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Ukrainian gambling: to be, or not to be, that is (already not) the question
After significant and protracted deliberations, Ukraine finally legalized gambling activities back in 2020. The Law on the governance of the organization and carrying out of gambling activities became effective almost half a year ago. As of the date of writing this article, already 3 licenses have been granted to online casinos for their gambling activities to be performed in the future.
There is still a number of issues and, despite all efforts, the gambling market seems to be standstill except for the mentioned minor movements by local online players obtaining licenses. As of now, it seems that no big international market players are entering the newly born Ukrainian gambling market. So, let`s discuss whether it is all going somewhere and if that somewhere is in the right direction.
Ukrainian gambling market background
To see a broader picture, one should unveil the historical background of the current gambling market legalization in Ukraine. First of all, it’s worth mentioning that the Ukrainian gambling market has been actually reopened, but not developed from scratch.
The previously operating Ukrainian gambling market was not so much a success story as one might imagine. There were no huge and fancy casinos like in Las Vegas, but rather a market consisting of different establishments, some of them even legal and compliant. They were shut down by decisive moves of the state authorities in 2009 due to the lack of comprehensive regulations and effective control over their execution, which irreversibly led to negative consequences. As a result, the mentioned flaws contributed to the growth of black and grey gambling services markets. Moreover, the lack of strict rules and their enforcement also formed a public opinion that the gambling market was something antisocial and dirty. Ukrainians still remember well those times when slot machine halls literally surrounded public transport stops and were filled with some not exactly wealthy people giving up their last money in pursuit of a snatch.
At that time, Ukrainian authorities decided to use muscles instead of brains and banned all gambling activities instead of introducing reasonable regulation and taking the situation under control. Thus, starting from mid-2009, all gambling operators were forced to leave the wild, but rapidly growing market. However, as one may guess, the Ukrainian gambling ban was not far from the Prohibition in the United States in terms of its results. Ukrainian gambling market simply went undercover, depriving the Ukrainian budget of significant contributions previously made by the industry.
What are the current challenges for the Ukrainian gambling market?
Not so long ago, a logical step was taken by Ukraine and the gambling activities ban was lifted. However, same as in the case with the Ukrainian land market, things are not perfectly smooth and there are still some obstacles in place.
For instance, while three online casinos have already paid for and received licenses, they still can`t fully realize and enjoy the rights of an online casino operator. The reason is that the necessary regulations applicable to certification of the equipment to be used in casinos haven`t been adopted yet. Additionally, there is still a certain lack of clarity in terms of taxation of gambling activities. Some say that a specific volume-based tax will be introduced. However, considering that the licensed operators can`t get any revenues in the absence of the regulations to certify their equipment, the issue of taxation seems to be too far to think about.
Apart from that, one should note that this time Ukrainian government decided to seriously take advantage of the gambling market by imposing comparatively high license fees, financial thresholds, and location requirements (for offline casinos). For instance, the license fee is around USD 1.1 million for online casinos (for 5 years) and USD 10 million for offline casinos if based in Kyiv (additional equipment fees will also apply). Moreover, a gambling operator must have a share capital of at least USD 1.1 million and a deposit account or Ukrainian bank guarantee for USD 1.2 million.
As to the location requirements, under the new legislation, casinos can be opened only at 5-star hotels with at least 150 rooms in Kyiv, 4- and 5-star hotels with at least 100 rooms in other regions, out-of-town resorts with a total area of at least 10,000 m2 or “special gaming zones” within territories to be further defined by the Ukrainian government.
Under the new law, various restrictive regulations of a similar character also apply to betting, slot machine halls, and online poker activities.
Opportunities and additional obligations for Ukrainian gambling operators
It is worth mentioning that there are some opportunities for the new market players. The new law provides that such players may obtain investment licenses. Holders of such licenses will be exempt from license fees for 10 years if they build a new 5-star hotel with at least 200 rooms in Kyiv or 150 rooms in another Ukrainian region.
Ukrainian gambling operators will be also obliged to follow certain gambling standards and policies aimed at preventing gambling addiction. The government plans to launch a state-owned online monitoring system. The system will perform a real-time oversight and control of the Ukrainian gambling industry.
