Online Casino Affiliate Deals in 2025: How Direct Partnerships Can Boost Your LTV

It might seem that competition in the gambling industry has practically reached its peak, and the cost per player has skyrocketed. Is that really the case? Today, the winner is the one who has learned to attract not just players, but a loyal audience with a high LTV. Therefore, in this latest article from 888STARZ Partners, we will explain what LTV is, why it’s the leading indicator of your success when working on a RevShare model, and how you can influence it to earn more.

The shift in affiliate marketing priorities

Think about how often you’ve received emails or messages like “Come back, we miss you! Here’s a 20% discount” from various websites where you once bought something. This isn’t just a random act. Sending you an email or a push notification costs pennies, but launching a new advertising campaign to find a customer like you requires serious investment. Why? Because attracting a new player has become incredibly expensive: ad networks are overheated, bloggers are demanding astronomical fees, and players have become more discerning and no longer click on every bright banner like they did 10 years ago.

Why LTV has become so important right now

Convincing a registered user to make another deposit with a bonus or a promotion is much cheaper and more effective. That’s why the entire industry is shifting from simple acquisition to retention. However, this has always been the case in iGaming. The number of players you bring in a month is still significant. But what’s more important is how long they will play and how much money they will bring to the casino over their lifetime. And this is important for partners too:

– Firstly, this is your income if you and the affiliate program work on RevShare.

– Secondly, if you bring inactive players, the affiliate program looks at you sideways and may cut off such traffic.

Simply put, LTV (Lifetime Value) is the total amount of money one player will bring you as a partner over their entire playing time. It’s their entire history – from the first deposit to the last. Why else is this important?

1) The Pareto Principle in Casinos. On average, less than 20% of players generate more than 50% of the casino’s total revenue. These are the “VIP clients” or simply loyal users who play regularly. Essentially, a small group of people feeds you and the entire business. Your task as a partner is to learn how to bring in precisely these kinds of players, not “one-timers.”

2) The Power of Retention. If a casino manages to increase player retention by just 5%, its and your profit can grow by 25-95%. Just think about those numbers! 

Of course, the desire to work on a CPA basis with the “bring a player, get paid, and forget” principle hasn’t disappeared. However, this approach is a short-term game that misses out on the main and most significant income stream if the acquired player actively uses the product. Therefore, a RevShare or hybrid model strategy proves significantly more profitable over time.

The key to success is a joint effort in player retention. Yes, the bulk of this task falls on the iGaming product itself, but you, as an affiliate, also have your own tools of influence beyond simply driving high-quality, targeted traffic. Next, we will discuss how the casino and you can work together to increase overall revenue.

What iGaming products do to increase LTV

The most essential and highly-paid specialists are responsible for this — analysts and retention managers. Their job is to ensure the player has a good time and wants to return.

Here are the key tools that casinos and bookmakers use:

1. Bonuses and Promotions. This is the first thing a player encounters. A generous welcome bonus, free spins, risk-free bets, and cashback are needed to capture attention and give players a taste of the game without a significant investment.
2. Retention Mechanics. The real fun begins after registration. The casino constantly reminds the player of its existence: “Log in and get your daily bonus!”, “We have a personal gift for you!”. Push notifications, emails, and pop-ups work to bring the player back to the site. You’ve encountered this even if you’ve just played mobile games on your phone.
3. Content Variety. People get bored quickly. That’s why casinos constantly add new slots from top providers, launch tournaments, and hold holiday special events. There should always be something new and interesting for the player to discover.
4. Gamification and Loyalty Programs. This turns a regular game into an exciting adventure. Collect points, level up, unlock achievements, and get rewards. The higher your status in the loyalty program, the better your bonuses. This makes players return to achieve new goals. Many of these loyalty programs offer a chance to win prizes, jackpots, or even cars.
5. Personalization. Analysts study each player’s behavior: which slots they play, what bets they make, and when they visit the site. Based on this data, they are offered the specific bonuses and games that they are most likely to enjoy. There are no random offers — everything is tailored to the individual.
6. Fast and Secure Payouts. Nothing kills loyalty like problems with withdrawing money. Players want to receive their winnings quickly, without unnecessary questions or delays. That’s why top casinos offer many payment methods, including cryptocurrencies, and guarantee instant payouts.
7. Quality Support. When players have a problem, they want it solved immediately. 24/7 polite and competent customer support is a standard for any serious project.
8. VIP Support. In some casinos or bookmakers, the most valuable players receive tickets to major sporting events, transfers to the stadium, access to private parties, reservations at elite hotels, access to private rooms in offline casinos, and so on.

Why hope for a high LTV when you can work with a product that guarantees it? At 888STARZ Partners, we turn your players into a loyal audience. Our average Retention Rate is consistently above 50%, and the average player LTV is over $1500. We practically “carry each valuable player in our arms” with a powerful retention system, and for your convenience, we provide ready-made applications for iOS and Android. That’s why working on a RevShare basis with us is a profitable and predictable earning strategy for you.

As you can see, this is a whole ecosystem built within the product. And although you, as an affiliate, cannot manage these tools directly, it’s essential to understand how they work. When choosing an affiliate program, always look at how retention is handled by the product, especially if you are offered a RevShare or hybrid model. And no matter how the retention system works in the product, sometimes you can also nurture and warm up loyal players yourself.

What you can do as a partner to grow your LTV

If you are not working through an affiliate network but directly with a brand or a direct advertiser, you gain levers through which you can and should influence LTV.

