AMA: I Operate an Online Casino

[tread93]

I am curious if it is hard to keep up with any casino regulators and what your thoughts may be on potential regulatory changes that could perhaps affect your casino in the next five-10 years.

Aiming to become an MGA licensed brand and working white hat as much as possible. With better regulation you can work with better talent and stronger ambassadors. Regulation is good both for the operators, players, workers and countries that are hosting the operator.

I was curious to see what your thought were on AI integration with the crypto casino technology? Does your brand or brands currently use AI in anything casino related?

I've personally implemented a sportsbook widget that was writing out quick content for match results, like a recap of what happened. Works great if you combine it with internal data and automate it through AI.

AI-Shortcuts (e.g. developing games, images, reviews through AI) doesn't match the vision of how a successful operator should work. I think that human work should still be involved. If you're googling a review of the latest mercedes G class, you want to read a human experience, not  AI generated crap.

I am curious how your casino manages the security of the network against cyber related threats & also am curious as to how you safeguard your crypto coins - are they kept in an exchange or in a "hot wallet"

I've already answered this, but in short, the provider is taking care of that.
RE; attacks - You have a platform provider who's taking care of the CDN and bot net attacks and it's their job to guard us from them, and they are successful at it.
RE; wallets - You have the payment provider who's taking care of the exchange, wallets, security and so on. Portion of the money is with them for faster payouts to the customers, a portion of the money is on the companies "bank roll" and then forwarded to different providers to supply them with funds. E.g. the affiliate system that pays out affiliate commissions need to be manually funded from the main bank account, but once it's on the affiliate platform, it's technically "with a provider".

 

I am also very curious to know what are some of the most valuable lessons that you have learned being in the industry for so long?

If you create a better system to battle scammers, the scammers will invent a better system to scam you. It's just part of the industry, there's nothing you can do about it except have a department taking care of it. Connected with that, there will be collateral damage, and if a customer makes too much noise, you need to individually approach it and check if you maybe mistaken him with a scammer.

Right now I'm battling a group of idiots who are purchasing our domain names and launching replicas of the casinos there. So what did I do? I spent 5k eur on buying all the domain TLD's like .net, .org, .io etc. What did the scammer do? They bought numbered domains )) So if I own casino.com, they have purchased casino1.com, if I own casino.org, they've purchased casino1.org. There's just no way you can eradicate them and win.

This is all great and very interesting stuff! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my message. Its hard to separate through all the quotes and questions so I'm just going to write a reply back and jumble everything into one paragraph starting from the top down.

It's fantastic that you have this goal to become MGA licensed, it sounds like Malta is really booming with their gambling scene! Agreed regulations are definitely better for the hosting country / gov etc.

Its nice to see that you used AI for something very practical to help you achieve your goal instead of using it to generate the entire portion of the content. Would definitely agree that the human input for human centered products is imperitive, why have something artificial when you can have real and authentic?

So for your content data network i'm sure you guys are using some crazy cloud workload protection platform to safeguard against ransomeware etc. I'm sure you've also invested heavily into a defense mechanism. Also thanks for the breakdown on how the money moves, that makes complete sense. I'm sure you have to have great relationships with these providers and there is a great deal of trust in them.

This last question about just general advice is probably my favorite part about your response. Those bastards lol they just don't stop with their efforts do they? I wonder if you can set up a bait and hook trap to lure them in somehow and fry their hard drives hahaahha if only it were that easy.

[pinggoki]

~

It really doesn't matter what the business is, if you're the one responsible for the numbers, it's 24/7. Then the free time depends on how smart the people below you are.

~

Yes, a lot, but you get used to it. The motto that I sell to those who didn't get used to it is "I see that you're stressed about this problem, but you'll resolve it, and once you resolve it, you'll have an even worse problem to deal with, so stop stressing about them so much."

~

Same as with girls, if you offer value they will stay, if you don't offer value they will leave. Now what that value is depends on the individual, and you have to take your time, sit down and talk with them about it.

