Canadian poker pro Vanessa Kade claims GGPoker terminated her affiliate account over comments she made after the site signed Dan Bilzerian in December. Kade received the news Monday, on International Women’s Day, and on Tuesday publicly shared her exit exchange with a site representative.
When GGPoker welcomed Bilzerian as an ambassador, many poker players questioned the move. Although the “King of Instagram” appears to have done little to promote the poker site he represents publicly, Kade and other poker players balked at GGPoker’s associating with such a misogynistic character.
Bilzerian often posts photos on social media with scantily clad women, while presenting himself as an accomplished high-stakes gambler, prolific Lothario, and unapologetic anti-feminist.
Twitter Wars
After GGPoker hired Bilzerian, Kade, who had been hosting a $100 GGPoker weekly freeroll on her Twitch channel, went on a multi-day Twitter rant expressing her displeasure.
Sponsoring a sleazy, sexist tool with toxic followers as poker’s biggest ambassador lends validity to the idea that he’s an accurate representation of our sport.
Not unlike supporting a president with similar traits because he would benefit our bottom line.
Not worth the price. https://t.co/890sSmMSl1
— Vanessa Kade (@VanessaKade) December 3, 2020
“Sponsoring a sleazy, sexist tool with toxic followers as poker’s biggest ambassador lends validity to the idea that he’s an accurate representation of our sport. Not unlike supporting a president with similar traits because he would benefit our bottom line. Not worth the price,” Kade tweeted at GGPoker in early December.
Bilzerian caught word of Kade’s tweets and responded to the poker pro in a predictably undiplomatic manner:
Quiet hoe, nobody knows who you are
— Dan Bilzerian (@DanBilzerian) December 4, 2020
Kade continued criticizing GGPoker for days because she found their decision to hire a man she believes is a misogynist to be unsettling. But her critical comments came back to haunt her a few months later. On Twitter recently, she shared a direct message conversation with a rep from GGPoker.
In that DM exchange, Kade learned that her affiliate account was being officially closed. As an affiliate marketing partner, Kade promoted the poker site on her Twitch channel and earned a commission any time a follower used her affiliate link to sign up with GGPoker.
“I’m sure you were expecting this message to come at some point, I need to close out your affiliate account,” the direct message from GGPoker begins. “Affiliates are partners and you clearly terminated that partnership a few months back, I’m simply finalizing it by closing the account.”
‘Inaccurate and Offensive’
This wasn’t just a corporate form letter. The GGPoker employee personally defended the poker site against Kade’s accusations of misogyny, while suggesting Kade was the one who chose to terminate their relationship.
“It’s a shame you can’t see all the things we’re trying to accomplish and the amazing people behind the scenes who are working tirelessly to make GGPoker amazing,” she said. “To call us out as misogynist is completely inaccurate and offensive to everyone that works here, especially the women.”
She went on to say that she has experienced no such behavior at GGPoker, and praised the company for being supportive of employees who have to juggle family life with work.
“We’re made up of strong women and men, who have huge respect for women and value each and every one of us,” Kade’s former account manager wrote. “I have never felt less than equal EVER.”
The GGPoker employee wrapped up the message by saying she’s sorry Kade chose to take the stand she did as she enjoyed working with her and hopes “we can look to partnering with you again.”
Kade responded by saying that she has “friends who work for GG,” and noted that she doesn’t judge them for it. “But let’s be clear. GG supports misogyny.”
She ended her missive calling on the site to “Do better,” and signed it with a reminder of how Bilzerian referred to her in his first week on the job representing GGPoker — Vanessa “hoe” Kade.
Inappropriate Affiliations?
Kade last played on GGPoker on her Twitch channel in late November, just before the Bilzerian signing. She informed her 10,000 Twitter followers that she stopped promoting the affiliate link two years ago and was just receiving passive income from it since.
CardsChat News reached out to GGPoker for comment. Paul Burke, GGPoker’s press contact, issued a statement.
“All GGPoker affiliates agree to work with us in partnership, with both sides having the same end goal in mind of introducing new players to GGPoker and mutually benefiting from GGPoker’s growth,” Burke said. “In this instance, our affiliate was not acting as a partner is expected to and was, in fact, actively attacking and trying to damage GGPoker. As such, maintaining an affiliate relationship was no longer possible.”