To sum it all up, it’s an important aspect that different people might make different conclusions as to the above. Pessimists might claim that this time, the gambling market launch in Ukraine has little chance to become interesting for the largest international market players. However, if evaluated by opportunists, entering the Ukrainian gambling market is definitely worth a shot.
High financial thresholds and strict regulations ensure that the market will not slip into putting dirty slot machines centered around metro stations. It is more likely that the Ukrainian gambling industry will at least somehow resemble what one may observe in wealthy locations like Las Vegas. This puts confidence into the minds of potential investors because the government will not be in a position to cut its own leg by banning a well-governed and budget-supporting industry.
The readiness of the local online casino market players to pay for the licenses which can`t be yet used proves the above statement to be true. It also leads to a conclusion that gambling investors should already be on their way to Ukraine in order to be in a time when the market starts to operate and extreme profits flow into the hands of the few pioneers.
This article has been created with the help of Oleksandr Aleksyeyenko (Partner at Marchenko Partners) and Sviatoslav Henyk (Senior Associate at Marchenko Partners)
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Following Meta’s algorithm updates, many media buying teams found it much more difficult to scale Facebook traffic. Customer acquisition costs increased, advertising accounts became less stable, and even successful campaign combinations lost their effectiveness faster.
In the new Success Story, N1 Partners explains how they helped a media buying team specializing in Facebook traffic for the iGaming vertical adapt to changing market conditions and successfully scale traffic acquisition across Tier-1 GEOs.
The results after nine months of collaboration were impressive: a 155% increase in FTDs, 135% ROI, and a 22% reduction in average CPA.
About partner
The featured partner is a media buying team with four years of experience in affiliate marketing, specializing in Facebook traffic acquisition for iGaming products.
At the beginning of the partnership, the team was already working with Tier-1 GEOs, including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia. They consistently identified profitable campaign combinations but encountered the typical scaling limitations faced by many teams in the industry.
To continue growing, they needed a partner offering high-quality products with strong Reg2Dep and LTV performance, reliable payouts, and responsive support capable of handling increasing traffic volumes.
Why did they choose N1 Partners?
Several factors influenced their decision:
- High Reg2Dep rates;
- Strong player LTV performance;
- Reliable and consistent payouts;
- Fast and responsive affiliate manager support;
- The ability to work with multiple brands within a single ecosystem.
For the initial testing phase, the team selected N1 Bet, RollXO, Lucky Hunter, and Retro Bet.
| “Working with several brands at the same time gave the team much greater flexibility. Whenever one product started losing performance, we could quickly redirect traffic to another brand without interrupting our buying activity,” explained Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Preparing for launch
Before launching the campaigns, N1 Partners specialists analyzed the partner’s previous performance and proposed a structured testing plan.
Instead of focusing on a single offer, they decided to test multiple brands simultaneously. This approach allowed them to identify much faster which products performed best with Facebook traffic in each GEO.
At the start, the partner also received several recommendations:
- Start with the CPA payment model;
- Separate advertising campaigns by audience type;
- Build dedicated landing pages for each GEO instead of using one universal funnel;
- Test broad audiences without narrow interest-based targeting;
- Use multiple creative formats;
- Evaluate not only registration costs but also the quality of acquired players.
This strategy helped identify promising campaign combinations early while preventing unnecessary spending on underperforming campaigns.
Choosing GEOs, offers and creatives
N1 Partners affiliate manager shared internal performance data highlighting products that consistently delivered strong results with Facebook traffic.
For the first stage, three high-potential GEOs with stable demand were selected:
- Canada;
- Germany;
- New Zealand.
Australia was intentionally excluded from the initial testing phase to concentrate the available budget on fewer markets and collect meaningful data more quickly.
Offers were selected primarily based on two key metrics: deposit conversion rate and player quality. Among all available brands, the selected products consistently demonstrated the strongest overall performance.
For every GEO, the team created special creatives featuring localized visual elements and market-specific bonus offers.
