Latest News

Sergio Aguero: The history of the FA Cup meant it was always a special competition to play in

Published

4 years ago

February 28, 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Stake’s global representative, Sergio Aguero, reveals his memories of playing in the FA Cup, why it was a special competition for him to win, how Pep Guardiola will keep his players motivated against Peterborough in their fifth round tie, and what this side could achieve this season.

The FA Cup has an amazing history and I am proud to have won the competition

The FA Cup was always one of my favourite competitions to play in because of its history and because of the many famous players and teams to have won it.

When I was living in Spain and here in Argentina, everyone knew about the competition and its history.

We came so close to winning the FA Cup in 2013 but were beaten by Wigan in the final. It was hard for us because we had a very good team, Carlos Tevez, Yaya Toure, David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta all started that game.

But we were all very new to the club and it was only the start of our journey. I think we did okay in the end!

We were back at Wembley for my second FA Cup final in 2019 and that day went much better for us when we beat Watford.

We were so happy to win it and to be a part of FA Cup history was a very proud moment for me.

The tradition of the FA Cup is one of my favourite things about the competition, it was fun to meet Prince William to get my medal after the game and the celebrations with the fans afterwards was so special.

Everyone says that the FA Cup is magical and it is true, it was always really fun to play in and you felt proud to represent your team in the competition.

The day we played in the FA Cup was

always special because there was so much excitement in the team and the fans were always extra happy to see us play well.

Playing teams in lower divisions in the FA Cup is harder than you think, so Pep will have the City players focused ahead of the Peterborough match

Not many people know how hard it is to play in the FA Cup. In England, you play a lot of matches and a lot of competitions, but as a player, it’s really exciting because you have the chance to try and win lots of different competitions, and winning finals is something that you are always proud of as a footballer, which means every game is important.

To get to the final you have to play against lots of different teams and some new ones that you might not have ever played against before. Playing against new teams and new players and at new stadiums is always hard because you don’t know 100% what you’re going to be playing against. We watch the teams in the Premier League and Champions League a lot and we all have friends and international teammates that play for them, but when you draw a team in the FA Cup that you don’t regularly get to play against or know too much about, it’s always a difficult experience.

When we played against a new team or a side in a different division, we were always expected to win, but it’s not as easy as that. Every manager always made sure the preparation for an FA Cup game was exactly the same. The training was the same, we worked hard on our jobs for the match and we went into the game knowing what we had to do, it made no difference if it was the final or first round.

This is exactly what Pep Guardiola will be doing with the team this week. Pep is a winner and he hates to lose, you don’t win the number of trophies he has without this attitude. He will be making sure the Manchester City players are ready for the game against Peterborough in the same way as if it was any other match.

There’s added pressure on Manchester City to win in the FA Cup and Peterborough will look to familiar tactics to beat them

When you are the team in a higher league and you have to travel to a team in a league below you it is difficult because the crowd are always so excited that their team might cause an upset and get to beat a Premier League team! When you get to the ground you are quickly aware that everyone really wants you to lose – the fans let you know when you arrive. It’s not just the

home crowd that are extra excited to see you lose, but it is everyone watching at home also, we know this and try not to think about it and focus on our job for the day.

We played against Wigan, again, in 2018 in the Cup at their stadium and it was one of the hardest matches. They defended so well and frustrated us, we had all of the possession and so many chances, but they scored late and knocked us out, that’s how it is in knockout football. If Peterborough think that they can win then they should watch that game and do the same as Wigan did.

Peterborough will be tough for Manchester City because the team has just travelled to Portugal in the Champions League, had a tough game against Tottenham, then they’ll play away in the Premier League threes days before the match and then they have to play Manchester United after the FA Cup game, but the team has so many good players in every position and everyone is used to this way of playing now.

Manchester City are hungry to win every competition

At Manchester City, we wanted to win everything, every match and every trophy, and that will always be the case at the club now. I think Manchester City are in a great place to win the Premier League again, they also have a good chance in the FA Cup and in the Champions League too, but this might be competitive, but I think it is possible that they win all three. Winning a treble like this would be a huge achievement and they have a team and manager that can do it this season.

