Interview: Jean Prince Discusses the Online iGaming Scene
Ahead of the upcoming SIGMA event scheduled to be held in Malta, Jean Prince, the editor of the UK website SlotsHawk sits down with us to discuss the growing popularity of online gaming and the UK online casino scene.
Could you tell us a little more about SIGMA, please?
SIGMA is an annual event held in Malta which offers the iGaming crowd the opportunity to meet up in one place to interact and discuss business opportunities. More often than not, the drinks are flowing but if you can stay away from too much alcohol, SIMGA offers the chance to mingle with like minded characters and businesses in order to grow your own business or website. There are also numerous talks and workshops involving some of the bigger players in the industry. These talks can often be gold mines if the speaker is willing to reveal his/her secrets.
So, the event is attended by all of the players within iGaming?
Yes, exactly. So, if you attend you will be able to interact with a diverse number of online gambling operators, affiliate companies as well as different cryptocurrency sites. Esports events are also common and if I am not mistaken, there are numerous workshops hosted by characters within the world of esports. Esports betting is growing and many of the bigger online casino companies are looking to create esports betting markets within their products. If you decide to attend SIGMA, then you can expect to see all of the major players within the industry at the event.
The last several years has seen the number of people gaming online go through the roof, is it a similar story where online gambling is concerned?
For sure, especially within the UK online gambling scene. My speciality is concerned with the online casino scene and specifically online slots. I can tell you for certain that the number of UK gamblers playing online slot games has boomed. I think it was the BBC who reported last year that searches for ‘online casino’ related keywords were at an all-time high. Online slot games are now regarded as the most played of all casino games too. Thousands are released by a variety of different world class developers year upon year, the slots industry is massive.
Can you tell us a little more about the UK gambling market? What are the positives and negatives?
Certainly. To start with, the UK gambling scene is probably the safest market in the world. All UK online gambling operators are regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. To offer your services to UK gamblers, operators must be granted a license to do so from the UKGC. Licenses are only granted to operators who showcase the utmost standards. Non-regulated markets on the other hand mean that casinos do not have to adhere to any rules. However, there are operators offering their services to UK customers which are not licensed, so it’s important to avoid these. At SlotsHawk, we only list and advertise UKGC licensed operators. Affiliate websites do not need a license from the UKGC. But the trustworthy sites will only advertise casinos which have UKGC licenses.
Some of the negatives of the UK gambling market are the ever-increasing restrictions which the government are placing. The problem with too many restrictions is that the big players will pull out the market if they see their profit margins go down too much. This will leave only the unregulated and shady casinos which would prove a disaster for the ordinary UK punter. The UK Gambling Act has been up for review and any day now the UK government are expected to make changes to the Act. The Act certainly needs updating but my fingers are crossed that the government do not do anything too draconian.
Where UK online casinos are concerned, many of them are among the best in the world with the greatest selection of casino games on offer. At SlotsHawk, we have numerous guides showcasing the superiority of UK casinos including an article highlighting the highest paying online casinos. Our mission is to ensure that our readers get the best value for money when gambling online. We also have guides to finding the best paying slot games and the slots with the highest RTP levels.
You mentioned your mission, could you tell us more about what SlotsHawk does?
SlotsHawk is an affiliate website for UK gamblers. We are a little like the middleman between an online casino and an online casino player. We are a team of three, there is myself, our slots analyst Stephen Cummings and our head writer Yvonne Greenwood. We utilise our years of industry experience to give our readers the most reliable information concerning online slots sites and casinos. Like I mentioned earlier, we only work with the most trusted online casino sites, those which have UKGC licenses and adhere to safe gambling practices at all times.
Finally, is the future for the UK gambling scene bright?
Yes, I think so. The UK regulated the market back in 2005 and therefore have ears’ worth of experience as to what works and what doesn’t. In addition, the law makers are experienced too, if you like at the gambling market in the USA for example, the market simply is not experienced enough which is why it is still a free-for-all. I am positive that the US market will explode at some point, but law makers in the USA would do well to look at the UKs approach.
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