Becoming a poker affiliate could not be simpler. All you need is a website, some content and the will to make it work. The next thing that a budding poker entrepreneur should do is joining one of the many affiliate programs available. Signing up to an affiliate site is free, so there is no need for expensive outlays, just click sign up and you're a step closer to becoming a self-sufficient affiliate.

Online poker affiliate vendors offer new customers the opportunity to promote a number of sites. In return they will offer the new affiliate a reward scheme based on the number of paying customers that they bring in. To help new affiliates achieve this goal, the vendor may offer them a number of marketing tools to entice customers to their sites. These can be banners, pop-ups or just simple text links, but each one carries the customer to the source and the affiliate closer to earning some big money. It is a typical 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' scenario, as an affiliate you are below the vendor and the poker website. But the important thing is that you can effectively get paid for doing absolutely nothing. Someone else provides the banners and the other marketing tools all the affiliate needs to do is appeal to an audience and they are off. It is a win win situation for everybody, especially when investing in the multi billion dollar industry of online poker. Maybe it's your turn to get a cut of the action.

Often there will be a choice of two models of income. The first is a CPA, which essentially means that the affiliate receives a one off cash injection of between $75 and $150. The second is a shared revenue model, whereby you receive a small percentage of the overall revenue that the player you have encouraged to join generates. The CPA model is very much a get rich quick model, generating a large initial income, which is liable to dry up if you don't remain active in seeking new custom. The shared revenue model is a slow building but potentially lucrative avenue. The more people you attract and the more they play poker the more money will be coming your way.

But the real key to building a successful poker affiliate empire is not in simply creating a site that is full of links and pleading for customers. The site that an affiliate builds should be an engaging and even informative place. Enticing customers to try their hand at poker through one of the sites numerous links. By talking about the potential gains of poker playing or the strategies behind it, you can create an interest in the readers mind. It is only through engaging customers that you can truly encourage them to click on your links and part with their money at the poker tables. The more people you can attract the more money there is in it for you, so building an emotive and interesting site is the key to unlock your poker fortune.