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Why Gamification Is Reshaping Online Poker
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Online poker’s not the sleepy mix of static cash tables and rinse-repeat tourney grids it used to be. Business Wire predicts that by 2030, the market will hit $11.4 billion, fuelled by cross-platform play and new competitive formats. But here’s the catch: growth brings noise. And in 2025, grabbing attention is only half the game — keeping it has become just as critical. And we all know that retention is the table you can’t afford to fold.
Over the recent years, gamification has turned into one of poker’s strongest retention plays. When it’s done right, it keeps players around, sparks repeat visits, and forges loyalty. They come back tomorrow, next week, next month — and your competitors can’t pry them away. The idea sounds simple enough — weave in game-style mechanics to make poker richer and more engaging, without killing the skill game underneath.
EvenBet Gaming’s research breaks it into three targets:
- Give players more reasons to return.
- Make onboarding smooth and rewarding.
- Build loyalty with experiences that feel personal, competitive, and worth bragging about.
Churn burns profit. Gamification done right is an infrastructure that breeds loyalty. Done wrong? You’re just another site with flashing badges that no one cares about.
Gamification, Not Gamblification
Before diving into mechanics, it is important to set one thing straight. Gamification boosts engagement — leaderboards that show you who’s climbing, missions that push you to try new formats, achievement badges you actually want to unlock. It challenges players, rewards skill, and deepens the game. “Gamblification” is where it all turns sour. That’s when mechanics push for profit at the expense of player wellbeing — pressure-loop rewards, unclear payout systems, anything designed to keep people clicking long after the fun’s gone. These tactics can backfire, invite regulatory attention, and eat away at players’ trust.
Gamification should make the player-platform bond stronger. It’s open, skill-focused, and it stays within responsible-gaming boundaries. Otherwise, you’re just playing short-term roulette with your long-term survival.
Core Gamification Mechanics in Poker
Here’s the thing — gamification works best when it’s layered, not just thrown on top of the existing game. You’ve still got poker at the centre, but now there’s more to play for. EvenBet Gaming’s toolkit has a bit of everything, with a mix of proven features that operators need to keep players active and returning.
Leaderboards
People like to see where they stand, and a good leaderboard hits that primal “beat the other guy” instinct. Doesn’t matter if it’s hands played, rake pulled, or weird challenges only five people care about. Timeframes can be daily, weekly, or monthly, ensuring fresh challenges and preventing leaderboard fatigue. Players stick around to climb, rivals get personal, and your community gets tighter.
To avoid burnout and excessive gamblification, EvenBet’s customer success department doesn’t recommend creating only leaderboards based on pure game volume. As a flexible tool, leaderboards have a better use for boosting attention to specific game or tournament types (for example, hands played in 5-card Omaha), creating targeted demand.
Missions, Quests, and Challenges
Give a player a target and they’ll chase it. Win with pocket sevens, log 50 games, or try that Sunday knockout tourney — whatever keeps them moving. Segment it: beginners get gentle ramps; grinders chase big targets. Toss in tickets, cash, or even just brag-worthy status bumps — and suddenly, casual play has a storyline. This meta-layer adds structure to casual play, nudging players into consistent engagement.
“Different mission types work specifically on various segments of a poker room audience”, explains Nikita Golodaev, Business Account Manager at EvenBet Gaming. “For example, guided missions targeted to explore poker room features and game types keep new players on the platform and decrease early churn. Soft streaks (3-5 days) encourage regular sessions without burnout”.
Achievements and Badges
First win, first deep run, first time they actually fold kings preflop — badges give players proof they’re climbing. Badges make progress visible, they’re milestones and conversation starters. This visual recognition encourages players to develop their skills and makes long-term goals more tangible.
Progressive Systems
Experience points (XP) and rakeback have always been staples in poker loyalty systems. They’re poker loyalty basics. EvenBet’s Progressive Rakeback with a tiered, time-limited structure turns the game into a race — 6 tiers from Aluminium all the way up to Platinum. Every tier gives you a little more, but fall behind — and you drop. The gamified progression adds urgency, encouraging regular play to maintain or advance the level.
According to Nikita Golodaev, clear and balanced progressive systems work best for projects with an existing core of regular mid-core players: they are already investing significant time into the game and are still tempted by rewards provided in the progressive tracks, unlike VIP and high-stakes players who are more interested in recognition of their status.
Put it together, and you’ve got a cycle: play, check your rank, tick missions, unlock the badge, check the board, eye the next tier. And then do it again tomorrow. It’s sustained engagement without sacrificing poker’s competitive core.
