Bob asked the question, “Does this mean that affiliates can promote soft games in the US and not come into conflict with the law?” following my ‘Gaming Affiliates Set Sights on New Opportunites in Lucrative Niche Markets‘ blog post.

Although I’d love to provide a definitive answer (in the affirmative) for you, skill games promotion seems to be a big “gray area” in U.S. law, with some games deemed acceptable while others that one might assume qualify as skill games are not eligible for promotion.

And before I delve into confusing you further, here’s my caveat; a) I do not work in the gaming sphere, b) I live in Canada and c) I am not a lawyer.

That said, I found this answer to the “Is it legal to promote Skill games in USA? ” question in the BetonBattles affiliate FAQ …

BetonBattles fee-based tournaments do not constitute gambling because they only involve skill, as opposed to chance, and are designed as interactive on-line entertainment for adults. The US Federal legislation of September 30, 2006 — H.R.4411 “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006″ Sec. 5362 defines illegal betting or wagering as including “the purchase of a chance or opportunity to win a lottery or other prize (which opportunity to win is predominantly subject to chance)”.

On the Certified Skill Games Affiliate Programs page at CasinoAffiliatePrograms I found:

Big Win Partners which offers Rotoplay Fantasy Sports and Picks Online states that it “is 100% legal to promote and our brands are not linked to online Casino or Poker rooms“.

From RummyAffiliates which promotes a online multi-player Rummy games including Gin Rummy, Oklahoma, Kaluki and Traditional Rummy says “WANTED – US Traffic“.

RedHotPartners which has the GameAccount and RedHotRummy properties featuring multi-player blackjack, rummy and backgammon games states, “It’s legal to advertise skill games!”

Yet, digging deeper into the RedHotPartners affiliate program, I found “program does not accept US-based real money customers” but they are not specific as to whether that applies to the rummy and gammon games.

However, what you’ll find is that following the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 in the U.S., many gaming networks incorporated software that identifies U.S. residents (or U.S. residents in ineligible states) and blocks them from accessing the site and opening real money accounts.

SkillGround offers cash prizes for playing real video games reports that skill-gaming “is legal in 39 U.S. states, and Europe”.

SkillGround lists residents of Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont as not eligible for play.

That’s 13 states for a total of 52. At last count the U.S. only had 50 states.

Hmmm…

I would be concerned if I were a U.S. based affiliate.

Although U.S. resident affiliates were permitted to retain their affiliate accounts and could continue to refer players who do not reside in the restricted territories, what happens if you are a resident of one of the 13 states and are seen to profit from the avails of ‘skills-gaming’?

That’s a question for which I could not find an answer.

Does anyone else know?

One would hope that if that applies to you, you would be restricted from joining the program (especially those offered through a major network like CJ) if you are not eligible to promote that program.

From my Canadian IP address vantage point, I saw no geographic elibility restrictions against signing up for most of the betting / gaming programs listed in the CJ network.

In the meantime, should you choose to market skill games online as a U.S. resident to U.S. residents, you should seek a definitive legal answer.

Moreover, READ the affiliate TOS (terms and conditions) and agreements for each program you might want to promote thoroughly before joining.

This year’s Casino Affiliate Convention held August 27 – 28 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Montreal, Quebec was considerably smaller than its past conferences, primarily due to the passage of the US Anti-Online Gambling Law in 2006.

Regardless, the convention was well-received by those in attendance – comprised in large part of never-say-die gaming affiliates who moved with the times and into the European space in order to continue their lucrative gaming affiliate businesses when Bush cracked down on online gambling.

However, because gaming affiliates earn a portion of the revenue generated by players who signed up for casino sites through their affiliate sites, these affilites had to start building player pools again from scratch.

As such, many of the affiliates at the Convention had started working in, or were still actively seeking new lucrative niche markets into which they could expand.

During my second speaking gig of the convention, the ‘THE Adam Anhang Memorial Final Panel Debate‘ (aka ‘The Beer Session), 2 potential niche markets were discussed at length, the viability of which I had to vigorously concur.

Those markets are Cell Phone / Mobile Dating and Skill Games.

To bring the point home about the lucrative nature of the skill gaming niche, Marc Lesnick, the Casino Affiliate Convention organizer, intends to hold a skills gaming conference in Las Vegas next year.

Game types in the skills or ‘soft’ games category include board, word, puzzle and arcade games.

Specific skill game examples include backgammon, rummy, Sudoku, Mahjong and Scrabble. I’m a HUGE fan of the latter with an average score of 300 – just HAD to share that!

Sample Skill and ‘Soft’ Game Opportunities for Affiliates

Income Access – Montreal-based Income Access, owned and operated by my friend Nicky Senyard (who also owns ShareResults.com) has skill game offers by Mahjong Time (2-tiers, pays up to 35%) as well as Ladbrokes Bingo and Games. Ladbrokes pays 30% tiered commission on the revenue generated by your players.

From their site: “Most soft games affiliate programs offer a percentage commission ranging from 10% to 50%, often tiered based on the total revenue generated by the soft games provider.

As an alternative form of payment, some soft games affiliate programs give their affiliates the choice of earning a flat fee per player instead, also known as a Cost-per-Acquisition (CPA) commission, ranging from $50 to $200.”

Limbo, a CJ merchant, has 2 games, Limbo Unique and Limbo Grab in which your visitors can win cool prizes – HDTV’s and the like – online or through their mobile phones. Pays 2 bucks per new member signup.

BetonBattles, another CJ merchant, hosts multiplayer skill-based tournaments for players/members. Players compete with each other to determine a ‘winner’. BetonBattles claims to be the world’s highest paying Internet based skill gaming website. They do offer a nice commission rate – $5 per each each real player registration and were offering new affiliates a chance to win a trip for TWO to Vegas to joing them at the World Series of Battles. Nice incentive.

King.com – Based in Germany, has a portfolio of more than 60+ online-games including skill games such as “Who wants to be a millionaire?”, “Deal or no Deal” and “Luxor”. IAlso offers UK users a range of licensed soft games ilike “Bingo”. Pays a whopping £18 GBP commission for each new registered money-player.

These are but a few of the merchants and networks playing in the skill games category. For more ideas and opportunities in the skill gaming niche, review CJ’s Betting/Gaming category and search for ‘skill game’ and ‘affiliate’ on Google.

Legal Disclaimer: Promotion of internet casinos, poker and sports gaming is illegal within the United States, France, Germany, Sweden and other EU countries. Promotion of internet casinos, poker and sports gaming to United Kingdom citizens requires governmental licensing. Promotion of internet casinos, poker and sports gaming is illegal within the United States, France, Germany, Sweden and other EU countries. Promotion of internet casinos, poker and sports gaming to United Kingdom citizens requires governmental licensing. Promotion of games of skill is restricted within the United States, France, Germany, Sweden and other EU countries. WARNING: PROMOTION OF GAMING AND SKILL GAMING SITES IN UNAUTHORIZED JURISDICTIONS MAY SUBJECT YOU TO CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LIABILITY.