Workflow organization
After launch, specialists from N1 Partners worked alongside the partner on a daily basis, analyzing campaign performance and deciding on the next optimization steps.
| “Regular data sharing allowed us to detect changes almost immediately. We didn’t wait until the end of the week, we adjusted offers, budgets, and creatives as soon as we saw a consistent performance signal,” noted Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Teams closely monitored:
- Reg2Dep and LTV;
- Player quality;
- Budget allocation between products;
- Individual GEO performance;
- Results of newly launched creatives.
Most operational questions were resolved by the affiliate manager within a few hours. This allowed the partner to quickly switch offers and launch additional tests without interrupting traffic acquisition.
Initial hypotheses
During the preparation phase, N1 Partners suggested testing several working hypotheses:
- Video creatives could outperform static banners;
- Different advertising concepts might attract audiences of different quality;
- Rapid budget increases could reduce campaign stability;
- Evaluating traffic solely based on acquisition cost does not reflect its actual value.
The team tested lifestyle creatives, game-focused concepts, bonus offers, and social proof elements. Budgets were increased gradually, while campaign performance was evaluated not only by CPA but also by player behavior after making their first deposit.
| “The ability to compare several brands simultaneously played a crucial role. Whenever statistics indicated a decline in traffic quality, we suggested another product or reallocated the budget. This helped maintain acquisition momentum without relying on a single offer,” commented Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Strategy and optimization
After the initial testing phase, the team focused on increasing traffic volumes without compromising player quality.
To achieve this, the partner:
- Duplicated the highest-performing campaigns;
- Regularly launched new creatives;
- Split campaigns by device type;
- Applied successful approaches to markets with similar audience characteristics.
At the same time, budgets were increased gradually, helping maintain campaign stability while keeping CPA within the target range.
What delivered the best results?
Four optimization strategies produced the strongest performance improvements:
- Creative localization;
- Continuous production of fresh advertising materials;
- Pausing underperforming campaign combinations within the first 48 hours;
- Optimizing based on player quality rather than CPA alone.
At one stage of the campaign, the affiliate manager noticed that one of the brands was achieving a significantly higher Reg2Dep rate from Facebook traffic in Canada.
After jointly reviewing the data, part of the advertising budget was shifted toward that product.
| “The decision was based on more than just the number of deposits. We also evaluated player LTV and repeated activity. After reallocating the budget, profitability increased, and further scaling became much more stable,” said Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Results
After nine months of collaboration, every key performance indicator improved significantly.
- Monthly FTDs increased from 450 to 1,150 (+155%);
- ROI increased from 86% to 135%;
- Average CPA decreased by 22%;
- Revenue increased by approximately 2.5 times;
- Player LTV increased by 25%.
The most important achievement was not a single successful campaign but the creation of a sustainable Facebook traffic acquisition model. The partner was able to continuously scale traffic across Tier-1 GEOs without experiencing a proportional increase in acquisition costs.
Key takeaways
- What was the biggest advantage of working with N1 Partners?
According to the media buying team, working with N1 Partners helped establish a clear and scalable traffic acquisition process.
The main contributing factors were high-quality products, strong Reg2Dep performance, and constant communication with the affiliate manager. The team also emphasized that N1 Partners specialists proactively suggested new testing hypotheses before market changes began noticeably affecting campaign performance. This allowed them to stay ahead of industry trends instead of reacting only after performance had already declined.
- What made the results possible?
Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners: “The biggest factor behind our success was the partner’s willingness to continuously test new approaches. We evaluated not only Facebook campaign metrics but also player quality for every brand and GEO. This enabled us to redistribute budgets quickly and focus on the most promising campaign combinations.
After launching localized creatives and testing new audiences, the number of FTDs in Canada nearly doubled within just a few weeks, while campaign ROI remained stable. This clearly demonstrated the importance of continuous testing, fast analytics, and close collaboration between both teams”.
Scale your Facebook traffic with N1 Partners!
N1 Partners gives affiliates access to:
- 14+ casino and betting brands with high Reg2Dep
- 10+ Tier-1 GEOs
- CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55% + NNCO for top partners
Be number one with N1!
The post FB Success Story +155% FTD, 135% ROI appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Following Meta’s algorithm updates, many media buying teams found it much more difficult to scale Facebook traffic. Customer acquisition costs increased, advertising accounts became less stable, and even successful campaign combinations lost their effectiveness faster.
