Gambling traffic in Tier-1 markets rarely forgives mistakes. Especially when it comes to Facebook, where CPM costs are high, auction volatility is significant, and testing is expensive.

This was exactly the challenge the RAZE team faced when entering the Canadian market together with N1 Partners in spring 2026. The goal of the campaign was not just volume — the team needed to find a setup capable of maintaining FTD quality, preserving ROI, and scaling in one of the most expensive iGaming GEOs on the market.

In this case study, N1 Partners and RAZE will explain:

• why only 2 out of 10 tested slots remained profitable;
• how the acquisition strategy for Tier-1 Facebook was built;
• how the N1 Partners funnel influenced conversion rates;
• and what helped maintain ROI during scaling.

Initial Data

GEO: Canada

Vertical: Gambling (iGaming)

Traffic type: Facebook (PWA) 

Campaign period: April, 20 – May, 8 

Goal: FTD + ROI

Volume (FTD): ~300 deposits

N1 Partners brands: N1 Bet, RollXO, Slot Lounge, Slot Mafia, Lucky Hunter, Retro Bet и Goldex Casino

The main challenge remained traffic quality. In Tier-1 GEOs, generating deposits alone is not enough — it is crucial to understand how traffic performs over time and how players behave after making their first deposit.

Additionally, RAZE had limited historical data on running N1 offers in Canada, which created uncertainty regarding which approach, slot, and “creative + funnel” combination would deliver the best projected ROI.

Why Canada?

Canada was chosen as one of the most stable Tier-1 GEOs for the gambling vertical due to its highly solvent audience, large Facebook traffic volume, and consistent demand within the niche.

Another factor was the state of the Facebook auction. During the campaign period, competition in Canada was lower than in several other English-speaking GEOs, allowing for more comfortable CPMs and faster scaling of successful setups.

However, along with volume came the primary Tier-1 challenge — the high cost of mistakes. As a result, the team deliberately avoided a single-offer strategy and opted for broad testing instead.

RAZE Strategy

Facebook PWA is the core traffic source and key media-buying specialization for the RAZE team.

To begin, the team requested a list of top-performing slots for Canada from N1 Partners and analyzed them using spy tools: which approaches were already active in the auction, what mechanics competitors were using, and which creatives were generating the highest CTR.

A custom funnel featuring N1 Partners bonuses was also created.

At the same time, three optimisation models were launched:

• Auto Bid
• Min CPA Cap (when triggered, budgets were aggressively scaled up to ~$10,000+ for optimal delivery)
• Max Bid

The primary goal was to quickly determine which model provided the best buying control and allowed Facebook’s algorithm to learn most effectively under expensive Tier-1 traffic conditions.

N1 Partners’ involvement extended beyond simply providing offers and slots.

One of the main characteristics of Tier-1 Facebook traffic was its inconsistency even within high-quality traffic segments. Because of this, campaigns could not be evaluated too early — the algorithm needed sufficient time to accumulate data.

This later became one of the key factors behind the campaign’s success.

RAZE Strategy Analysis

At launch, the RAZE team tested 10 slots from N1 Partners. The slots were analyzed through spy tools to determine which creatives were running and which approaches were currently trending.

After evaluating the feasibility of each approach, the team selected 2 slots and developed custom creatives based on identified patterns.

However, initial tests revealed that most hypotheses were not economically viable.

Only two slots from the N1 Bet brand remained profitable:

• Gates of Olympus 1000
• Coin Volcano

Examples of Coin Volcano creatives that were used

Approaches That Worked and Why

The Coin Volcano funnel delivered the best results in terms of the traffic-to-FTD conversion path.

As a result, users understood the offer faster and the overall setup became more cohesive. This is especially important in Tier-1 GEOs, where the cost of mistakes at every stage is significantly higher.

PWA and landing page design featuring the advertiser’s bonus offer

Additionally, the N1 Partners team continuously monitored page loading speed and technical landing page performance to minimise traffic losses before registration.

Creatives and Approaches

During testing, the team experimented with several approaches:

• video creatives
• reaction-style scenarios
• offline casino aesthetics
• classic static ads

However, nearly all complex approaches underperformed compared to simple static creatives.

The best-performing setups were the most straightforward combinations: slot + bonus + winnings + clear CTA.

Static creatives offered lower installation costs, enabling faster offer changes, slot rotation, and testing of new angles without rebuilding production assets from scratch. As a result, most of the budget was ultimately shifted toward static creatives.

Scaling and Optimization

Initially, the team tested three acquisition models simultaneously: Auto Bid, Min CPA Cap, and Max Bid. The primary focus was not only deposit cost but also FTD quality, which meant decisions were made only after collecting sufficient data.

Working Approaches

• • Min CPA Cap + aggressive scaling.
    Once a stable CPA was achieved, budgets were increased aggressively, reaching approximately $10K in some cases. This allowed the team to capture volume while maintaining ROI.

