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Interviews

Exclusive Q&A with Pro Poker player Jonathan Little

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Exclusive Q&A with Pro Poker player Jonathan Little
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

  1. Let’s start with a brief introduction? Tell us something about yourself, especially about education and career.

JL: I am a 36-year-old professional poker player living in NYC. I went to university for a few years, studying psychology and engineering, but quit before graduating because I was making way more money playing poker than I would if I got a degree and got a job. Over the last 16 years, I have cashed for over $7,000,000 in live poker tournaments, wrote 15 educational poker books, started PokerCoaching.com, and won the 2019 Poker Personality of the Year award.

 

  1. When did you start playing Poker? And how did you realize that you have got what it takes to succeed at the top level?

JL: I started playing poker in 2003 when a few of my friends wanted to play a $1 buy-in tournament. I lost for a while before I decided to study every poker book I could find. I started winning in the $1 games and then deposited $50 onto PartyPoker. Within three years, I turned that $50 into $350,000 by playing 9-person tournaments.

 

  1. What are your most memorable wins in Poker?

JL: My most memorable win was my first World Poker Tour title at Mirage. I was 22-years-old and winning $1,000,000 gave me the proper bankroll to continue playing the highest stakes games without risking going broke.

 

  1. How do you think the world of online Poker has changed over the years?

JL: All games get tougher over time, and poker is no different. If you fail to keep up with the new tools available to help you improve your skills, you are certain to fall behind those who completely dedicate themselves to the game. In the past, most players were far too weak and passive, but now they understand that they have to get in there and battle if they want to have any chance of winning.

 

  1. What made you turn to coaching Poker? We would love to know any particular incidents or thought processes that led you to the path of Poker coaching.

JL: I would not be where I am today without the help of many players who came before me who were willing to help me out when I first started playing. Today, there are numerous players just like a young version of me who want nothing more than to learn how to play poker well, which will allow them to win financial freedom, allowing them to pursue their dreams. I am more than happy to help those who are willing to do the work to improve their skills.

 

  1. Tell us about your website pokercoaching.com? What exactly does it offer?

JL: PokerCoaching.com is my interactive training site that gives you all the tools you need to succeed at no-limit hold’em cash games and tournaments. The hand-selected group of world-class poker coaches have cashed for over $50,000,000 in live poker tournaments have crushed the cash games. The site offers interactive quizzes, hand history reviews, live webinars, office hours, private streams, and numerous in-depth courses to ensure all your questions are answered. You can try it for free at PokerCoaching.com/free.

 

  1. How have people’s responses been so far to the website? Could you provide some stats?

JL: The students love the site. They frequently send me testimonials letting me know of their successes. Players of all skill levels are continuing to better themselves, allowing them to win more money from the game. You can see testimonials from many of my students (one who has won over $2,000,000 over the last two years) at PokerCoaching.com.

 

  1. What does a person need to make it big in Poker? Is there something called inborn talent or is it sheer hard work and aptitude?

JL: All you really have to do to succeed at poker is find a game you can beat, play it a lot, and keep a proper bankroll. Most people do not do all three of these things though. If you are not better than your opponents, either find worse opponents or work to improve your skills. If you do not play a decent amount, you will not make much money (just like if you did not show up for your job, you would not get paid). If you play too large for your bankroll, the inevitable swings of the game will eventually bust you. If you do all three things though, you will thrive.

 

  1. Suppose a novice person wants to enter the world of Poker. What are the questions he or she needs to ask himself or herself before making the leap?

JL: I recommend all novice players check out my free Mastering the Fundamentals course at PokerCoaching.com/fundamentals. It gives you all the info you need to start your journey into poker and teach you how to think like a pro.

 

  1. What would be your advice to people starting a business in connection with Poker?

JL: Whenever you are starting a business, you should figure out a way to add value. If you help people make more money or enjoy the game more, you will probably do well. Take PokerGo for instance. There was a lack of high quality poker shows on TV, so PokerGo started, which televises numerous poker shows ranging from high stakes games to low stakes games, and also non-playing shows that highlight poker personalities, like Pokerography. You can watch the Pokerography episode about me at JLPoker.com/pokerography.

