The online poker gaming industry has been subject to an unprecedented growth rate. Where poker was once a game played between friends around a table in a backroom, the online revolution has freed up the game and made it an accessible, interactive experience. Huge daily tournaments, different table sizes and quirky tools have made online poker a vastly different derivative of the original rigid card game.

Many of the common skills in reading players is lost through the faceless interface of the computer. Instead chat rooms and message boards provide forums for players to chat and interact, even during the hands. Tournaments offering vast sums of money as a reward are a daily occurrence throughout the online industry. Players of all abilities can pit their wits against others from all corners of the globe, putting themselves in the position to be in with the chance of winning huge amounts of money.

The online gaming industry has revolutionised the both the traditional and electronic versions of the game. International tournaments are broadcast live on television with prize money often totalling hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. The rise in popularity has rejuvenated and in many respects reinvented the game of poker. The ease of availability and bonus schemes has tempted a huge global following to try their hand at the game. With the influx of new players the game has grown, as have the poker sites creating yearly revenue of millions if not billions of dollars.

This new online wealth has not remained in the pockets of just the site owners. Through a number of affiliate programs the money has slowly trickled down to be within reach of even the most inexperienced website owners. The basic premise of all affiliate schemes is that site owners can get money by encouraging people to join or purchase from a number of large sites. Through linked words or banner advertisements the host site can determine the source of the custom and then reward the website owner with a cash bonus.

Becoming a poker affiliate is a simple cost free process. All a website owner needs to do is sign up to an affiliate scheme either directly through a poker site or one of the many representative sites. They will then be supplied with a number of marketing tools to optimise both parties' visibility to potential customers or visitors. All the website owner needs to do is place the advertising material somewhere, preferably an obvious or clear area on their site and wait for the hits to come. In the affiliate business hits mean more money, so the more people you can attract the more likely one is going to follow your link and sign up to a poker site. Then all the owner needs to do is sit back and wait for their percentage to roll through each and every time the players deposit cash or generates funds.