Ways to Make Money with Online Poker

There are so many ways that you can make money online. And online poker is especially profitable.

For most, a six figure income per year sounds like a solid income. In the poker business, there are several poker affiliates who make high six figures PER MONTH. It takes a lot of work to get that far, but anyone with enough dedication and knowledge can build a substantial income promoting poker.

And even those who don't choose to promote poker can make a decent income playing poker.

In this article, I'll break down a few ways I know to make money playing and promoting poker. I hope that this list will help you understand most of your options for making money with online poker.


1. Write content for poker webmasters
If you are a competent writer, this is a good way to jump-start your poker business. Many Internet Marketers hate writing content. They would much rather pay someone to write quality content for them. Writing poker content is one way I plan to raise money for my million-dollar project.

2. Buy and sell poker domains
Once you understand what makes a domain valuable, you can apply that knowledge to the poker industry. If you can find and register a quality, keyword rich domain or a short brandable domain, you can easily get 100% or more ROI (return-on-investment).

A friend of mine from the Poker Affiliate Program forums started with $20 and is trying to make $1000 with poker domains in two months. I hope you'll also follow his journey to make money buying and selling poker domains.

3. Play online poker
Becoming an excellent poker player is difficult. Just like building a profitable poker website, you have to put in the work to beat the game. I feel confident beating lower stakes Hold'em, Omaha, and HORSE games. So, I'll use my existing skills at poker to help build my business bankroll.

4. Get poker rakeback
Rakeback is a growing phenomenon in the poker community. Rakeback sites get, let's say, 35% of your generated rake when you sign up through their site. Then, they give you back maybe 33% of that directly to your player account each month. This is a great way to make money at poker whether you are good at it or not. If you're interested in being paid to play poker (as I am), go to PokerDayJob.com and make money with online poker rakeback.

5. Maximize poker bonuses
Another easy way to build a bankroll for poker or a business is to maximize poker bonuses. Online poker rooms offer large incentives to players so that they'll try their poker room. So don't miss all the free poker money out there.

6. Build niche poker websites
Instead of building a generic poker website, build a niche one. Niches may include game variations like Hold'em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud, Razz, HORSE, Badugi, and more. You can base your niche on a local area, or an entire country. Or you may want to come out with something fun and original that will grab readers' attention. Whatever you do, aim to stand out among the competition.

7. Have poker sub-affiliates
One of the cool aspects of poker affiliating is that you can have people sign up under you as a sub-affiliate. The other cool part is that it doesn't hurt your commission to sign up as a sub affiliate. I've signed up to be a sub in exchange for links. Many people swap subs with other affiliate friends, and some will sub under someone just to be generous.

Many times new affiliates will have the opportunity to sub for a veteran affiliate in exchange for mentorship. Dan from Poker Affiliate Bible has created a nice resource for new affiliates and offers many goodies to those who sub for him. He offers premium content, his mentorship, free links, and more. Eventually, I hope to build a similar program for new affiliates.

The point is, whenever possible; look for opportunities to sub for others in exchange for links, other subs, or just to be a giving person. And on the flip side, if you can build a quality resource, give away links, or mentor others, you can generate a number of sub-affiliates of your own.

8. Sell advertising/links to other poker websites
This is a longer-term strategy that established poker sites with traffic could utilize to create an extra income stream. The way most links are valuated is by the site's Google PageRank (PR) and where the link is located. The higher the PR, the more the link is worth. Links that are anchored and in content are the most valuable, site-wide sidebar and footer links are also good, and links from a separate link page are the least valuable.

9. Create software for poker players
Software like PokerTracker and Sharkscope once had humble beginnings, but are now icons of online poker. If you have an idea to create value for online poker players, by either building or outsourcing the project, you can make a lot of money.

10. Sell poker website templates and/or a complete Content Management System
Another area where you can make good money is by selling templates or Content Management Systems to poker webmasters. Many marketers (like me) know just enough web design and coding to get by. If you have the ability to create custom poker templates, there are plenty of customers available.

11. Create and sell your own poker eBook or course
Are you a great (or at least good) poker player who wants to become an Internet Marketer? If you have solid information that can't be found in the usual poker books or on a website, you can create your own eBook or course to teach others how to duplicate your success. Both 6-Max and Heads-up poker are areas where I believe someone could do extremely well with an eBook or course.

12. Sell poker-related images, headers, and icons
Those who are talented in Photoshop can use that ability to sell poker images to other affiliates. Just like with writing content, some poker affiliates can't stand editing images for their sites. Sometimes, they would much rather pay someone $100 for a good-looking header as opposed to spending 4 hours working on their own hacked up version.

13. Start a poker forum/community
Even with presence of huge poker communities like 2+2, Flop Turn River, and Pocket Fives, there is still plenty of room for unique niche poker communities. You can develop a forum based on a specific poker game or a location. Local poker niches are becoming more and more popular. Be sure to consider poker forums as long-term investments in your poker empire. Communities take an enormous amount of work to gain momentum. I tried starting one myself, but quickly felt discouraged that people weren't flocking to my site to post.

14. Become a popular poker blogger
If you have a talent for connecting with readers through entertaining and engaging content, chances are you can make money as a poker blogger. Popular poker bloggers come in all forms. Obviously, popular poker pros like Daniel Negreanu who write blogs have the ability to develop a large readership. Then there's Bill Rini who writes great informative content on his poker blog and gains readers that way. Wicked Chops Poker uses humor and half-naked women to get attention. And my buddy Mark uses humor on his poker blog Melted Felt. Whatever you do, be yourself. People can sense when you're being genuine or not.


Are you as motivated as I am to make some money? Can you think of any other ways to make money in the poker industry?

My Goal to Make Money with Online Poker

First I'll give you a little background. I've played poker live and online since 2004. I have read a few poker books and made a little money, however I haven't given poker enough attention to make any real cash. I've also been into promoting online poker as an affiliate for the past year or so with mixed results.

So as a fun experiment I thought I'd start from the ground up with the ultimate goal of making one million dollars from poker. Along the way I hope to expand my internet marketing & SEO expertise. I also hope to provide a valuable guide for new poker enthusiasts who want to make a living from poker.

The Rules

1. I will not use any of my own income from poker or existing affiliate accounts


2. If I promote one of my existing affiliate programs I'll use a unique id to separate any income from existing sites


3. I will not use my existing web hosting account. I'll only use free sites until I make the money to get another hosting account.

So now the fun begins! I look forward your feedback as I try to accomplish the unimaginable.