what is an affiliate

I'm sure everyone else knows, but what exactly is an affiliate and what does it take to be one?

An affiliate is basically a person who "promotes" online gaming sites. I would be considered an affiliate. For the most part, each link on my website is an "affiliate" link, which means if you happen to download a casino through my site and make a deposit, I would get a % of your deposit if you happen to lose. I am still rather new to the business, so I do not make a great deal of money from them, but it allows me to pay for Hosting, my domain name, live chat, and future promotions.
It doesn't take much work to become an affiliate, it does however take a lot of work to be a successful affiliate. To become an affiliate it usually takes about five minutes to register and they you are able to promote the casino(s) for which you registered. Hope this helps, if not, simply ask another question and I'll tell you what I know.

I am just curious would you recommend someone to do this? Does it cost?

I guess it all depends on what you want to get out of it and if you are able to reach the goal you set...
Like I said, becoming an affiliate for the specific casino you wish to promote takes just a few minutes, but successfully promoting them can take a long time.
I am still new to the whole thing, but making money isn't really my objective. If you remember the "beckett" days (http://www.beckett.com/userpages/gprix33.html), I only started that site to make my contribution to the whole ND thing. Then I began to get a lot of traffic, so I kind of felt obligated to take it to the next level. That's where I stand now. My basic goal is to provide a clean and crisp site (banner free!!!!) for everyone. I have got nothing but great feedback, so I think I am doing alright so far.
As for costs, I suppose it all depends on which method you decide to promote with. Way back in the "beckett" days, I didn't even use affiliate links, but I thought I could use any revenue made to improve this site.
Running a website like this has some costs. The domain name is a yearly fee for me, hosting for the site is monthly, and live chat is $99/month.
More importantly creating a website can be a lot of work, as I am still no where near done with this one. However, I think it's kind of a neat hobby, and it always makes me feel good when I get positive responses from everyone.

Sorry to keep talking, sometimes you just can't stop!!
Hopefully that answers your questions, but feel free to ask another if I missed anything.

I just wanted to say thanks for answering and I think you are doing a great job. I love this site. It is very informational.

You are welcome! There is plenty of room for growth here, so I plan to GROW! I'll be getting more features in place soon.

thats what your mrs says!! LOL, j/k

Ha!