How do partner accounts work
 

I'm just confused by what I read so far.

Can anyone clear this up for me?

Theres no one single/standard way they work - some people will approve galleries/freesites right away from partners without review, some will give them higher listings, give them more attention, review them first, allow more submits in a given timeframe, whatever. They're basically to either establish a relationship and therefor force accountability/responsibility ( to prevent cheating ) and/or to reward loyal submitters who dont break rules, submit junk, etc.

yeah what b1ng0 said is right and they have different ways of approving partner accounts.