Editorial Policy
Last updated: April 23, 2026
PokerRift exists to cover the game of poker honestly - the players who shape it, the operators who host it, the strategies that work at the table, and the regulations that keep moving. This page explains how we do that and what separates our editorial work from the commercial side of the site.
Who writes for us
Every article published on PokerRift carries a byline that links to the author's profile. Those profiles list the writer's background, the beats they cover, and the types of pieces they work on. We don't publish anonymous content. If a piece is a round-up or collaborative effort, we credit each contributor.
Our writers include former professional players, tournament reporters who travel the circuit, data journalists who built their own tracking tools, and industry analysts who came from the operator side. See the full list of contributors.
How stories get chosen
Editorial decisions - what to cover, who to feature, how to frame a story - are made by our editors and writers. Advertisers, affiliate partners, and operators don't influence those decisions. An operator running a promotion on PokerRift has no more or less chance of being covered than one that isn't.
When we cover an operator we're in an affiliate relationship with, we disclose it on the page. When a story involves a company that also advertises with us, we note that too. Transparency on the specific relationship matters more than a blanket "we use affiliate links" line.
How we verify facts
Tournament results, winner payouts, and chip counts come from the operating tournament's own reporting (WSOP.com, Hendon Mob, Global Poker Index) or from direct coverage at the venue. We cross-check high-value numbers before publication. Player earnings figures trace to Hendon Mob unless otherwise noted.
Statements attributed to players come from direct interviews, public social media posts (with link), on-the-record press interactions, or reporting by another outlet we can cite by name. We don't invent quotes and we don't use "sources say" phrasing unless we genuinely have a source and can explain why anonymity was granted.
Legal and regulatory claims come from the regulator's own published materials, court filings, or statements from the regulator's press office. Tax commentary is editorial opinion and isn't legal advice.
Corrections
We make mistakes. When we do, we fix the article and add a correction note at the bottom explaining what changed and when. Minor corrections (typos, broken links) are made silently. Substantive corrections - wrong name, wrong date, wrong figure - get an explicit note.
If you see something that needs correcting, our corrections policy explains how to flag it.
AI-assisted writing
Our editorial team uses AI tools (including large language models) as part of the research and drafting workflow. Those tools do not make editorial decisions. Every published article is reviewed by a human editor before it goes live, checked against source material, and edited for tone and accuracy. When an AI tool contributed to the first draft of an article, the byline still belongs to the human writer who took responsibility for the final piece.
We don't publish machine-generated content that hasn't been reviewed. We don't use AI to fabricate quotes, statistics, or tournament results. If you find content on the site that feels wrong or formulaic, please get in touch so we can look at it.
Conflicts of interest
Writers disclose financial stakes in companies they cover. If a writer owns equity in a poker operator, has a sponsorship deal with a training site, or is employed part-time by a company we're writing about, they recuse themselves from coverage of that company.
When a conflict is unavoidable - for example, when a general editor with equity in a training platform has to edit coverage of that platform - the disclosure is published in the article itself.
How we make money
PokerRift earns revenue primarily through affiliate commissions when readers sign up with operators through links on the site, and through display advertising. Some review pages include an affiliate disclosure above the fold; see our advertising policy for the full picture.
Affiliate revenue does not determine which operators we cover, which we rate highly, or the order they appear in. An operator we don't have an affiliate relationship with gets the same editorial treatment as one we do.
Contact
Tips, corrections, or questions about this policy: get in touch.