Affiliate programs are one of the best ways to make money online, because they typically have higher payouts than equivalent CPC campaigns. Nearly all poker websites have some sort of affiliate or referral program in place, but it can be a pain to sign up for all of them just to take advantage of their affiliate programs.
John received a ReviewMe request from Mike, the guy behind Boogster.com. Boogster is an online gaming affiliate site that rewards you with free stuff when you complete certain offers, making the pot even more enticing because of their own referral program.
Are You Ready to Gamble?
In a nutshell, Boogster is encouraging you to play poker and get free gifts. In order to do this, you’ll have to sign up for one or more of the gambling sites listed on the Boogster main page. Most of these are popular poker sites, including some of the biggest players in the game.
You may have heard of them before. Boogster rewards you for signing up with the likes of Party Poker, Mansion Poker, Full Tilt Poker, and Golden Palace Poker, to name a few. But signing up isn’t enough. You’ve got to gamble.
In this way, the reward program is similar to the “players club” programs that you find in some casinos. For example, in order to get the Boogster bonus on Full Tilt Poker, you need to deposit a minimum of $50 (in real money) and earn 200 Full Tilt Points (through wagering and playing hands). After you’ve completed the requirements — each site is a little different — you have to fill out the associated Boogster registration form to receive your Boogster Points. I’ll get to what those points mean in a second.
On a side note, something very strange is happening with some of those registration forms. Whoever coded their website had a bit of container goof…
“US residents are NOT eligible for this site.”
This was the first thing that came to mind for me. As you may already know, it is not legal to play poker for money online in the United States. This ruling may get reversed at some point in the future, but for the most part, you technically cannot participate in online poker sites for real money. As such, many of the offers available through Boogster cannot be completed by US residents.
In the notes for many sites, you’ll find a message that says something like “US residents are NOT eligible for this promotion” or “US residents are NOT eligible for this site.” You can’t take advantage of the Party Poker deal, for example.
What I find interesting is that some poker sites are a-okay for American residents. I’m not completely familiar with the legalities of the matter, so maybe these sites found some sort of loophole. Bodog Poker, for instance, is fair game.
Beyond No Limit Texas Hold’em
If poker isn’t your thing, Boogster doesn’t want you to feel left out. All of those mini banners on the main page look terribly cluttered and quite daunting, but if you navigate beyond those, you’ll also find offers for shopping, online casinos, and even Forex. Most of these still involve some monetary cost to you before you can receive any Boogster Points.
They’ve also got an investment blog (which boasts quite the amateur-ish design), a free NFL Challenge game, poker strategy articles, and tips on how to play heads up.
No Money Rewards
I’ve made mention of Boogster Points a few times in this review. Well, instead of rewarding you with actual cash, the kickback from Boogster involves a series of “free gifts.” Basically, you go the Boogster Store to redeem your points. Every Boogster Point is worth about a penny in actual value. For example, a new iPod nano costs 22,000 points.
Other options include Apple iPhones, eBay gift certificates, subscriptions to Card Player magazine, and poker sets.
Special Bonus for John Chow dot Com Readers
As an added incentive, if you sign up for Boogster through this review, you get a bonus 1000 Boogster points to spend at the aforementioned Boogster Store. Sign up your friends through the referral program to get more Boogster Points.
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