I am often asked just how easy it is to open up an online poker site, and that is a question that can and does take quite some time to answer, for there are many different factors and aspects of running an online poker site that aspiring business owners need to take into account.
However, ever eager to give you as deep an insight into any aspect of poker, below I will walk you through the many different things that you need to be aware of and acquire or have in place to be in a position to launch your very own online poker site business.
To start have a look at Top10pokersites.net to find out about successful poker sites and how one can start an online poker business or become an affiliate.
The first thing you will need to decide is just what poker network you want your poker site to be part of; all major poker networks allow new poker site operators to launch their poker sites on their established networks and will also offer you the poker software and playing platforms that you want to offer your potential customers too.
So your first port of call should be the poker networks’ own websites, and by doing so you will then be able to select not only a network but also they can offer you, for example, everything you need in regards to an instant play, fully downloadable and/or mobile poker apps.
Keep in mind though that one aspect of launching an online poker business is that it is not going to be cheap, for there will be upfront fees that you need to pay which can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range, and ongoing commissions need to be paid to the poker network too.
Attracting Players to a Newly Launched Poker Site
The initial start-up costs for actually choosing your poker network and the software platform can often be massively outweighed by the actual cost of getting players to sign up to your soon-to-be-launched poker site.
Marketing costs are huge these days, and there are a number of ways that you can choose to get your poker site noticed, but some ways can both be costly and may not actually prove to be successful.
Many poker sites will offer something known as an affiliate program, and they are a way for webmasters to promote your poker sites on their websites, and for each customer they send to you, you then pay them either a one-off fee or give them a percentage of the profits those players they send to your poker site generate.
The only way you are going to attract webmasters that have very popular poker-related websites though is by offering them more than other poker sites they currently promote give them, and as such you do risk paying a small fortune for each player they acquire for you!
TV and radio advertising is another way to drum up interest in your poker site, however you do have to target your customers when choosing to go down that route, and unless you offer a generous signup welcome bonus, poker players are not going to be tempted to give your site a try.
Configuring Poker Tournaments Players Will Want to Enter
It will be fairly easy for you to configure your cash ring poker games in such a way that every level of poker player is going to be able to find any number of poker tables at your site appealing and affordable to them.
As such you will not need to spend much time configuring cash ring games, as you can simply offer a standard set of buy-in amounts and a range of pot limit and no limit games that most if not all poker players will be happy to play.
It is the range of poker tournaments that your soon-to-open poker site will need to offer if you are to attract players that do enjoy entering and taking part in poker tournaments.
You will need to have an excellent mix of every type of poker tournament imaginable, including but not limited to free roll poker tournaments, multi-table poker tournaments and sit-n-go poker tournaments too.
One mistake many new poker sites will make is that they will offer some huge prize paying guaranteed poker tournaments, and by doing so they risk making a loss on those poker tournaments which have a guaranteed set of cash prizes on offer. A newly launched site may initially not have enough players to recoup the cash prizes on offer on them by way of entry fees, so do keep that in mind!
Keeping Players Loyal to Your Poker Site
It doesn’t take much these days for a poker player to switch poker sites they play at and as such there are many things you are going to have to offer every single player who does sign up to your poker site to get them to remain loyal to it.
Ongoing discount offers are one way that you can keep players loyal, and also some form of poker rewards scheme can also ensure players regularly play at your poker site.
However, there are some other things that can and will help you retain the poker players you get to sign up to your poker site, one of which is rapid winning pay-outs.
If you can put into place a system whereby players get paid out their winnings instantly once they have requested a cash out, such as when using a web wallet as their chosen withdrawal option, players are going to stick to playing at your site.
Also, never underestimate the importance of offering players around the clock customer support. If a poker player ever does experience any type of problems playing at your site they will want those problems to be rectified instantly, which is something they will be able to do if they can get in touch with your support team at any time of the day or night.
Just keep in mind that whilst initially you can set up a poker site for a relatively small outlay, acquiring players and keeping them playing and coming back for more can and will be the most expensive aspect of running your poker site business!