 

  1. Finally, how do you think the future will unfold after the Covid-19 pandemic for Poker?

JL: I am not a virologist or event planner, so it is tough to say. I have to imagine that once there is a vaccine widely circulated that the world will pretty much return to normal. While we are waiting on that, the more cautious players will probably stay out of the casinos and will spend more of their time playing online.

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Africa

SmartSoft’s expertise and future vision for the African market

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SmartSoft’s expertise and future vision for the African market
Reading Time: 4 minutes

 

In recent years, the online gaming landscape has witnessed a surge in innovative and engaging titles that capture the interest of players worldwide. Among these, first ever flying crash game by SmartSoft – JetX emerged as a standout game, particularly gaining substantial traction in Africa. This article provides an in-depth examination of JetX, a popular online crash game, and explores the expertise behind its creation. By focusing on the game’s features, the developer SmartSoft Gaming, and insights from an interview with the Vice President Commercial, we aim to highlight the factors contributing to JetX’s success and its impact on the gaming industry.

About SmartSoft Gaming

Founded in Georgia in 2015 by industry experts, SmartSoft set out to create a one-of-a-kind casino games provider that offers high-quality gaming experiences worldwide. By combining interactive features with captivating visuals, we blend gaming and gambling to deliver more engaging, entertaining, and superior experiences. Our mission is not just to attract players but to enhance their enjoyment.

To gain further insights into the development of JetX and the vision behind its creation, we spoke with the Vice President Commercial of SmartSoft.

Rusa Javakhishvili Vice President Commercial of SmartSoft shared insights and analytics from African countries, and outlined future plans. Rusa joined SmartSoft two years ago as Head of Finance and Strategic Projects. In early 2024, she transitioned to the commercial side as Head of Account Management, and is now Vice President of Commercials, overseeing several regions, including Africa.

What was the general concept and inspiration behind JetX?
In recent years, the online gaming landscape has witnessed a surge in innovative and engaging titles that capture the interest of players worldwide. Among these, JetX has emerged as a standout game, particularly gaining substantial traction in Africa. The main concept of the game is that it is easy to play, the player is involved in the decision as much as possible, it is fast and within the fast-paced world we think that it delivers exactly what players need for an enjoyable experience.

How does JetX differentiate itself from other crash games in the market?

At SmartSoft, we appreciate  our relationships with partners, it’s  very important to us. We constantly think and work to create a valuable product and maintain strong connections with them. SmartSoft’s portfolio includes a diverse range of online casino games, each designed to offer unique features and interactive gameplay but JetX is the literal gem!

JetX is an online crash game that combines simplicity with excitement, offering players an engaging betting experience. This dynamic gameplay requires both luck and strategy, appealing to a broad audience seeking quick, high-stakes action. JetX stands out due to its user-friendly interface, real-time gameplay, and mobile compatibility, making it accessible and enjoyable for players on the go. Its growing popularity in Africa can be attributed to its exciting gameplay mechanics and the potential for significant winnings.

What strategies did you employ to ensure JetX appeals to a diverse audience, particularly in Africa?

When we expanded into the African market, we knew it’s a big and diverse region, so it’s important to understand each country individually instead of seeing it as one market. With our partners’ help, we’re working hard to learn about each country’s marketing practices and what types of games people enjoy. It’s a challenging task, but the African market is a top priority for us, and we’ve allocated resources to quickly build our knowledge in this area.

How has JetX been received by African players compared to other regions? Are there any notable differences in player behavior or preferences?

The African market is one of the most interesting and significant  for us, and we believe it has great potential. It is a highly dynamic and exciting market, where players are exposed to a wide variety of games. Their enthusiasm for diverse content gives us inspiration and motivation to create games specifically tailored to their unique preferences and needs. Moreover, they are quick to engage with new releases, eagerly embracing fresh content when it aligns with their tastes and expectations. Although Crash products were introduced only recently, they have quickly become a favorite among consumers. We expect this trend to continue growing.