Advanced Applications — Tournaments and Hybrid Formats
Think of tournaments not as one-off events, but as frameworks. They aren’t just a product — they’re an engagement machine. You can hang all sorts of engagement hooks on them — the kind that keep players checking in and keep them motivated from registration to the final hand. Layer in gamification, and you have a retention funnel operators dream about.
Formats with a Twist
EvenBet’s flexible setup allows operators to launch virtually any format: high-GTD marathons, Spin&Go sprints with random multipliers, quick-fire Sit & Gos for casuals, and velvet-rope VIP tables for the whales. Add Mystery Bounty, Progressive Knockout, or Multi-flight qualifiers, and you’ve got unpredictability on tap. Which means the game always stays interesting.
Linking Tournaments to Gamification Layers
Hybrid play is where tournaments meet missions, leaderboards, and badges:
- “Climb the Ladder” challenges that pay points for each event played.
- Leaderboards stretching over weeks and sparking long grinds.
- Achievements for milestones like “Final Table Three Times in a Week” or “Knock Out 10 Players in a PKO.”
This crossover keeps casual players chasing goals and competitive players grinding for prestige — all while strengthening retention loops. When you nail it, tournaments become recurring, gamified events that handle acquisition, retention, and loyalty in one package.
Why It Works for Operators
Gamification in online poker is not just a UX add-on — it moves numbers if done properly.
- Retention and monetisation: longer sessions, more logins, bigger rake, and better LTV. Plus, new players convert faster when there’s a mission to chase.
- Skill development: challenges teach strategy, confidence, and adaptability without feeling like homework.
- Audience segmentation: freerolls for newbies, high-stakes bounties for veterans. You serve each player just the right challenge without losing focus.
Risks and Implementation Challenges
Gamification’s upside is clear — but mess it up, and it quickly becomes a liability. When these risks are managed, gamification pays off big time. Treat it with respect and care like a strategy, not a shortcut or gimmick.
Over-Gamification
Stack too many overlapping mechanics, and the gaming experience turns into a mess. Players get overwhelmed, quit the game altogether, or even fall into unhealthy patterns. The balance is in adding enough variety to motivate, without creating constant pressure to act. It’s a fine line between motivation and overload.
Regulatory Compliance
Operating inside responsible gaming guidelines is a must. Rewards should be transparent, achievable, and not designed to exploit compulsive tendencies. As noted by Dmitry Starostenkov, regulators are increasingly wary of features that blur the lines between skill-building and pushing players too hard.
Technical Complexity
Integration has to be smooth. If missions lag, leaderboards glitch, progression breaks, or interfere with core poker gameplay, this erodes trust. EvenBet’s modular system gives control, but operators still need rigorous testing, UX tweaks, and performance checks.
Building Gamification That Lasts
When done right, gamification in online poker isn’t just bells and whistles. It’s a full-on retention driver. Mix leaderboards, missions, badges, and tiered rewards right into the core game, and you create a cycle that hooks players, grows skill, and boosts revenue.
The winning formula is balance: enough variety to keep things fresh. Clarity so players aren’t guessing. Responsibility so the game stays ethical. Data-driven personalisation ensures that every segment — from first-timers to VIP grinders — finds a reason to return.
Our research at EvenBet Gaming is clear: sustainable gamification is a long game. Set measurable goals and transparent rewards, enhance the poker spirit — never overshadow it. Attention is the rarest currency these days. Platforms that get this balance don’t just hold players — they win the loyalty battle.
The post Why Gamification Is Reshaping Online Poker appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
SOFTSWISS, a global tech provider with over 15 years of iGaming expertise, celebrates Rubens Barrichello’s victory in the first NASCAR Brasil Series title in his debut season. As the company’s Non‑Executive Director in Latin America, Barrichello exemplifies the champion’s mindset that underpins SOFTSWISS’ disciplined approach to product delivery in Brazil and worldwide.
The NASCAR Brasil Series crowns its champion over a full season under NASCAR-aligned regulations. The title was sealed at the Match Point finale at Velo Città in São Paulo, where the opening race set the decisive points. Barrichello’s calm, data-driven call at the critical moment mirrors SOFTSWISS’ practice: trust the plan, read the telemetry, execute cleanly.
Rubens Barrichello, Non‑Executive Director in Latin America at SOFTSWISS, comments: “Everyone knows how much I love this competition and how fierce I am. My heart is in my mouth and I’m very happy.”
Ivan Montik, Founder of SOFTSWISS, adds: “This title is a powerful example of what passion, confidence and disciplined preparation deliver. The champion’s mindset that Rubens demonstrates – clarity of plan, trust in the team and precision under pressure – inspires everyone at SOFTSWISS. We will keep applying the same approach in Brazil first and across all markets, bringing measured execution and data-driven decision-making to every release and every client partnership.”