In the new Success Story, N1 Partners explains how they helped a media buying team specializing in Facebook traffic for the iGaming vertical adapt to changing market conditions and successfully scale traffic acquisition across Tier-1 GEOs.
The results after nine months of collaboration were impressive: a 155% increase in FTDs, 135% ROI, and a 22% reduction in average CPA.
About partner
The featured partner is a media buying team with four years of experience in affiliate marketing, specializing in Facebook traffic acquisition for iGaming products.
At the beginning of the partnership, the team was already working with Tier-1 GEOs, including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia. They consistently identified profitable campaign combinations but encountered the typical scaling limitations faced by many teams in the industry.
To continue growing, they needed a partner offering high-quality products with strong Reg2Dep and LTV performance, reliable payouts, and responsive support capable of handling increasing traffic volumes.
Why did they choose N1 Partners?
Several factors influenced their decision:
- High Reg2Dep rates;
- Strong player LTV performance;
- Reliable and consistent payouts;
- Fast and responsive affiliate manager support;
- The ability to work with multiple brands within a single ecosystem.
For the initial testing phase, the team selected N1 Bet, RollXO, Lucky Hunter, and Retro Bet.
| “Working with several brands at the same time gave the team much greater flexibility. Whenever one product started losing performance, we could quickly redirect traffic to another brand without interrupting our buying activity,” explained Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Preparing for launch
Before launching the campaigns, N1 Partners specialists analyzed the partner’s previous performance and proposed a structured testing plan.
Instead of focusing on a single offer, they decided to test multiple brands simultaneously. This approach allowed them to identify much faster which products performed best with Facebook traffic in each GEO.
At the start, the partner also received several recommendations:
- Start with the CPA payment model;
- Separate advertising campaigns by audience type;
- Build dedicated landing pages for each GEO instead of using one universal funnel;
- Test broad audiences without narrow interest-based targeting;
- Use multiple creative formats;
- Evaluate not only registration costs but also the quality of acquired players.
This strategy helped identify promising campaign combinations early while preventing unnecessary spending on underperforming campaigns.
Choosing GEOs, offers and creatives
N1 Partners affiliate manager shared internal performance data highlighting products that consistently delivered strong results with Facebook traffic.
For the first stage, three high-potential GEOs with stable demand were selected:
- Canada;
- Germany;
- New Zealand.
Australia was intentionally excluded from the initial testing phase to concentrate the available budget on fewer markets and collect meaningful data more quickly.
Offers were selected primarily based on two key metrics: deposit conversion rate and player quality. Among all available brands, the selected products consistently demonstrated the strongest overall performance.
For every GEO, the team created special creatives featuring localized visual elements and market-specific bonus offers.
Workflow organization
After launch, specialists from N1 Partners worked alongside the partner on a daily basis, analyzing campaign performance and deciding on the next optimization steps.
| “Regular data sharing allowed us to detect changes almost immediately. We didn’t wait until the end of the week, we adjusted offers, budgets, and creatives as soon as we saw a consistent performance signal,” noted Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Teams closely monitored:
- Reg2Dep and LTV;
- Player quality;
- Budget allocation between products;
- Individual GEO performance;
- Results of newly launched creatives.
Most operational questions were resolved by the affiliate manager within a few hours. This allowed the partner to quickly switch offers and launch additional tests without interrupting traffic acquisition.
Initial hypotheses
During the preparation phase, N1 Partners suggested testing several working hypotheses:
- Video creatives could outperform static banners;
- Different advertising concepts might attract audiences of different quality;
- Rapid budget increases could reduce campaign stability;
- Evaluating traffic solely based on acquisition cost does not reflect its actual value.
The team tested lifestyle creatives, game-focused concepts, bonus offers, and social proof elements. Budgets were increased gradually, while campaign performance was evaluated not only by CPA but also by player behavior after making their first deposit.
| “The ability to compare several brands simultaneously played a crucial role. Whenever statistics indicated a decline in traffic quality, we suggested another product or reallocated the budget. This helped maintain acquisition momentum without relying on a single offer,” commented Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Strategy and optimization
After the initial testing phase, the team focused on increasing traffic volumes without compromising player quality.