If someone is in Marketing, you offer them a good roadmap where they can quickly move up the ladder together with a good, achievable bonus strategy, and then you also leave them to build their own network that they will sooner or later transfer to somebody else's company, but that's just part of the game and you have to accept it.

If someone is in Compliance, you offer them a good training and certification roadmap for every successful quarter closed, etc. You have to have an individual approach.

And don't ask me about hiring, I've been hiring people for 16 years and I still didn't figure it out. For my last copywritter position I've interviewed 100 people, hired two, fired both of them within 1 month. Then a girl randomly messaged me on Linkedin and now she's the best performer in terms of content.

Thank you for your response, really helps put in perspective what a business owner have when it comes to things like this, hopefully your prosperity continues and that more people will be educated by you through this AMA in the forum and outside the forum. That's actually a really good thing with how you deal with stress, what I can remember from this is that Homer Simpson meme where he tells Bart that this is his worst day yet and not the worst day ever in his life. Good things come when you least expect them, it's a really awesome thing that you've got this girl as a copywriter out of nowhere, really makes you believe that it's always in the strangest of ways that you do find good people.

[junder]

Q: Can I open an online casino by myself?
I wouldn't recommend opening a casino by yourself or even with a team of junior people, the market is so competitive that you will either be eaten up by the competition, or by scammers. It's a tough job with a lot of stress. If you would like to enter the industry, and do something by yourself, you can always open an affiliate site with Wordpress and work your way up.

Q: How many people do work at an online casino?
Smaller operations usually have up to 15 people, medium operations up to 500, larger can go up to 5000, it all depends on how many services they do in-house. If you're outsourcing almost every aspect of your business, then you can work with a smaller team, but if you have your own customer support or your own casino platform, then we're talking about several hundred people for just one department.

During my gambling I had the thought with my friend who himself is an expert in the It field to open a casino, but indeed after thinking about it is not an easy thing to build an online casino that I planned with my friend only three people.
And I never thought about this, with the number of people working in online casinos can reach 5000 people it is crazy, I'm sure the casino owner is very smart in managing it because with 5000 people of course it is not a small amount. When a casino has that many workers I'm sure the casino is really big and running well in terms of income and profits.

[Tungbulu]

Q: Can I open an online casino by myself?
I wouldn't recommend opening a casino by yourself or even with a team of junior people, the market is so competitive that you will either be eaten up by the competition, or by scammers. It's a tough job with a lot of stress. If you would like to enter the industry, and do something by yourself, you can always open an affiliate site with Wordpress and work your way up.

Q: How many people do work at an online casino?
Smaller operations usually have up to 15 people, medium operations up to 500, larger can go up to 5000, it all depends on how many services they do in-house. If you're outsourcing almost every aspect of your business, then you can work with a smaller team, but if you have your own customer support or your own casino platform, then we're talking about several hundred people for just one department.

During my gambling I had the thought with my friend who himself is an expert in the It field to open a casino, but indeed after thinking about it is not an easy thing to build an online casino that I planned with my friend only three people.
And I never thought about this, with the number of people working in online casinos can reach 5000 people it is crazy, I'm sure the casino owner is very smart in managing it because with 5000 people of course it is not a small amount. When a casino has that many workers I'm sure the casino is really big and running well in terms of income and profits.

I knew for sure that managing an online casino can indeed be quite a hand full and definitely not a for 3 people, not even if they are experts. But the truth is that, I wouldn’t have even imagined that there was a possibility to have over 5000 staffs, what? That’s absolutely crazy, because I don’t think i know so many companies that has the same capacity to accomplish such number of employees. If that’s so then, the online casino might as well just be the highest job creation enterprise for people, because it really means more than a lot to take over 5000 people out of the unemployment market and giving them a job. I’m still trying to phantom and to imagine the possibility of such a thing.

[junder]

During my gambling I had the thought with my friend who himself is an expert in the It field to open a casino, but indeed after thinking about it is not an easy thing to build an online casino that I planned with my friend only three people.
And I never thought about this, with the number of people working in online casinos can reach 5000 people it is crazy, I'm sure the casino owner is very smart in managing it because with 5000 people of course it is not a small amount. When a casino has that many workers I'm sure the casino is really big and running well in terms of income and profits.