In May, SOFTSWISS marked the first anniversary of its collaboration with Barrichello. This success arrives as an energising milestone for teams and partners, reinforcing a working culture built on preparation, clarity of roles, measurable outcomes, and continuous improvement. Earlier this month, the SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator was named ‘Best Game Aggregator Platform’ at CGS Recife, adding local recognition to the company’s Brazil roadmap.
SOFTSWISS is fully certified in Brazil across its core products – Casino Platform, Game Aggregator, Sportsbook, and Jackpot Aggregator – enabling licensed operators to access a comprehensive, locally compliant stack with trusted support. The same track-to-tech discipline continues to drive responsible and sustainable growth.
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS provides certified software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 30,000 casino games, the Affilka affiliate platform, the Sportsbook Software and the Jackpot Aggregator. The expert team counts over 2,000 employees.
The post From Track to Tech: SOFTSWISS Celebrates Barrichello’s First NASCAR Brasil Triumph appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
It’s not just black and white label
Yoni Sidi, CEO at Wiztech, says white labels are all about striking the balance between pros and cons, but for some, it’s impossible to achieve and that’s why it’s important to consider other options.
For most operators, a white label solution seems to offer the best route to market. But is that actually the case?
I’ve been working in the industry for more than two decades now, and over that time, I’ve worked on both sides of the fence – so on the white label operator side and on the white label provider side. This gives me a deep understanding of the pros and cons of white label solutions, and this understanding ultimately led me to launch Wiztech. To answer your question more directly, white labels are always about striking the balance between the pros and cons they present – for some operators, a balance can be found, but for others, it can’t. Ultimately, it comes down to knowing what you want from your platform or technology stack, and whether a white label can meet those requirements with the budget and resources you have available to you.
So, what are the pros and cons of a white label platform?
There are plenty of upsides to white labels, and that’s why they’re used by so many operators. The main advantages are speed to market and cost effectiveness – you can literally go from first discussions to your online casino being live in a matter of weeks. The upfront fees are relatively small, and, in most cases, you pay a revenue share back to the platform provider. This can tighten margins a little, but it means you don’t have to have a large capital reserve to get going. Another benefit is that you can take on as much or as little of the operation as you like – for some, they will let the platform provider take care of the operational aspect while they focus solely on marketing and customer acquisition. Other upsides include licensing, with the white label partner securing and being responsible for the licences they hold.
Drawbacks. The biggest for me is the lack of differentiation you get with a white label. The many brands that run on the platform often look very much the same, just with different logos and branding. After a few months of operating your online casino, you’ll likely notice friction points that you’ll want to address, but the rigid nature of white-label platforms means it’s incredibly difficult to smooth out even the smallest of bumps in the road. It’s also incredibly difficult to roll out unique features and functionality as the development team is usually working through a backlog of requests – most of which are for the friction bumps that need ironing out. Factor in the frequent regulatory changes that happen, and the need for the development team to respond to them, and it’s easy to see how hard it can be to improve the experience being offered to players.
How can operators strike a balance between the pros and cons of white labels?
It comes down to understanding the capabilities of the platform provider and whether they offer customisation and localisation. If they don’t, the operator needs to determine if this is a price they’re willing to pay in exchange for the speed to market and cost effectiveness that white labels provide. Of course, some white label providers do offer support and are happy to help when it comes to developing and deploying bespoke features and functionality. But in my experience, most don’t have the capacity for this, even if they say they do. For me, the balance is found by accepting the limitations of white labels and working within the (often pretty rigid framework) they provide. There are plenty of examples of operators that have done this and have gone on to run very successful brands in highly competitive markets.
Is there an alternative to white labels?
The most obvious alternative is to develop a proprietary technology stack, but this approach comes with just as many, if not more, pitfalls. Building a platform from the ground up is incredibly expensive and tremendously risky, and this is why so few operators outside of the industry power players have been able to pull it off. And even those that do often encounter issues such as ongoing maintenance, tech debt, staffing and compliance. But there is a middle ground between white label and proprietary, and it can be found with smaller platform providers whose technologies offer the agility, flexibility and adaptability required for operators to launch highly customised, almost bespoke, online casinos and sportsbooks.
How does Wiztech fit into the platform mix, and how do you support your partners in achieving their goals in often highly competitive markets?
