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A daily podcast delving into the biggest stories of the day throughout the sports betting and igaming sector.
Charlie Horner (00:05.332)
If you're scanning the show floor at SBC Summit next week, you might see a familiar yet different face. That's because Even Bet has undergone a rebrand and he's now known as Even Better Gaming. Yeah. Yeah.
Charlie Horner (00:25.758)
If you're scanning the show floor at SBC Summit next week, you might see a familiar yet different face. That's because even bet has undergone a rebrand and is now known as Even Better Gaming, reflecting an organisational shift towards a more structured, customer-focused model. So today on iGaming Daily, we speak to even better gaming CEO Dmitry Starostenkov. Sorry, I'll repeat that. Today on iGaming Daily, we speak to even better gaming CEO Dmitry Starostenkov about the rebrand.
And the future ambitions for the company. So welcome back to iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, the creator of Positionless Marketing and the number one player engagement solution for sports betting and iGaming operators. I'm Charlie Horner, and as I mentioned, I am joined by even better gaming CEO Dmitry Starostenkov. Dmitry, thanks ever so much for joining me. How are you doing?
Dmitry (01:14.766)
Hello, hello everyone. I'm doing well. Thank you for inviting me. It's a it's a pleasure.
Charlie Horner (01:22.208)
Fantastic. No, it's great to have you on and it's obviously a a very important time for for the company a after the the rebrand. I just wanted to to start off really by asking, you know, what what was the reason for the the rebranding and what has fundamentally changed inside the business that that made this the right moment to to undergo such a rebrand?
Dmitry (01:29.846)
Agree.
Dmitry (01:42.882)
Yeah. I believe it's exactly the right moment nowadays because rebranding reflects our evolution that taking that been taking place across our entire company over the past few years. We didn't just change name or logo. The whole idea behind rebranding is to transform how we develop products, how we work with our clients and how we support their businesses.
Between 2021 and 2026, we triple size of our team, bringing together over 260 professionals across 20 countries, which transformed us into truly international organization. So we also shifted our internal operation DNA from product management to structured processes and crucially expanded our portfolio far beyond our poker.
heritage. Even better nowadays brings all these developments together into a single brand that accurately reflects the comprehensive iGaming Technology partner that we are today.
Charlie Horner (02:56.393)
Yeah, absolutely. We will we will dig into the expansion of the the product portfolio that that reflects the the rebranding. But I guess if we just focus on on the name for a moment, you know, even better, there's there's multiple connotations of that. what what do you want your new name to communicate to to the wider industry and and your existing and and potential future partners?
Dmitry (03:07.873)
Mm-hmm.
Dmitry (03:19.433)
the most important message for the industry and our partners and customers is that this name reflects continuous progress. We are building upon more than two decades of deeper poker expertise, but we are constantly improving our products, elevating our services, and refining how we collaborate to help operators succeed. So ER
Adding ER is to bring focus on on continuous improvements, continuous development, continuous evolution of our product, of our team, of our services. Whatever we do for the industry, we are doing beter. That's the whole message.
Charlie Horner (04:10.931)
Yeah, it's it's just adding two letters onto the name, but it yeah, it helps to tell a a much wider story, doesn't it? And I guess that comes at the time when you are expanding your your business. polka will remain at the at the core, but you're increasingly positioning towards online casino as well. how important is that expanded proposition and that shift towards online casino to this wider strategy?
Dmitry (04:37.889)
Poker still remains the absolute heart of our expertise and our core business. However, our clients typically need wider business models and wider support. So to address this, we have evolved our commercial approach around the core idea. Start with what you need, grow it what you want to be next. So by complementing our pro-in Poker solution.
including innovative formats like OneClick Poker, Spins Poker, with the Tonkey Casino platform and high performance casino game aggregator, we can support much wider spectrum of operators profile. Casino products don't dilute our focus, rather they expand the growth path available to our partners as their business evolve.