I knew for sure that managing an online casino can indeed be quite a hand full and definitely not a for 3 people, not even if they are experts. But the truth is that, I wouldn’t have even imagined that there was a possibility to have over 5000 staffs, what? That’s absolutely crazy, because I don’t think i know so many companies that has the same capacity to accomplish such number of employees. If that’s so then, the online casino might as well just be the highest job creation enterprise for people, because it really means more than a lot to take over 5000 people out of the unemployment market and giving them a job. I’m still trying to phantom and to imagine the possibility of such a thing.

I'm not saying that building a casino is easy, especially if it's only done with three people, what I'm saying is that it's not easy to build a casino with only three members. Are you sure building a casino is very easy to do?
I agree with you, if the casino recruits 5,000 workers, then that is a fairly large job market and this is the positive side of gambling because some people work to earn income.
If gambling in my country is legalized, maybe there are people who work officially, in reality there are some people who have celebrity status by promoting online gambling platforms and they are arrested by the authorities because basically online gambling or laring is prohibited in the country.

[examplens]

It’s been a year since I joined this forum, and I was initially hesitant about starting an "Ask me Anything" thread due to the spam issues in the gambling section. However, since several users requested it and I’ve enabled self-moderation to combat the spammers, I’m hopeful that we can make this section more engaging together.

Just open your own thread, if you really prove yourself by giving a genuine answer, there will probably be people interested in participating in the discussion. In this way, you clutter up someone's topic and create additional confusion plus while writing "frequently question and answers", and the essence of AMA is to ask unusual questions.

[noviesol]

Really interesting thread. I see you haven't been online for a long time but still want to ask some questions.

1. Is it possible to work with game providers like Evolution, Pragmatic, etc without having a license or a legal entity (a B.V. in Curacao)?

2. Whats the best thing to do if u have problems withdrawing your money from a crooked casino?

3. If a casino says they have to check your winnings with the game provider. Are they actually verifying this with the game provder (took months)?

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Really interesting thread. I see you haven't been online for a long time but still want to ask some questions.

1. Is it possible to work with game providers like Evolution, Pragmatic, etc without having a license or a legal entity (a B.V. in Curacao)?

2. Whats the best thing to do if u have problems withdrawing your money from a crooked casino?

3. If a casino says they have to check your winnings with the game provider. Are they actually verifying this with the game provder (took months)?

Very good questions there if those have not been answered before though, I would be very interested to know what the answer to question number one and three will be.

Interested mostly in the number three question because I have a friend who was a victim of scam through this process.
He won outrightly, but the win was not credited to his account for several hours, he later decided to contact the customer support, and he was told to be patient that they are verifying the win with the game provider, this took the entire day, soon, entire day became two days, a week, two weeks, a month two months, six months, one year and till date, that money was never paid by the casino, he was able to withdraw his balance on the account but the win has not been credited for more than 2 years now.

Dude have long forgotten about the money and moved on, but I really would like to know what casinos imply when they say they want to verify customer's winning with the game provider.

[dimonstration]

Really interesting thread. I see you haven't been online for a long time but still want to ask some questions.

1. Is it possible to work with game providers like Evolution, Pragmatic, etc without having a license or a legal entity (a B.V. in Curacao)?

Answering some question here based on experience as a long time gambler. I think the answer on this specific question is yes since I do play some casino that has no license to operate that offers this specific provider.

2. Whats the best thing to do if u have problems withdrawing your money from a crooked casino?

Report it to the license provider, create a scam accusation thread here in the forum and seek help on 3rd party arbitration service like Askgambler.

3. If a casino says they have to check your winnings with the game provider. Are they actually verifying this with the game provder (took months)?

Lol, the answer here relies on the casino that tells you this. But typically it takes some time especially the investigation process due to the number of cases game provider handling from different casino.

[noviesol]

Really interesting thread. I see you haven't been online for a long time but still want to ask some questions.

1. Is it possible to work with game providers like Evolution, Pragmatic, etc without having a license or a legal entity (a B.V. in Curacao)?