Latest News

Meet HELL Partners—Direct Brands, Real Flexibility, Zero Runaround

Published

2 minutes ago

April 23, 2026

Master Editor

When a program calls itself HELL, it’s either extremely confident or extremely honest. In this case, it’s both.

The iGaming affiliate space is crowded with programs that all say roughly the same things: great commissions, fast payments, dedicated support. After a while, the language blurs together. HELL Partners doesn’t spend much time on that kind of noise. Instead, the program lets its structure do the talking—and the structure is genuinely worth paying attention to.

Here’s what it actually is, and why it’s worth your time.

The Brands Behind the Program

HELL Partners is a direct advertiser, not an intermediary. That distinction matters more than it might initially seem—it means no middlemen, no inflated EPC claims, and no awkward chain of communication between you and the people who actually control the offers.

The program runs three in-house brands: SlotsGem, IviBet, and HellSpin. SlotsGem is a casino-focused product built around slots and live games. IviBet and HellSpin go further—both carry a sportsbook alongside the casino offering, which means affiliates working in betting verticals have real options without having to patch together multiple programs to cover their traffic.

Three brands, with one more coming soon (Q2 2026). Two verticals. One team to talk to. It’s a cleaner setup than most.

Geography and Traffic: Fewer Walls Than You’d Expect

HELL Partners operates across 20+ GEOs in Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets, with worldwide reach available depending on the brand and offer. For affiliates, that kind of geographic flexibility is genuinely useful rather than just a bullet point on a landing page.

On the traffic side, the program accepts nearly all major sources—SEO, PPC, social, influencer, email, native, display. The list of restrictions is short, which in practice means you spend less time checking compliance and more time actually running campaigns.

The Commercial Model: Built Around Flexibility

This is where HELL Partners tends to distinguish itself most clearly. Rather than locking everyone into a single commission structure and calling it competitive, the program takes a more considered approach.

Revenue share, CPA, and hybrid deals are all on the table. More importantly, the terms are negotiated based on what you’re actually bringing—your GEOs, your traffic volumes, your source mix. If you have something specific to offer, the team will work with it rather than shoe-horn it into a standard tier.

For experienced affiliates and media buyers who already know their numbers, that flexibility isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between a deal that works and one that doesn’t.

What the Technical Side Looks Like

For webmasters who want the detail: tracking is reliable, the reporting dashboard gives you what you need to optimize in real time, and postback integration is straightforward. Payments go out on schedule. The support team is reachable and, more relevantly, useful—the kind of people who can actually move things rather than just pass messages along.

None of this is glamorous to describe, but affiliate programs live or die on exactly these mechanics. HELL Partners has them in order.

Why It’s Worth a Conversation

The affiliate programs that tend to work long-term share a few qualities: they’re backed by real products with genuine player retention, they’re flexible enough to work with partners at different stages, and they don’t treat every affiliate like a replaceable traffic source. HELL Partners fits that description.

Three proprietary brands across casino and sports. 20+ GEOs. Virtually no traffic source restrictions. Deal structures that actually flex. And a direct line to the people who control the offers.

The team will also be at iGB London soon—if you prefer to have the first conversation in person, that’s an option worth keeping in mind.

Ready to See If It’s a Fit?

The straightforward part: if you have traffic and you’re looking for a program that’s built to work with serious affiliates rather than around them—HELL Partners is worth a proper look.

Register, reach out, and find out what a deal actually looks like for your specific setup.

👉 Your registration/contact link here https://hellpartners.com/register/?aff_id=672417&utm_source=Media&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=HIPTER&utm_term=PR

📩 Get in touch with our manager

▪️Anna Affiliate Manager [email protected]
▪️Max Affiliate Manager [email protected]

ELA Games

ELA Games launches King and Flame slot with Hold and Win coins and Bonus Wheel

Published

3 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Wladimir P.

ela-games-launches-king-and-flame-slot-with-hold-and-win-coins-and-bonus-wheel

The 5×3, 20-payline fantasy title includes expanding wild events, Mystery Chests, Free Spins, and a 5,000x max win.

ELA Games has released a new fantasy-themed slot, King and Flame, built on a 5×3 layout with 20 paylines.