Charlie Horner (05:28.051)
I guess where where was the where was the gap in the market for from the online casino side of things and why did you decide that that now is the right time to to add to your product portfolio as alongside the poker solutions that you already have?
Dmitry (06:22.174)
the the idea is very simple. There are a lot of casino platform providers and casino games providers which really understand in casino vertical, but they understand very little in poker and multiplayer games vertical. And there are very few providers for these verticals in the world. So the cup is when poker
operators, all multiplayer operators, and nowadays with this rise of casino of crypto operators when they work with communities and multiplayer games. the gap is that they need to deal either with classic casino providers which have deep expertise as I say it in casino but
very no very little or they either need to build their own proprietary platforms. So with this offering we exactly fill this gap so we offer multiplayer player-to-player centric platform where player where operators can add other verticals like sportsbook like casino games different other formats so this
Platform is ready for these kind of operations and operators don't need to just choose between two extreme options.
Charlie Horner (07:58.358)
Sure, absolutely. Well, it isn't just on the the product side of things that even better is is expanding on. You're also expanding geographically and into your market portfolio. So how does this rebrand align with the company's company's expansion into the different Nordic markets and different US states?
Dmitry (08:18.422)
entering tightly regulated markets like the Nordics or expanding our footprints in the US require more than just great software. It depends next level for of maturity, compliance readiness, and the scalable technology infrastructure. Over the past year we have secured key supplier licenses like such as from Denmark and Sweden.
and providing our proving our capability in strict regulatory environment. Our rebrand to even better signals also to wider set of metro markets that we are on established stable and comprehensive development level and we act as a very reliable technology partner with organizational depths international mindset
and compliance drying products required to support operators at the highest level.
Charlie Horner (09:18.323)
Absolutely. Well, certainly an excit exciting time for for the company, Dimitri, but we'll take a a very short break for now and we'll come back and we'll continue the discussion.
Dmitry (09:28.162)
Right.
Charlie Horner (09:30.557)
Welcome back to iGaming Daily. Now, Dimitri, we know that 2026 is somewhat a challenging year for for the industry. We you know we you mentioned some of the tightly regulated markets in in the in the first half, and there's the there are other pressures as well. The cost of business is going up and and things like that. So the rebrand is coming at a challenging time. how how are you facing these challenges and and did they influence how you're going to position the company post the rebrand?
Dmitry (10:01.08)
So nowadays regulation complexity is part of iGaming markets, inevitable part. And you we view compliance not as a hurdle, but as a core pillar to our product and corporate architecture. So we invested heavily into our legal, technological and compliance frameworks to ensure that our software, our services.
meet the strict standard of regulated jurisdictions worldwide. This commitment directly influenced our position as Evenbeter So operators need reliable technology partners who can navigate all these regulatory shifts and complexities seamlessly, protect operations of our customers with robust security and anti fraud systems.
And guarantee long term stability. That's the our idea of this web.
Charlie Horner (11:02.089)
Yeah.
Sure, no, it certainly feels like we're going you know, the the relationship is is evolving beyond just a customer and and client vendor relationship. It's more of a of of a partnership. but let let's let's move on now to talk about some of even better's products. And and one of the highlights of your offering is one click poker, which you introduce as a tool to reduce friction for recreational players and and to help them navigate the complexity of the game.
Dmitry (11:18.348)
Yeah, exactly.
Dmitry (11:23.042)
Mm-hmm.
Charlie Horner (11:33.875)
What does it bring to the table for operators and and how does it make things easier for players?
Dmitry (11:41.072)
on my perspective, we see our mission our of even better is to as as I mentioned earlier, we act as to we we see gaps in the industry where we we could fill on. So we see our mission is to build bridges between casino operations, casino verticals.
and poker and poker verticals like because traditionally they have been living quite like let's say separately different audience different playing style different marketing messages to the to the market so like like a bit two separated walls and now we are seeing the convergence where casino market and poker market are
evolving and getting closer and closer and this kind of convergence requires new approach with new products. And traditional poker systems can sometimes feel complex for casino players because they prefer casual and recreational gameplay and with fast-paced intuitive nature of modern online casino games or sports betting. So one click is exactly to bring this gap.
