker (and we mean here the real game poker and how it works) end up in high positions within the industry. Some of us might think we’re heavily impacted by the changes WPTGlobal introduced, but no, not at all. We’re always very cautious with new poker rooms and take a long look before we bring significant traffic to a provider. It’s annoying, no doubt, but it doesn’t truly affect our lives. What’s more frustrating is his naive mindset.

First and foremost, it’s important to understand the significant difference between affiliates. On one hand, you have the so-called Rakeback Affiliates, who don’t actually offer much value to the industry and tend to do more harm. On the other hand, there are affiliates who genuinely contribute, focusing on ecology in the poker ecosystem and generating quality traffic. But to understand that, one needs a bit of insight into the scene.

Alex has made his stance on affiliates clear, and that’s his prerogative. We’d like to explain why this approach won’t work. The consequences of ignoring or trying to undermine affiliates can be clearly seen with PokerStars. As we all know, this approach “worked” incredibly well—taking an undisputed market leader to a mediocre poker room, with only memories of the good old days remaining. Admittedly, there were other reasons why PokerStars went in the wrong direction. Often, people think they understand something they actually don’t, and we’re now witnessing the same approach with WPTGlobal and Alex Scott.

The idea and mindset here are relatively straightforward: “Our player pool is currently soft when it comes to Texas Hold’em, allowing good players to achieve substantial winnings. So, why do we need affiliates? Word will spread, and players will register directly with WPTGlobal instead of through affiliates. This saves WPTGlobal money, and players also don’t really need rakeback since they’re already profiting well.” In theory, and for the moment, this may hold true for skilled players. However, it’s essential to look a bit further into the future and apply some common sense.

For one, the player pool won’t remain soft forever. The win rates of skilled players will decrease, traffic will decline, and then problems will start to arise. A solid rakeback program can mitigate this somewhat, enabling players who don’t break even or who slightly lose to become winning players through rakeback. Without this, they’ll stop playing. And it’s precisely these players who are ultimately responsible for channeling money into poker rooms. It’s the professional players, not the casual ones who play sometimes, lose some money and generate 50$ Rake. You don’t have to be a genius to see that.

Moreover, traffic needs to be maintained, particularly by bringing in casual players, or break even players who bring new money into the system. Around 80% of this type of traffic comes through affiliates. Once traffic decreases, the player pool toughens, and that soft edge fades, Alex and WPTGlobal will likely shift strategies—potentially when it’s already too late. This decline may be slow and gradual, but it’s inevitable.

At YourPokerDream, we’re sitting back and watching it all unfold with a relaxed perspective. In conclusion, we want to say that some of WPTGlobal’s ideas aren’t bad; there’s plenty of potential, but execution is key, and that requires people with real expertise.