How can an affiliate increase LTV through a partnership with a direct advertiser

METHOD	TIPS
Gather your audience’s communication channels	Gather your own communication channels where you will constantly fuel subscribers’ interest. This can be anything—a Telegram channel, chat, email newsletter, or a group on social networks. Whatever it is, this is your personal asset that you control. You can reactivate your players or bettors with additional promotions like “Deposit $20 using our promo code and participate in the iPhone giveaway.”
Discuss exclusive promotions and tournaments.	Agree with the manager on creating a custom promotion for your audience. For example, a tournament with a separate prize pool only for your subscribers or a unique promo code for an increased bonus. You announce this in your Telegram channel and motivate people to return to the game. Your audience feels special, and you get new deposits. Everyone wins.
Be friends with the manager	A direct advertiser has more information about the product, so your personal manager is better at understanding everything. His financial motivation often depends on how much you earn, so use your personal manager’s opportunities and knowledge to retain your players. Here’s more on how to work with a manager to grow your income. If you have significant traffic, the manager can even arrange with the product about brand investments in your growth.
Get unique content from the affiliate program	You can always ask a direct advertiser for landing pages, creatives, email templates, and promotional materials for specific promotions for players. You can agree with the manager on materials specifically for your audience. For example, “URGENT! Only for our subscribers, the casino gives 100 free spins!”. This direct call to action will bring back “sleeping” players.
Repeated content from influencers	If you attract traffic through bloggers, you can agree with them on repeated activation. For example, after a month, a streamer who brought players holds another stream where he plays in the same casino and raffles bonuses among old and new players from his audience. This is a powerful tool for reactivation. Working with a direct advertiser, you can sometimes count on participating in joint activations with influencers.

How to get the most out of working with LTV

Regarding a player’s lifetime value (LTV), the only genuinely viable strategy is the RevShare model.The CPA (Cost Per Action) model, where you are paid a fixed amount for a player’s registration and first deposit, is tempting at first glance. You get money here and now, you can quickly reinvest it into traffic, and you can forecast your income. It’s a sprint. Fast, but short. You bring in a player, get a nominal $100, and that’s it. The catch is that if the player you brought turns out to be a VIP client and brings the casino $10,000 a year, you won’t see a single cent of it.

Why you should choose RevShare

Yes, you earn only a couple of bucks on the first day. But if you’ve brought a quality player who stays with the casino for months or years, you will receive your percentage for that entire time. Every deposit they make, every bet they place, will add a little something to your earnings.

In other words, RevShare is a long-term game for big money. The longer your players play, the more money you make, even if you stop actively driving traffic at some point. By choosing this model, you become a full-fledged partner of the casino.

Both you and the brand are interested in the player being happy, playing for a long time, and enjoying the experience. The casino retains them with its tools, and you nurture their interest through your channels. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to build an active pool of players that will outperform your earnings from pure CPA several times over.

How to choose the best affiliate program in 2025

Choosing the right affiliate program is 50% of your success. You can be a genius at attracting traffic, but if your partner is dishonest, uses weak software, or isn’t interested in your growth, all your efforts will be for nothing. In 2025, with a market flooded with offers, you must approach this choice with a cool head.

There are several key criteria to pay attention to when choosing an affiliate program:

• Reliability and license. Make sure the brand operates legally and has a good reputation. This guarantees that your players won’t be deceived and that you will receive your payments.
• Technology and software. The platform must provide accurate real-time statistics, convenient tools (like postbacks and tracker integrations), and reliable operation.
• Flexible terms. The best affiliate programs are willing to discuss terms and offer custom rates (RevShare, CPA, Hybrid) for partners who bring in quality traffic.
• Quality of support. A personal manager should help with promos, solve non-standard issues, and always be available. Managers from direct advertisers are typically better at this.

If you put all these points together, you’ll find that few companies on the market meet all the above requirements. But they do exist.

Success starts with 888STARZ Partners

When your entire strategy is built on retention and LTV, you need a partner who shares your values. 888STARZ Partners is a direct advertiser that understands an affiliate’s earnings are directly dependent on the quality of the product and player satisfaction.

888STARZ operates in 100+ countries (Tier-1, 2, 3). This means that there is a suitable offer with personalized promotional materials that work for any traffic.

Impressive product metrics:

• Reg2Dep Conversion (from registration to deposit) — from 35%. This is a high rate, indicating that the players you bring will likely start playing for real money.
• Average Retention Rate — over 50%, meaning about half of the players will continue playing, generating RevShare income for you.
• Average LTV — over $1500. This figure shows how much, on average, a single player will bring you over their lifetime. It is the foundation of your long-term earnings.

888STARZ ensures complete technical and financial reliability, from precise tracking setup via postbacks to fast payouts to cryptocurrency wallets, cards, and e-wallets. In addition, experienced managers are always on hand to help solve non-standard problems and provide custom promotional materials for your traffic source.

FAQ

How do casino affiliate programs work?

– A gambling affiliate’s income depends entirely on the quality of their traffic and the chosen payment model, where a focus on high-LTV players through RevShare can create a significant and long-term semi-passive income. Good partners earn from $5,000 to $15,000 per month.

How much do affiliates earn?

A gambling affiliate’s income depends entirely on the quality of their traffic and the chosen payment model, where a focus on high-LTV players through RevShare can create a significant and long-term semi-passive income. Good partners earn from $5,000 to $15,000 per month.

Which affiliate programs offer the best rates in the iGaming vertical?

Direct affiliate programs, like 888STARZ Partners, offer the most favorable terms due to high retention and LTV metrics, which impact long-term RevShare income.

How do you promote gambling as an affiliate?

To effectively promote a gambling offer, you must create communication channels (e.g., Telegram or email newsletters) to engage your audience with exclusive bonuses and promotions obtained through a direct partnership with the brand. It’s also important to know how to work with ad network traffic and perform constant analysis. We have many articles on this topic on our blog.