by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor
March 6, 2009
Due to recent events at the CAP (Casino Affiliates Program) London that had online casino affiliate in a frenzy, Wager Profits made the decision to remove its CAP and PAP Seals. Wager Profits, which runs TigerGaming.com, PayNoRake.com and ActionPoker.com expressed in a released statement that it did not feel CAP has lived up to its previous standards of management and professionalism. An undisclosed online sportsbook affiliate told Wager Profits that it might soon follow their footsteps, saying that “with the economy slowing down,” it wanted to “be smart with our marketing dollars.”
Wager Profits released its official statement in the CAP forums, which reads:
'Following recent events at CAP London and the issues that arose at that event, further amplified by the emails from Lou Fabiano along with the public statement from Warren Jolly, it is clear that currently CAP and PAP is in no state to effectively provide the services needed by the Affiliate community and operators. Its management seems to have put itself in a position of clear conflict of interest, which is detrimental to its clients and to the industry.
As a result of these facts and until these issues are resolved, Wager Profits (www.wagerprofits.com ) has made a decision to remove the CAP and PAP seals from its Affiliate program, and to terminate its relationship with CAP and PAP for the foreseeable future.
Shaun O’Neil – Affiliate Director of WagerProfits – commented:
“CAP and PAP have great affiliate communities, which have been a pleasure to work with, so this was a difficult decision to make. Unfortunately, we believe it is questionable to think that CAP and PAP will be able to operate effectively without a management team that has proven integrity, and until this rift is dealt with and all the facts are known.
Perhaps what the industry needs is an independent non-profit organization providing certification and related services, along the lines that Microgaming spearheaded with Ecogra for Operations Certification, i.e. an organization funded by the operators with common pricing and clear rules and a code of conduct. We would certainly be interested in participating or being in the forefront of such an initiative.”'
The controversy stems from the result of affiliates’ sleuthing. It was discovered that one casino dubbed rogue by CAP, which then removed its seal and warned affiliates of slow payments, was run by CAP itself. Gambling911 reported the story, noting the conflict of interest and the outrageous fees that many affiliate programs pay to receive a CAP and PAP seal. In order to receive the seal, affiliates are not required to live up to any set of standards or guidelines, but rather just to pay the fee. The ordeal has had online sportsbook and casino affiliates questioning the integrity of the program and considering removing their seals as well.
“I used CAP back in 2007 which {sic} some success and was considering joining again. However, we have decided to back off after witnessing what was going on over there recently. We will be attending the CAC conference in Amsterdam and passing on the CAP event in Amsterdam,” said one online sportsbook affiliate program that wished to remain anonymous.
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