Affiliates and acquisition

CPA: paying the affiliate per player

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is a fixed payment to an affiliate for each new player who makes a deposit and meets the conditions (baseline). The casino carries the traffic quality risk.

Yevhen SychovOctober 2026

Formula and example

Payback = player NGR by the Nth deposit minus CPACPA €120. After the first deposit the player's NGR is €35, after the third €95, after the fifth €150: the player paid back on the fifth deposit.

Baseline: who you pay for

The baseline is the condition for a player to count for the affiliate: for example, deposits of €50 or more, or turnover of €200 or more, in the first 30 days. Without a baseline, the affiliate also gets CPA for players with a single €10 deposit who will never come back.

CPA or revshare

With CPA, the casino pays up front and carries the traffic quality risk. With revshare, it pays a percentage of NGR over a long period and shares the risk with the affiliate. A hybrid: a small CPA plus a reduced revshare.

To compare the models, calculate the full cost of a player from the 1st to the 5th deposit, CPA and revshare included, against their LTV for each source.

Common mistakes

  • Paying for FTDs without a baseline. The cheapest way to buy lots of empty first deposits.
  • Not tracking second deposits by affiliate. Source quality shows in retention, not in the number of FTDs.
  • No fraud checks. Multi-accounts and incentivised traffic are the first to eat the CPA budget.
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