To achieve this, the partner:
- Duplicated the highest-performing campaigns;
- Regularly launched new creatives;
- Split campaigns by device type;
- Applied successful approaches to markets with similar audience characteristics.
At the same time, budgets were increased gradually, helping maintain campaign stability while keeping CPA within the target range.
What delivered the best results?
Four optimization strategies produced the strongest performance improvements:
- Creative localization;
- Continuous production of fresh advertising materials;
- Pausing underperforming campaign combinations within the first 48 hours;
- Optimizing based on player quality rather than CPA alone.
At one stage of the campaign, the affiliate manager noticed that one of the brands was achieving a significantly higher Reg2Dep rate from Facebook traffic in Canada.
After jointly reviewing the data, part of the advertising budget was shifted toward that product.
| “The decision was based on more than just the number of deposits. We also evaluated player LTV and repeated activity. After reallocating the budget, profitability increased, and further scaling became much more stable,” said Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners. |
Results
After nine months of collaboration, every key performance indicator improved significantly.
- Monthly FTDs increased from 450 to 1,150 (+155%);
- ROI increased from 86% to 135%;
- Average CPA decreased by 22%;
- Revenue increased by approximately 2.5 times;
- Player LTV increased by 25%.
The most important achievement was not a single successful campaign but the creation of a sustainable Facebook traffic acquisition model. The partner was able to continuously scale traffic across Tier-1 GEOs without experiencing a proportional increase in acquisition costs.
Key takeaways
- What was the biggest advantage of working with N1 Partners?
According to the media buying team, working with N1 Partners helped establish a clear and scalable traffic acquisition process.
The main contributing factors were high-quality products, strong Reg2Dep performance, and constant communication with the affiliate manager. The team also emphasized that N1 Partners specialists proactively suggested new testing hypotheses before market changes began noticeably affecting campaign performance. This allowed them to stay ahead of industry trends instead of reacting only after performance had already declined.
- What made the results possible?
Polina Bogatko, Affiliate Manager N1 Partners: “The biggest factor behind our success was the partner’s willingness to continuously test new approaches. We evaluated not only Facebook campaign metrics but also player quality for every brand and GEO. This enabled us to redistribute budgets quickly and focus on the most promising campaign combinations.
After launching localized creatives and testing new audiences, the number of FTDs in Canada nearly doubled within just a few weeks, while campaign ROI remained stable. This clearly demonstrated the importance of continuous testing, fast analytics, and close collaboration between both teams”.
Scale your Facebook traffic with N1 Partners!
N1 Partners gives affiliates access to:
- 14+ casino and betting brands with high Reg2Dep
- 10+ Tier-1 GEOs
- CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55% + NNCO for top partners
Be number one with N1!
The post FB Success Story +155% FTD, 135% ROI appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
The updated slot launches on Lottomart for UK players on 23rd July with a new bonus wheel and higher max win.
Blueprint Gaming is releasing an upgraded version of Super Graphics Upside Down exclusively on Lottomart from 23rd July, giving Lottomart’s UK players early access to the title.
Originally launched in 2021, Super Graphics Upside Down is being re-released with a new bonus wheel feature and an increased max win potential, rising from 250X to 3000X, according to the companies.
Chris Ruddock, Commercial Director at Lottomart, said:
“Securing an early release exclusive on the new Super Graphics Upside Down is another exciting milestone for Lottomart. Blueprint Gaming has upgraded a fantastic game with engaging new features and bigger win potential, and we’re delighted to offer this game exclusively to our UK players.”
Elliott Kyne, Account Manager at Blueprint Gaming, said:
“We’re delighted to support Lottomart with the exclusive UK launch of Super Graphics Upside Down. It’s also pleasing to see our partnership continue to go from strength to strength, and Lottomart’s impressive growth and UK focus has made them a match made in heaven for Blueprint’s content. We’re SUPER excited to bring this latest release to their players.”
The companies said the launch is part of their ongoing partnership, with Blueprint Gaming providing exclusive content as Lottomart expands its UK presence.
The post Blueprint Gaming upgrades Super Graphics Upside Down for Lottomart exclusive appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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Weekend Reels | Week 29: Slot Drops & Trends