Answering some question here based on experience as a long time gambler. I think the answer on this specific question is yes since I do play some casino that has no license to operate that offers this specific provider.

2. Whats the best thing to do if u have problems withdrawing your money from a crooked casino?

Report it to the license provider, create a scam accusation thread here in the forum and seek help on 3rd party arbitration service like Askgambler.

Coming back on your answer. I ask this question because indeed there are casinos without license and have all the available game providers. My guess would be they are renting/leasing these games from a entity that has a license.

Now for the casinos without license. How can you report it to the license provider? Also, shouldn't game providers be responsible aswell for providing services to casinos without licenses. Because when you do get scammed there is no possibility to seek help since the casino has no license and the game providers don't care.

I did contact Evolution through the live game support where they said '' Games can only be added to our partners websites when they are approved by our regulators''. I'm not sure what this means or if it is even true. But I did notice that game providers are sketchy and not transparant either just like unlicensed casinos

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

Really interesting thread. I see you haven't been online for a long time but still want to ask some questions.

I was in the middle of a three months summer vacation and a job switch, now I'm back.

1. Is it possible to work with game providers like Evolution, Pragmatic, etc without having a license or a legal entity (a B.V. in Curacao)?

Same as when you can pay via a Visa credit card on an unlicensed casino, there's a third party in-between that is usually providing that service as the licensed entity, and the game provider or payment provider don't know that they are being used in that manner, or sometimes they know but don't care. I don't know if I can say it without any issues, but there are several payment providers that offer these type of services, where they cloak the traffic so that it looks like it's going to a licensed casino, but it's actually on an unlicensed one.

So to answer your question, yes, an unlicensed casino has ways on how to have the same payment providers and game providers.

2. Whats the best thing to do if u have problems withdrawing your money from a crooked casino?

We first need to define "your money".
If by your money you mean the initial deposit that went from your credit card to their account, that you can easily get back. Just report them to the license holder and your credit card company, it is a process, but you'll get it back.
If it's their money, but you think that it's yours because a game said that you won it, then the chances of you getting that money is really, really low if all of the evidence and the terms of use are against you.  

3. If a casino says they have to check your winnings with the game provider. Are they actually verifying this with the game provder (took months)?

Yes, all the gameplay is recorded by the game provider, and if I think that you're doing something shady I can go back and watch all the gameplay footage since you've registered on the site. I do have to go to the game provider to get that information if I don't have an in-house solution for it. This is common with Roulette and Black Jack.

[noviesol]

1. Is it possible to work with game providers like Evolution, Pragmatic, etc without having a license or a legal entity (a B.V. in Curacao)?

Same as when you can pay via a Visa credit card on an unlicensed casino, there's a third party in-between that is usually providing that service as the licensed entity, and the game provider or payment provider don't know that they are being used in that manner, or sometimes they know but don't care. I don't know if I can say it without any issues, but there are several payment providers that offer these type of services, where they cloak the traffic so that it looks like it's going to a licensed casino, but it's actually on an unlicensed one.

So to answer your question, yes, an unlicensed casino has ways on how to have the same payment providers and game providers.

2. Whats the best thing to do if u have problems withdrawing your money from a crooked casino?

We first need to define "your money".
If by your money you mean the initial deposit that went from your credit card to their account, that you can easily get back. Just report them to the license holder and your credit card company, it is a process, but you'll get it back.
If it's their money, but you think that it's yours because a game said that you won it, then the chances of you getting that money is really, really low if all of the evidence and the terms of use are against you.  

3. If a casino says they have to check your winnings with the game provider. Are they actually verifying this with the game provder (took months)?

Yes, all the gameplay is recorded by the game provider, and if I think that you're doing something shady I can go back and watch all the gameplay footage since you've registered on the site. I do have to go to the game provider to get that information if I don't have an in-house solution for it. This is common with Roulette and Black Jack.

An unlicensed casino can access the same payment and game providers through a third party that acts as a licensed entity. But what happens if I encounter problems with the unlicensed casino? Does the responsibility fall on the third party that provided these services?