To fill this gap. So Ante Poker is designed to remove this friction. It allows operators integrate seamlessly engaging poker content into their casino lobby, right where the casino players are sitting, without forcing players to navigate to like this complicated lobby and search through the tables and tournaments. So for operators it unlocks a new audience.
and revenue stream from casual players. And for users it delivers instant, seamless gameplay that first ride into their entertainment habits.
Charlie Horner (13:51.936)
Sure, and that convergence between poker and on online casinos certain certainly creating opportunities for for even better, as we've as we've heard throughout this podcast. But where where do you see the the other main opportunities to grow within both the the poker and online casino verticals right now?
Dmitry (14:00.122)
Yeah.
Dmitry (14:10.883)
Yeah in my opinion, in our opinion, what we have learned from the from the market, that biggest opportunity lies in flexibility integration, meeting operators' needs precisely where they are in their business journey. So through our From Product to Growth Pass framework, we see immense demand from established casino and sportsbook operators.
Who want to introduce Poker Vertical as a retention tool without building the entire poker stack tech stack. At the same time, we see specialized poker operators are looking for robust tools to scale into multi vertical powerhouses. So by building high performance poker with flexible Tonky Casino platforms and game aggregation, we enable operators to diversify.
Intelligently a capture attention in increasingly crowded markets.
Charlie Horner (15:11.657)
No, it's certainly a big opportunity there and and that conversion is yeah an interesting shift that we're seeing in in the last couple of years. but as as we sort of come towards the close, Dimitri, what what can we expect from even better in this in this sort of first phase, if you like, after the rebrand and and maybe heading towards twenty twenty seven? I I guess there's gonna be a lot of conversations in in Lisbon next week, but but what can we expect from from the company coming up?
Dmitry (15:37.936)
In this phase, following the rebrand, our focus is firmly on deepening our relationship with partners under our from product to growth path approach, ensuring a smooth transition and raising awareness of our expanded technological product line. Looking ahead toward 2027, you can expect us to continue rolling out new product enhancements across both our product and casino portfolio, strengthening our
Customer success framework and expanding our presence in strategic regulated markets. We are committed to execute our roadmap with even greater visibility, confidence and market engagement.
Charlie Horner (16:22.677)
Fantastic. And that's the the first phase of the or the the short term outlook. just to round up really, I just wanted to ask about the what the long term looks like for for even better gaming. You know, what what where do you expect to see the company in the next two or three years? Obviously growing as a poker supplier, continuing that shift into an online casino and perhaps you know evolving your offering beyond that as well. Where where do you see the company in two or three years' time?
Dmitry (16:53.218)
Yeah we don't see these two paths like exclusive. they don't exclude each other. They could reinforce each each other. In the next couple of years we want both to be recognized as a premier most customer focused I gaming technology partner in the industry from one side. But we will definitely solidify our position at the poker
Charlie Horner (16:58.751)
Sure. Mm-hmm.
Dmitry (17:21.72)
Online poker software provider niche, empowering at the same time more operators to scale their casino and multivercal vertical operation using our platform and aggregation solution. So at the end, ultimately our goal is to be the goal to market, the goal to partner for customers and partners through every stage of their business growth.
de zy hole idea bih haunt bihund this change
Charlie Horner (17:51.615)
Fantastic. Well
Charlie Horner (17:57.012)
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. No, it's certainly an exciting time for even better gaming, and yeah, it's it's it's a great time to to come on and and to talk about it. So, Dmitri Starostenkov, CEO of Even Better Gaming, thanks ever so much for joining me today. Really appreciate your time. Thanks to Optimove for supporting the show as always, and to our audience, thanks for tuning in to today's episode of iGaming Daily and come back tomorrow to keep up to date with all the latest global gambling news.