At Wiztech, we champion modular tech and the likes of AI and automation. By embracing these, we have been able to build powerful yet highly customisable casino and sportsbook solutions that are also fully compliant in tightly regulated markets. In our experience, being able to quickly respond to regulatory changes provides a competitive advantage to our customers. In Mexico, for example, our client Winpot has been able to deliver a unique player experience while always ensuring compliance. And this is against a backdrop where regulatory changes often come with very little notice. Our technology can adapt quickly while Winpot continues to capitalise on the growing demand for entertaining online casino products and experiences.
But just as important as our technology is our approach to our partners. This sees us undertake a comprehensive onboarding process where we spend a lot of time understanding the client’s “why” before we map out the “what” and the “how”. This has proved to be incredibly effective and ensures that our clients can get the most out of the flexibility of our platform and the high levels of customisation and personalisation it provides.
The post The White Label Dilemma: Finding the Right Balance for Your iGaming Business appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Marketing in B2B is like a midfielder in football: it’s supposed to cover the whole field and only occasionally push forward. Meanwhile, all the glory rightfully goes to the strikers, while our role is to reliably back the team.
Still, remove marketing from any business, and you’ll immediately recall Stewart Britt’s line about winking at a girl in the dark. Working without marketing today means being unarmed and invisible in the sea of offers and background noise that’s only getting harder to cut through.
Today, we’re celebrating Trueplay’s 7th anniversary — and as a small but meaningful gift, our marketing team would like to offer a bit of striptease and self-flagellation by offering fixes for some of the most common mistakes marketing teams make.
Clear your meeting calendar
Let’s start with a universal pain point for remote-era businesses: weeding through online meetings. Endless regular calls — with or without a clear purpose — fill up the day and ruthlessly devour your time.
Our conclusion: meet only when the issue cannot be solved in writing. Video calls are great for fast, efficient status updates, but become a protracted torture when the only reason is “just to have a call.”
We’re not denying the value of human connection — even through Google Meet — but add this to your calendar: meet only with purpose.
Work together — validate your ideas
Important decisions should always be made collectively, with all relevant perspectives taken into account. To execute any process — especially one that impacts the company’s success — you need a complementary team.
Only in fairytales or propaganda do people unanimously accept top-down decisions. In reality, any idea — especially a creative one — will have both supporters and critics. That’s why you need to build processes where important decisions are validated collectively.
If you’re launching a new website, building a key campaign, or preparing for a major expo — take the time to gather all the department heads around the (virtual) table, especially Sales. Run the idea by them and give them a heads-up about what’s coming.
One of the most common mistakes marketing teams make is leveraging their authority to impose changes: “This is how we’re doing things now.” But if the rest of the team doesn’t support your idea — at least tacitly — failure is almost guaranteed.
It reminds us of a brilliant example from Ichak Adizes, who once visited a shoe factory. Taking aside a factory worker, he discovered how employees responded to unpopular management decisions. They didn’t argue or complain — they simply packed mismatched shoe sizes into the same box and sent them to stores.
Just imagine: marketers, managers, and strategy consultants working around the clock to design company-wide strategies — and a few disengaged people silently undo it all by refusing to cooperate.
Leave time for execution
Marketers love ideas. But even the best concept can fall apart due to a lack of time, budget, or resources.
We’ve held pure gold in our hands — ideas that could’ve flown. But when it came to execution, we stalled. You never know where the problem will arise: a legal nuance, a burning deadline, or a system that simply isn’t ready.
So always build in time. Don’t rush. Remember that cycles repeat — if it didn’t work now, you can always return later with stronger preparation.
Test the product
Even if no one expects it from you — use your market knowledge to help improve the product. Talk to clients. Validate hypotheses early. Stay in touch with the market. Share your insights with the product team.
The worst service you can provide is silent acceptance. You’re not paid to promote anything blindly — you’re here to make products and services better.
Watch your costs
Prices always go up. Invoices from contractors, expo fees, event costs — they’ll all increase each year. That means you must constantly monitor the budget and plan for risks.
To stay ready for tough negotiations — research the market, look for alternatives, check out new vendors. A shark dies if it stops swimming.
Keep your eyes open
Marketing is a 24/7 job. You’re always learning — no matter the field. Every brilliant campaign, viral case, or breakthrough idea is your teacher.
Read the news. Follow innovation and creativity channels. Feed your brain with inspiration. Your superpower is insight, intuition, and ideas. And they can come from anywhere.
Remember your role
Marketing is the company’s radar. Its navigation system. Its sails. You’re always where it’s loud and messy. Your job is to make the company seen, to build the brand. It’s a serious responsibility.
And yes, product creators often get the credit — and that’s fair. But remember: you shape the packaging. And packaging makes things desirable.
That’s your work.
That’s your win.
The post Where B2B Marketing Stumbles appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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