The game includes a Hold and Win-style coin mechanic where coins “paying exactly their visible face value,” according to the company. ELA Games also highlighted “Queen’s Mercy” and “Mystery Chests,” which it said can deliver instant prizes or trigger the Grand Jackpot.

On the feature side, ELA Games said the “Tamed by the Crown” event can turn the Dragon Queen into a full reel wild. A “Bonus Wheel Coin” can also appear to unlock a bonus wheel with extra prizes, jackpots, and Free Spins.

The Free Spins round is triggered by three Scatter symbols. During Free Spins, ELA Games said any coin that lands expands to cover the entire column. The title’s maximum win is capped at 5,000x, with a stated maximum exposure of €250,000.

King and Flame is rated mid volatility (2/5), according to the company.

The post ELA Games launches King and Flame slot with Hold and Win coins and Bonus Wheel appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Inside GEO

Inside GEO: Slovenia As the Next Emerging Goldmine

Published

3 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Wladimir P.

inside-geo:-slovenia-as-the-next-emerging-goldmine

Slovenia is definitely one of the most promising GEOs for the iGaming niche.

That is why the N1 Partners team has collected insights that will help to work more accurately with the audience, increase ROI and build effective advertising campaigns for the GEO.

Let’s look at the big picture to understand the potential of the region better. Slovenia is a small country in Central Europe with a population of about 2.1 million people and its capital in Ljubljana. The official language is Slovenian, the currency is euro, and the time zone is CET (UTC+1).

With the background of a high living standard and a stable economy, the market creates favorable conditions for online gambling: the iGaming sector is already showing steady growth, and its volume was estimated at about $497 million by 2025.

Reasons to test Slovenia

Slovenia is a promising region, but it often turns out to be underestimated in the iGaming niche.

Top 3 reasons to drive traffic to Slovenia right now:

Low competition.
Slovenia is the country with a low share of online gambling in the market. For partners, this is a signal: with proper localisation and strategy, you can enter a less competitive environment and make a long-term profit.
Solvent players.
The GDP per capita in Slovenia is about $35.3 thousand, which confirms the high level of audience solvency and the potential for stable LTV.
High potential.
Slovenia is not an overheated online market: in European comparison, the share of online gambling in the overall revenue structure remains relatively low. This means that the market has not yet fully realised its digital potential and there’s a room for growth.

Players’ behaviour

Slovenian users are more likely to choose online platforms due to their convenience, wide choice of games and accessibility from mobile devices.

In this region, smartphones account for the majority of iGaming traffic — 86.45%, which requires the adaptation of all funnels to mobile devices.

Gender and age

Men — 63%, average age 31-35 years
Women — 37%, average age 26-30 years

According to N1 Partners, the iGaming market remains predominantly male, which is confirmed by external research: the main audience is men aged 25-44. At the same time, the proportion of women is gradually increasing, expanding the segment’s potential.

Top 10 slots Among N1 Partners Players in Slovenia

N1 Partners team notes that players prefer slots with recognizable series, bonus features and adventure themes — this directly affects retention and LTV.

Legacy of Dead
Book of Dead
Heist Stakes
Book of the Fallen
Gates of Olympus Super Scatter
Lucky Lady’s Charm Deluxe
Magic Apple 2
Rich Wilde and the Tome of Madness
Gonzo’s Quest II: Return to El Dorado
More Magic Apple

Conclusion

Slovenia is a GEO with strong and sustainable potential and a high share of mobile traffic, as well as a growing iGaming market, ideal for those working with gambling traffic.

N1 Partners analytics confirms that with the right localisation strategy and taking into account the characteristics of the audience, this market is able to bring stable profits and long-term growth within the framework of iGaming partner programs.

Wanna scale and increase your income? Work with N1 Partners!

N1 Partners is a multi-brand affiliate program and direct advertiser, bringing together 14+ casino and betting brands with high conversion (CR) and Reg2Dep across Tier-1 GEOs.

N1 Partners offers competitive terms for top partners, including CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55%, ensuring stable and scalable performance.

Trusted by 14,000+ partners, N1 Partners stands out for its transparency, flexibility, and focus on long-term partnerships, supported by a strong product portfolio and advanced retention systems.

The post Inside GEO: Slovenia As the Next Emerging Goldmine appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.