“ At Greco we ’ ve introduced automated real-time popups that alert players when they exceed maximum stakes – this offers them an opportunity to modify their behaviour ”
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MARKETING & AFFILIATES
NAVIGATING THE MAXIMUM STAKE DILEMMA
Ozric Vondervelden , co-founder of Greco , explores how the industry can strike a delicate balance between player protection and operator risk
Ozric Vondervelden
I n the igaming industry , the lure of big bonuses is a major player attraction strategy . While these bonuses provide powerful marketing leverage and affiliate opportunities , they also pose significant financial risks for operators .
Managing these risks is a huge challenge , especially when the contentious issue of enforcing maximum stakes is in the mix . But there are some potential solutions .
In the context of bonuses with wagering requirements , the higher a player ’ s volatility , the more they convert to cash as an average . It ’ s counterintuitive , complicated and an entire article in itself , so you will just need to trust me on this .
The size of a player ’ s stake significantly influences volatility . Consequently , it ’ s a common practice to find terms restricting the maximum bet or spin size during bonus play , a strategy to mitigate the operator ’ s overall financial risk .
There ’ s just one problem : operators tend to enforce this term retrospectively , resulting in player confiscations . Duncan Garvie , founder of thePOGG and head of ADR for CasinoReviews . com , sums the problem up best .
“ There ’ s no question that there is huge consumer demand for bonuses , nor that offering bonuses creates substantial financial risk for operators . Maximum bet restrictions are essential to ensuring that operators can meet this demand and deliver the experience that players want .”
However , he adds , the industry ’ s approach to addressing this risk is fundamentally self-interested . Restrictions are buried in bonus terms and conditions as a way to mitigate the risk of smart players systematically using high wagers to exploit bonuses .
“ But this approach relies on players reading the terms and conditions , which many typical players do not . The result is that non-problematic players breach these terms with regularity , putting themselves in a no-win position .
“ If they lose , the operator retains their deposit . If they win , the operator refuses to pay the win because they have broken the maximum bet term .”
“ At Greco we ’ ve introduced automated real-time popups that alert players when they exceed maximum stakes – this offers them an opportunity to modify their behaviour ”
Ozric Vondervelden , co-founder of Greco
60 • ISSUE 136 • iGB L ! VE 2024