• GEO segmentation.
  English-speaking provinces with lower CPMs delivered the strongest performance.
• Time-based optimisation.
  Most conversions occurred during evenings and weekends, so budgets were allocated more aggressively during those periods.
• Delayed campaign evaluation.
  Traffic quality improved after 30-40 deposits, so campaigns were not shut down prematurely. N1 Partners analytics played a major role here.
  The product team analysed performance by individual buyers and setups, allowing them to assess traffic quality more deeply than standard CPA or initial deposit metrics and provide timely recommendations regarding scaling or stopping campaigns.

At the same time, aggressive scaling only worked for proven setups. Increasing budgets too early caused CPM and CPA to rise faster than the volume of quality deposits.

Where Profit Was Lost

• Only 2 out of 10 tested slots remained profitable, meaning part of the budget was spent on ineffective tests.
• Video and reaction-based approaches lost to simple static creatives featuring slots and bonuses.
• Premature scaling of weak ad sets increased CPM and CPA without improving FTD quality.
• Some campaigns were stopped before Facebook had enough time to complete its learning phase.

Campaign Results

Over 18 days, the team achieved:

• FTD Volume: ~300 deposits
• Traffic: 2,659 installs
• CTR: 0.9–1%
• CPC: $2.5–4
• CPA: $140–156
• Best Optimization Model: Min CPA Cap + aggressive budget scaling

Positive ROI was achieved as early as the third day of traffic acquisition.

After the first 30 deposits, the team stabilized at approximately 30 daily FTDs and, on some days, reached up to 50 deposits despite account bans and market turbulence.

Ad Account #1

Ad Account #2

Day 1 of Ad Campaign

Day 3 of Ad Campaign

One of the key success factors from the N1 Partners side was the continuous feedback exchange between the media-buying and product teams.

Case Takeaways

The RAZE × N1 Partners case once again proved that in Tier-1 markets, finding a strong creative or a winning slot alone is no longer enough.

Success comes only when several factors work together:

• strong Facebook media buying;
• deep traffic quality analytics;
• an effective product funnel;
• continuous data exchange between partner and advertiser;
• scaling only validated setups.

FAQ: RAZE x N1 Partners Case Study

1. What was the main insight of the campaign?

“The main insight was that in Tier-1 GEOs, you cannot rely solely on creatives or bidding. Canadian traffic is expensive, and if your funnel fails to meet user expectations, you start losing money.

We succeeded through a comprehensive approach: we took top-performing slots from the advertiser, validated them using spy tools, filtered out weak hypotheses through testing, built a custom funnel around a specific slot, and only then began scaling.

Ultimately, we realised that the right funnel can be just as important as the creative itself. It directly impacts FTD quality and overall profitability. “— Artem Mayskiy, Team Lead at Media Buying, RAZE.

2. What surprised you during launch?

“What surprised us was how traffic quality improved with scale. Initial deposits do not always provide an objective picture: campaigns may appear unstable, CPA fluctuates, and at that point the temptation to stop everything is very strong.

However, traffic quality turned out to be better than expected. After 30-40 deposits, it became clear that the algorithm was finding the right audience much more effectively. That was a very important signal for us.” — Artem Mayskiy, Team Lead at Media Buying, RAZE.

3. What is scalable from this campaign and what is not?

“From the advertiser’s perspective, it is crucial to monitor profitability benchmarks and quickly disable underperforming traffic. Before launch, we agreed with our partner on minimum acceptable traffic thresholds and adhered to them.

The percentage of players making only a single deposit (without repeats) could not exceed 70%. By strictly following these metrics during testing, we received traffic of the quality we required as an advertiser, while the partner maintained profitability.” — Alexey Gusarov, Team Lead of Affiliates, N1 Partners.

4. One piece of advice for affiliates and the market.

“Don’t stop campaigns too early. Keep driving installs and determine your acceptable deposit and install costs. This allows you to evaluate any funnel objectively and make informed decisions rather than guessing. It’s also important not to spread yourself too thin.

We tested 10 slots, but only 2 remained in active use. Growth started when we stopped distributing budget across numerous hypotheses and focused on setups that had already demonstrated proven audience interest.

It’s better to fully optimise one working funnel than to superficially test ten.” — Artem Mayskiy, Team Lead at Media Buying, RAZE.

“It’s important not only to monitor your own metrics as an advertiser but also to understand your partner’s needs.

Everyone talks about win-win relationships between advertisers and media-buying teams, but in practice, this only works when both sides genuinely understand each other’s objectives and make decisions based on overall traffic economics rather than isolated metrics.

This approach is exactly what allowed the team to become profitable by the third day and maintain stable volume in one of the market’s most expensive GEOs.” — Alexey Gusarov, Team Lead of Affiliates, N1 Partners.

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Work with N1 Partners and scale gambling traffic alongside a team that helps build long-term profitable setups:

• 14+ casino and sportsbook brands with strong Reg2Dep performance
• 10+ Tier-1 GEOs
• CPA up to €700 and RevShare up to 55% + NNCO for top partners

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