As the world begins to emerge into a post-pandemic landscape, the online gaming industry is undergoing a period of significant growth – and for Dmitry Starostenkov, CEO of EvenBet Gaming, this growth presents a range of new opportunities.
Speaking to SBC ahead of this week’s SBC Digital North America, Starostenkov explained that EvenBet Gaming’s online poker platform will take center stage at their virtual booth, before expressing his excitement over the panel sessions which focus on regulatory developments across the US.
What are you looking forward to at SBC North America Digital 2021?
The USA online gaming market is one of the most rapidly growing right now, due to the long-awaited changes in the iGaming regulation. The situation changes monthly, and the operators already working online are demonstrating skyrocketing revenues.
For a software provider looking for an opportunity to expand in the market, like EvenBet Gaming, it is critically important to keep an eye on the latest events, trends, and launches and to work on its reputation. We hope that SBC North America Digital will allow us to build new connections and to showcase our expertise in the online poker vertical.
What are your predictions for the gaming industry in 2021?
As the world slowly goes out of the pandemic induced crisis, we see that the online gaming industry continues experiencing the most remarkable growth. This year, we may say for sure that the world has changed, and our industry has changed as well.
Going online is not an option anymore, but a necessity; at the same time, regulatory frameworks in many markets are getting tougher as a response to the players’ influx and to the increased black market activity.
Until the end of this year, we are going to see a lot of controversial changes, with some countries finally opening up for online gaming and some introducing more complications for the operators. However, thanks to regulation, or in spite of it, we will see growth that could be compared with one in 2020.
What are you promoting at SBC North America Digital 2021?
We are presenting the EvenBet Gaming online poker platform, a mature and reliable software solution both to run standalone poker rooms and to integrate into the existing casino and sports betting platforms. The numbers behind our work speak for themselves: at the moment, we are supporting over 70 active servers for customers from more than 30 countries, with 15 million players. We offer 34 poker games types and 2000 casino games integrated.
What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2021?
I suppose, it’s going to be the further development of AI used in iGaming for different purposes: anti-fraud, gambling awareness, and personalisation.
Which operator has impressed you the most over the last 12 months?
I’m personally greatly impressed by the development of DraftKings and their strategic approach to introducing innovation in the company. I’ll be closely following their activity in the upcoming months.
What partnership has stood out in the past 12 months?
Of course, it is NetEnt’s acquisition by Evolution; such deals in the iGaming industry are rare, especially if followed by a scandal.
Which parts of the conference agenda have caught your eye?
As one of the objectives for us is to stay updated on regulatory perspectives, these are the discussion panels related to it, especially state-by-state updates. We can’t wait until more US states are open for playing online poker!