I'm asking these questions because I have been experiencing issues with a casino that has been delaying my withdrawal for months without any explanation. This casino is unlicensed, yet it features all the major game providers on its website and even has its own Evolution Gaming table branded with their casino name. I’m now trying to identify a responsible party, but since the casino is unlicensed and lacks an established legal entity, there seems to be no one to file a complaint or lawsuit against.

It feels like a hopeless case, and the money seems to be gone, which is shocking considering that major game providers are supplying games to such a crooked casino. It appears that every time players encounter problems with an online casino, they end up drawing the short end of the stick. There is virtually zero protection for players, while casinos can enforce the most unreasonable terms of service without consequences.

Even the licensing authorities, in my opinion, are falling short. They seem to provide little to no help when issues arise, leaving players stranded and vulnerable. This lack of oversight and accountability allows unlicensed and even some licensed casinos to operate with impunity, at the expense of players’ trust and funds.

What’s your view on this? Do you perhaps have any tips to help me tackle my personal problem?

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

But what happens if I encounter problems with the unlicensed casino?

Unfortunately this is a tale as old as gambling itself.

These people operate everything through so many layers that even if you would sit down and try to crack the egg open, you wouldn't even know where to hit first. I've encountered a few of these so called "operators" and the only thing they have in mind is how to get the money from your pocket into theirs, in the shortest amount of time, and as secure for them as possible. They store your data and have your cookies, so that when they re-open another brand, they can easily pull the same scam on you again (by acting like they are a new casino ready to be plucked).  

Does the responsibility fall on the third party that provided these services?

It's an unlicensed casino, there's no responsibility. For curacao licensed brands I do see cases being won by the player, but rarely. With unlicensed brands you can't do anything.  

Do you perhaps have any tips to help me tackle my personal problem?

Yes.

First, understand that the core of the business is to make money. No one will go and open up a business where they will give each customer $10k and a kiss on the forehead, it's just not viable. Look at it as entertainment, how you would spend $100 on a night out, that's how you should look at the $100 that you'll spend on a night gambling. You're just being delusional if you think that it will go any other way. Having sex without a condom is fun, but once the consequences of it hit, they hit hard.

Second, if you would have played with an operator who has a license to operate in your market, and if you would have KYC'ed and verified all your details, you wouldn't be in this situation. At my previous position I was good friends with a sports betting VIP manager, and she had players who were with her for over 10 years, and she was taking good care of them, whenever there was an issue, they could just call her directly. That relationship isn't built over night, but it shows you the power of a regulated framework.

What I'm trying to say is, use this as a lesson, stop spending your money on unlicensed operators, if you enjoy gambling and like the thrill and entertainment factor off it, join a reputable operator within your country and build a relationship with them.

From my experience, those who think that they know what they are doing usually burn the most amount of money.

Apologies for not being of any further help, but feel free to open up a scam accusation thread and outline your issues there, and I can try to feedback once I have the full picture.

[noviesol]

But what happens if I encounter problems with the unlicensed casino?

Unfortunately this is a tale as old as gambling itself.

These people operate everything through so many layers that even if you would sit down and try to crack the egg open, you wouldn't even know where to hit first. I've encountered a few of these so called "operators" and the only thing they have in mind is how to get the money from your pocket into theirs, in the shortest amount of time, and as secure for them as possible. They store your data and have your cookies, so that when they re-open another brand, they can easily pull the same scam on you again (by acting like they are a new casino ready to be plucked).  

Does the responsibility fall on the third party that provided these services?

It's an unlicensed casino, there's no responsibility. For curacao licensed brands I do see cases being won by the player, but rarely. With unlicensed brands you can't do anything.  

Do you perhaps have any tips to help me tackle my personal problem?

Yes.

First, understand that the core of the business is to make money. No one will go and open up a business where they will give each customer $10k and a kiss on the forehead, it's just not viable. Look at it as entertainment, how you would spend $100 on a night out, that's how you should look at the $100 that you'll spend on a night gambling. You're just being delusional if you think that it will go any other way. Having sex without a condom is fun, but once the consequences of it hit, they hit hard.

