PA T R I K S E L I N I N T E R V I E W
easy, but believes Bodog’s existing recreational poker model will help gain a foothold in a region where trust is paramount. This trust aspect is common to poker across the world, tying into the move towards a recreational model, with Selin adding: “Now that the poker boom is over, and we are in a phase where we have to ?rst of all re-establish who are the drivers of the industry, it’s the casual players, and I think everyone can agree with that. Then in order to attract casual players we need their trust. “It might seem boring to talk about trust but that’s such an important aspect, especially in Asia, as you can see from the fact that 90% of the casino revenues there are from live dealer rather than RNG. On top of that, most of the sports bets placed are on the bigger games in the trusted leagues because customers are afraid they might get cheated which, given the recent allegations coming out of Italy, is understandable. The bulk of the betting is on the Premier League and Bundesliga. “Once you have established their trust – everything from collusion to fraud to money segregation to trusting the random generator and so on – then after that it’s a question of how you will attract the casual players. I don’t have a clear idea of that yet and I haven’t seen anybody indicate they have a clear idea of that. Some people are trying but I haven’t seen anyone get it right.” Stars of the industry Although convinced that the future of egaming lies in Asia, Selin recognises that a number of European operators can be considered stars of the industry and identi?es three in particular. “There are a lot of companies doing fantastically, but I do not think there are many shining stars in this industry,” he asserts.
KEY
FIGURES
€474M
E Amount for which Selin sold Ongame in 2005
E Amount agreed for Ongame by Shuffle Master in 2012 (bid later withdrawn)
€19.5M
260,00
E Number of active players on Ongame in 2005. Now it peaks at fewer than 4,000 players on any one day
$80,000
E Maximum bet on one online hand of baccarat offered by an Asian-facing site
4,000
E Peak number of cash game players on Ongame in 2012
“PokerStars never changed its strategy and has continued competing and doing a fantastic job. In sports betting, Paddy Power is keeping to its strategy too and doing well, while bet365 has a completely different way of doing things – much less creative but no less effective, proving there is no ‘right’ way of doing things. These are the three I think are doing the best in Europe.” Perhaps re?ective of his views about what is needed to succeed in Asia, Selin also compares the value of trust in the banking industry to that in online gambling, saying: “I think that one company doing a good job on the trust issue is PokerStars, and that’s one of the reasons why it is successful. “In banking you need trust but in that industry they are not supposed to be responsible for the outcome of the stock market, whereas in our industry we are in charge of the outcome of the events you are betting on when it comes to casino and poker, so you have to trust even more that our random generators are fair,” he adds. Selin notes that success in Asia is harder to come by, but appreciates there are a few players beginning to make their mark on the growing market. “There are some Asian betting companies we believe are far bigger than all the listed European companies combined but as they are not known here they get dismissed too easily. It’s very low margins but very efficient organisations doing great work.” So, what will Selin turn his hand to now? “I love this industry and will hopefully always work in it,” he says. “It is a fasc [?][??[? \? ?K?]] H ?[YH [YH]\???H ??Y?H?Y? ?[???X][? \?[?? \?H \? L YX\???X??Z[???\?[?HX] \?K???YH \? ?]?H?Y?[? ??]??[???]?\? \? ?]?H?X??YH]?[?[?H??\X?]Y [? ^H ?\?H?Y??K ??]8?&\?[?H^?][??[?X[?H ?^\?[? \?H\?H???Y??\?[??[[??\??'B????? ??????Y?XY?^?[?K???B??