Notes from the floor
Honest, unfiltered thinking on iGaming - platform selection, CRM, compliance, African markets, offline-to-online, governance. From someone who's been in your chair.
Tribal Casinos, Lotteries, Horse Racing. All Opposing Prediction Markets. Notice What They Share.
Ten Tribal associations, state lottery operators, and horse racing tracks are all opposing prediction markets in US courts. The common factor: physical infrastructure that cannot be moved to a browser.
Brazil Licensed Sports Betting in 2024. Eighteen Months Later the President Is Considering Shutdown.
Brazil handed operators a licence in late 2024, collected the compliance investment, then floated a full shutdown. The compliance cost was not a market entry cost. It was a stranded asset.
The CRM Gap Is a Sequencing Problem
Industry average Day-30 player retention in iGaming is 15-25%. Best-in-class sits at 30-40%. That gap is not a budget problem. Not a bonus problem. It is a sequencing problem.
Prediction Market or Sportsbook?
Eilers & Krejcik say 69% of US prediction market volume originates in the states where sports betting is illegal. Two questions before anyone uses that number to argue anything.
UK RGD Doubles. The Tax Picks Winners.
April 1. The UK doubled its Remote Gaming Duty from 21% to 40%. Flutter's UK CEO said it on the record: 'We'll take share from those who can't absorb it.' Read that sentence again.
AI Made Everyone a Better Writer
AI can polish language. It cannot manufacture experience. The writing has never been easier to fake. The conversation hasn't.
The Philippines Crossed the Line. The App Didn't Win. The Casino Lost.
2025 was the first year online GGR exceeded land-based revenue in Philippines history. Most operators will read that as a technology story. It isn't.
The Licensed Product Doesn't Win by Default
1xBet grew 87% year-on-year in Nigeria. Licensed operators are available. The players aren't confused. They're choosing.
You Don't Lose the Platform Decision When You Sign. You Lose It Six Weeks Before.
The vendor shows up with a polished deck. Impressive demo. A couple of operator names you recognize. The sales process is smooth because they have done it a thousand times and you have not.
Seven Markets, Seven Directions. The Balkan Gaming Federation.
Seven Balkan countries signed a Memorandum of Cooperation. The agenda: fight illegal gambling, align best practices. Each is also running its own regulatory experiment in a different direction.
The Infrastructure Gap
Every iGaming layoff story follows the same pattern. A decision made 12-18 months earlier when the numbers looked good.
Optimove Had a Page Explaining Why They're Better Than Smartico. Now They Own Smartico.
The best due diligence is competing against someone for three years. Smartico is a Kyborg partner. Optimove just bought them - and structured the deal so they keep running independently.
If You Need Protecting to Compete, the Product Is the Problem.
Entain asked regulators for clearer direction in the black market fight. The framing is recognisable. It is also backwards. The black market didn't call a press conference. It just offered better odds.
Romania Consolidation: CEE's First Domino
Super Technologies acquires MaxBet Romania. The headline reads like a single transaction. It isn't. It's a phase change.
The Concession Trilogy
OPAP builds. Danske Spil optimizes. The third model extracts. Same structural advantage, three outcomes.
I Never Really Left Writing
Writing was my original vocation. iGaming was the accident - a well-paying, fascinating, 30-year accident.
Design Moves Channelization. Enforcement Moves Headlines.
There is one question underneath the Japan gambling headline. Are they designing a licensed market more convenient than the illegal alternative, or a licensing system that satisfies regulators while the market stays broken?