brandonberndt.com

After receiving some search hits from the term Stinkyfishpoker, I hoped over to google to see why the hell anyone would be searching this term. I was shocked to find StinkyFishPoker.com saying it was under new management, and set to launch in August 2008. Apparently they will be accepting US play as well.

Let me be clear that none of the original Stinky team, nor myself, have anything to do with the site relaunching. So don’t expect the same kick ass parties again.

This is pretty interesting to hear, and I will be diving in for more information on the new owners. I see the domain is pointing to the iGaming Software servers, so I think that solves the question to as which what network it will be on.

Its a bit weird to see the site coming back to be honest, as my days with StinkyFish were an absolute blast. I worked with some incredible people, and we threw some amazing parties. It was very tough to go through the company going under back in 2006, as it was my first real position in the industry so it was very close to my heart.

Ill update soon with more information.

Looking for Poker Software? Every now and then people come around and ask me if I can get the word out on a product. Recently I have been approached to help spread the word for some Poker Software for sale. This is a full poker platform Here is what you get for the poker software:

Full working poker software platform with 7 games
Complete Affiliate Software Package
Cashier
Admin Backend
Available in English and Spanish
Mac and PC Compatible
100% ownership of the code

The poker platform is ready for use and only needs branding. This is a great piece of Poker Software.

If you are interested in seeing a demo, please contact me at brandon.berndt at gmail dot com or go to the contact page

This poker software is in the low seven figures, so please keep that in mind if you want more information. Good luck whoever gets this stunning poker platform!

Today is a bad day for many of the biggest poker affiliates in the world. It looks like 5 of the biggest traffic sites have been completely dropped from googles search engine. I am really sorry to hear about this as I am good friends with most of them and would never wish this on anyone. Drops like this could cost each of them over six figures PER month.

I am really hoping that this is just a glitch that Google will fix as these affiliates have spent thousands of hours working on their sites to see it all go away in a day. It should be very interesting to see what happens from here on out, and see how Google handles this situation.

This weekend I packed up the car and took my wife and my bulldog Dozer and drove the 1.5 hour drive to Elk Grove, CA where our families are located. We are staying at my mom’s house in Wilton which is a puppy paradise. 3.5 acres, a pond, pool, and all the grass he can eat.

Today we are going to hangout by the pool and spend some time with my nephews. Kris and I are taking all of them to a Sacramento River Cats game to help raise funds for the Susan G Komen foundation. I always love going to the River Cats games (Oakland A’s AAA team) because its a great park and a fun time to have with your family. Kris and I also have a friend that pitches for the River Cats so hopefully he throws tonight. Ill see if I can get some pictures up later.

Just a heads up, I will be joining the PAP Radio show on Tuesday for the first couple hours. It should be a lot of fun and I am looking forward to it. Make sure you listen to it every week.

For now, here is a couple images I thought you might like.

When trying to purchase the new Panic at the Disco album on iTunes, I was given this error. I am a Panic fan, but that seems a bit long to wait.

Todays headlines at ESPN.com. I knew they were quick, but I didn’t know they were this fast.

Last but not least, the most disturbing image on the internet.

His poor, poor wife.

Its been written about in every Affiliate forum/Magazine, spoken about at almost every conference, and yet it still seems people aren’t listening. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great Affiliate Programs out there that are doing the right things, but for everyone that does it right there are 5 missing the boat.  Its not that hard to do.

Common complaints are they don’t have enough man power to fully manage their program. That doesn’t fly with me. I split my roles between managing the poker room and affiliate program, and still make time to handle my responsibilities. Yes I put in long hours, but that’s what it takes. Before I run on a tangent, lets get back to discussing running the overall program.

First, make sure your team understands the ins and outs of our industry. Nothing kills your opportunity to create an Affiliate brand like AM’s running around making a fool of themselves. AM’s should never:

- Send out template emails to affiliates. Take the time to study their sites, and show them that you care enough to review their sites. Affiliates work day and night to create their sites, the least you can do is show them the respect by looking over them
- Never do anything that could possibly be considered spammy. That includes emails, posts on forums, or contacting affiliates via messenger services.
- No matter what an affiliate says in a forum, never ever reveal personal information (yes stats are personal) in a public forum. Resolve the issue in house and then you can ask the person to update the situation. If the affiliate is just looking to pick a fight, or is sending fraud players and wondering where his CPA’s are, other members will see this and call them out for you. The better relationship you create with affiliates, the more they will stand up for you when
something negative appears.

After you have built a solid team, sculpture your Affiliate Program around two things: Your Poker Room/Casino, and your affiliates. Your Affiliate Program should be an extension of your poker room/casino. If you are not having weekly meetings with your Poker Room Manger and Marketing Team to discuss whats going on in the client and promotions, you are doing something wrong. Your Affiliate Program should also be built around the strengths and weaknesses of you client.

Likewise if you are not listening to the needs and wants of your affiliates, you are not utilizing one of the most valuable assets you have. Think about it this way, your Affiliate Team has 1-10 members to brainstorm and sculpt your program. Whereas you have hundreds if not thousands of affiliates who would love to tell you what they would like to see/have. You would be surprised the amazing ideas affiliates come up with.

Throughout the blog, I will go through more of what it takes to run an affiliate program, but I hope you enjoy this brief introduction. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or leave a comment.

Alright so its almost been a year since I set out to have this blog created. Its time to get it going. As many of you know, my name is Brandon Berndt and I am the Poker Room Manager and Affiliate Program Director for ChanPoker.com. I love playing poker, and have a bit of a gambling problem.

Speaking of gambling, I often deposit $100 on Bodog just to kill some time at my game of choice Let it Ride. I do this as many times a week as I can before the wife catches on. Well lately I have killed their casino. Here are some screenshots.

For the first one, I only had $35 left so I was betting $5 (like I said its to kill time). Next hand I bet $10 and hit a flush, it was a good start. I ended up taking it to Blackjack and won another $200 beating $15-$75 a hand.

The second four of a kind was something special. I was down to my last $45 and was slightly tilted after losing 15 consecutive hands. Playing my self proclaimed can’t lose Berndt LIR strategy, I knew the odds were on my side for a winning hand. So I bet $15 and was dealt 2 2 2. Jackpot.

I ended up taking the $2400 to blackjack, roulette, a bit of poker, and some $5 slots. I promptly cashed out $4900.

Now yes I have a couple stories like this, but most of them go; deposit $100, hit big hand, lose $1000 betting $100 a hand while on tilt. I am sure I will share these with you soon.

Anyways, hope you enjoy the upcoming blog. Sorry Bodog.

This is my first blog, and am really looking forward to it. So stay tuned for some good fun!