Dennis Nadeau co-founded Poker Training Network in early 2011, serving as its CEO. The company's original website, pokertrainingnetwork.com, now redirects to Card Geniuses. This redirection signals a transition for the poker training entity, which also operates an affiliate program with a multi-level marketing commission structure.
Poker Training Network appears to no longer exist as a separate entity. The circumstances behind the shift from Poker Training Network to Card Geniuses are not publicly detailed. Card Geniuses does not disclose who owns or runs the company on its website. Its domain, cardgeniuses.com, was registered on April 8, 2011, with private registration information.
Card Geniuses markets membership to its "Gaming Card University." The company states this access helps poker players develop an effective playing style. Membership offers two tiers: free and "Gold" at $9.95 per month.
Free membership includes a newsletter, videos, forums, a blog, quizzes, and practice games. Gold members receive these features plus an "academic corner," a poker article library, a resource center, poker lesson podcasts, a poker training simulator, and advanced training videos. It also gives access to an "IQ knowledge center" and "Mind Game videos by Jim Karol," along with premium video access. Card Geniuses claims its university content is always current with card game strategies.
Card Geniuses pays affiliates through a unilevel compensation plan. Under this structure, an affiliate sits at the top. Any personally recruited affiliates are placed directly beneath them on level 1. If those level 1 affiliates recruit new members, these new recruits fall onto level 2. Card Geniuses only pays commissions on these first two levels.
The lack of transparent ownership and management information for Card Geniuses makes independent verification of its operations challenging for prospective affiliates.