Second, if you would have played with an operator who has a license to operate in your market, and if you would have KYC'ed and verified all your details, you wouldn't be in this situation. At my previous position I was good friends with a sports betting VIP manager, and she had players who were with her for over 10 years, and she was taking good care of them, whenever there was an issue, they could just call her directly. That relationship isn't built over night, but it shows you the power of a regulated framework.

What I'm trying to say is, use this as a lesson, stop spending your money on unlicensed operators, if you enjoy gambling and like the thrill and entertainment factor off it, join a reputable operator within your country and build a relationship with them.

From my experience, those who think that they know what they are doing usually burn the most amount of money.

Apologies for not being of any further help, but feel free to open up a scam accusation thread and outline your issues there, and I can try to feedback once I have the full picture.

Thanks for your clear answers. I have already posted an scam accusation thread.

[AV43]

Looking back, if you were launching today from scratch, would you still build your own casino platform or start with a turnkey casino platform? At what stage does it actually make financial sense to move things in-house?

[Cointxz]

Looking back, if you were launching today from scratch, would you still build your own casino platform or start with a turnkey casino platform? At what stage does it actually make financial sense to move things in-house?

Let’s mention @SirJohnVonSlotty to answer your question since this thread was long inactive. I’m curious to know too what’s the current efficient way for casino startups nowadays.

Although, most new casino already use white label services since it’s much easier and you can operate almost immediately.


@SirJohnVonSlotty can I ask question about live games? How come some casino still accuses user of using method such as card counting as reason to close their account while it’s technically not possible to do accurate card counting on live blackjack?

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

Looking back, if you were launching today from scratch, would you still build your own casino platform or start with a turnkey casino platform? At what stage does it actually make financial sense to move things in-house?

If it's your first time, go with a turnkey casino platform to reduce the chance of failure. Too many points of failure with your own solution. It's not worth it if you don't have a big wallet.

can I ask question about live games? How come some casino still accuses user of using method such as card counting as reason to close their account while it’s technically not possible to do accurate card counting on live blackjack?

Three weeks ago I was dealing with an AI-powered card counter on one of the games, but the fault ended up with a fresh dealer who didn't follow instructions. It's still possible to scam the casino if it's visible to the user how many card decks are placed, if the deck penetration isn't set up correctly, and the presenter isn't shuffling the cards often. Still, the chance of you managing to do that is really, really low and I would say a waste of time.

[DrBeer]

I’d like some clarification: you mentioned that many casinos use the WordPress platform. As far as the WordPress core itself is concerned, it’s fairly secure. However, plugins make it quite "vulnerable" from a security standpoint. Its popularity also makes it the number one target" for many hackers.
Bottom line: I think choosing WordPress as a platform for an online casino is quite unsafe. Plus, the security configuration system is quite complex. In conclusion, I believe using WordPress for sites where large sums of money are involved is a pretty risky move!
 

[xenomorfo]

It's been a year since I've joined this forum and I was somewhat reluctant in opening an "Ask me Anything" thread due to all the spam going on in the gambling section, but several users requested it, and I've also enabled self-moderation to battle the spammers. Hopefully it will be a fun exercise where we can all together make this section more interesting.

For me it's a wonderful thread, i have many questions and many have been asked, i would like to ask you one that will surely put you in difficulty, but i don't want to do it so you can also answer by range.

My question, to start with an online casino how much money do you need? up to 10k, up to 50k up to 100k


thank you very much.

[qwertyup23]

Just a few questions that I have knowing that there wouldn't be an opportunity for me to raise these questions:

• Do you operate to establish a KYC system on your platform? If yes, what are the requirements for such implementation?
• Given that you operate a gambling casino, what are the regulations and laws that you have to follow? Do you also operate on a license that allows you to continue your business?
• Personally, I find that a successful gambling company has at least a responsive customer support service. How do you operate yours and what challenges have you faced from it?
• Was there a time that you were faced with a decision that can either make or break your business?; and lastly-
• Would you recommend this line of business to anyone who has the necessary capital?

I would love to hear your thoughts and answers from my questions above. Those are some questions that would give me a broad idea on how this kind of business operates in the real world.