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Q&A
> Head of poker, Ongame
FREDRIK KJELL
eGaming Review: How did the idea for Instant Rewards come about? Fredrik Kjell (FK): We created our live data feed a while ago and had in mind the idea of operators using this for targeted promotions, however operators have been reluctant to invest the money needed so we decided to do it ourselves. Over the last two years or so a lot of operators have been scaling down a bit on the operational side and looking for more ready-made products. With that in mind we need to stand out and show that we’re innovating, and we wanted to do what we think is good in other products and use our existing live data feed technology to implement real-time bonusing. eGR: What does Instant Rewards involve right now, and how has it been received by your partners? FK: At the moment it works by giving the player real-time rewards and alerts for certain achievements, such as winning a hand with pocket aces or being dealt a certain combination of hands. This can be customised on a player-by-player basis, so they can earn a bonus by winning with a certain combination or losing with the same combination, while we can also for example offer cash game rewards as a bonus for someone who usually plays tournaments in order to get them to try something new, or vice versa. We rolled it out across the network in February, but this was only after a test period on Paf.com which saw revenues generated rise by 30% for the test group. We have seen real enthusiasm from our current partners and our network board, while we also showed it at ICE to those who have not seen it before and they really liked it. eGR: What is the main objective of the product, from an Ongame point of view? FK: The most important thing with this is bringing the fun back into poker. A lot of players are not winning, just effectively paying to play because they like the game, and they want to feel like winners now and again. At the same time, operators are paying a lot to acquire new customers and it’s hard to keep making this investment without a return. There has not really been much innovation in poker since Rush Poker, and we believe Instant Rewards will be the platform to change this for online and potentially mobile as well. This can let the operator give something to the player to make them want to play there again. We believe that Instant Rewards will help increase player satisfaction and operator revenues, while continuing to serve the primary function of bringing the fun back into the game, and helping us make sure people continue to enjoy poker. eGR: Where do you see yourselves taking the concept in the future? FK: At the moment we’re just doing tournament tickets or cash as the rewards, but we will soon have much more. We have a huge list of things our partners want to do and we will be looking at this after launching. We want to roll this technology out across other platforms as well eventually, for example a player might win free spins on casino based on their poker achievements. We also believe it would be perfect for both freeplay and real-money offlineonline convergence. We have partnerships in the US with a number of land-based casinos and introducing Instant Rewards to that environment would enable casinos to retain their physical customers online and vice versa.
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