How do you assess player feedback and incorporate it into ongoing game improvements?
This is a crucial aspect for us. That’s why, in collaboration with our partners, we consistently review key feedback on our games and strive to incorporate it as much as possible into new versions. We strive to bring enjoyment in everything we do – whether it’s in our work environment, or for the end users. Our goal is to delight both the customers and ourselves with our work. Therefore, we integrate gaming’s fun elements into gambling to maximize enjoyment. This approach fuels our drive to innovate and create playful experiences, redefining the gambling industry and making it more entertaining;

What future developments or updates can players expect for JetX?
Our product has undergone numerous changes since its inception, with many more improvements planned. These changes are aimed at delivering the best possible user experience for players while ensuring the product remains of the highest technical quality.

How has the success of JetX influenced SmartSoft’s approach to game development?
JetX, the first Crash game created in 2018, holds a special place as one of the company’s most beloved titles. Its global popularity is evident, and we’re thrilled that players enjoy it. At SmartSoft, having a diversified portfolio is crucial, which is why we release new games every year. As pioneers in the Crash genre, we ensure that we continually expand our offerings. Our goal is to provide players with a wide range of high-quality games they can trust to deliver an enjoyable experience.

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Interviews

Slot Saturation – Q&A w/ Qianqian Liu, Senior Art Director at Gaming Corps

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Slot Saturation - Q&A w/ Qianqian Liu, Senior Art Director at Gaming Corps
Reading Time: 3 minutes

 

What are the defining visual features of a Gaming Corps slot?

We pride ourselves on the diversity of the look of our slots, we have three distinct styles that are all used to target different demographics. Firstly, Classic, this is a style which usually is also described as retro and some people would even say dated, we prefer nostalgic! But there is a player base who get great enjoyment from slot games like this. The second is Modern, this is a style that is sleek, shiny and incredibly high-fidelity with assets that look polished and could be very much suited to being hung up in a modern art museum. Thirdly is Stylised, this is a style that is completely entirely dependent on the theme, maybe a comic book style or similar, but it emphasises artistic freedom which is important.

All three of these are what makes Gaming Corps a unique slots provider, catering games for all types of target markets.

Where do you look for inspiration when designing an online slot game?

Different inspirations appear for different themes, if it is classic then an old fruit machine down a pub could be the inspiration. If it is a modern slot, then we like to refer to some modern day mobile apps that are more casual to play. The beauty of stylised is that the inspiration can come from absolutely anywhere but usually it can be something that the artist is personally interested in, such as comic books or anime.

How does Gaming Corp manage to distinguish its titles from others on the market?

We focus on iterations and high quality standards, we will start from a basic concept and iterate and iterate until the asset is exactly what would be expected of the target audience. We get feedback from customers as well to help hone in on a particular style that we are aiming to create.

How do you manage to keep repetitive themes (Egypt, classic, Greece and so on) interesting?

For these, it is all about combining the innovative mechanics with a unique spin on a narrative that has been re-told before. Of course if you are to create an Egyptian theme you should still recognise it to be fundamentally Egyptian with its gods and its hieroglyphs. But is there a way to put the spin on the narrative that ties it to the mechanic that has not been done before. It is important to do market research to find common thread that you can capitalise on but also things to stay away from.

What impact does localisation have on game development from a visual perspective?

Localisation of Gaming Corps is super important to us, we sometimes want to create games that can be tailored for a particular market. Especially when working with casinos for bespoke content. For example, we created a game in 2023 called “Ramen Puzzle” which was launched with a casino partner in Japan. It was very important for us to nail the anime style that suited this market and it was a core part of the development cycle to research, develop and iterate on our designs to perfect the style.

Another recent launch this year was Samba Soccer, a crash product that was created with Brazil in mind. It had a stylisation that suited popular games in that market but also a theming that set the game in Rio de Janeiro. This visual combination allowed the game to be hyper localised to this market.

What future trends do you think are going to impact the look and design of online slot games?

More and more over the years, the target demographic has moved away from playing on desktop to playing on mobile, in particular on mobile portrait, so we will always feel as if designing with a mobile-first approach should be at the forefront of what we do at Gaming Corps. This I believe will continue to trend upwards. This has a big impact on the way that slot games look and feel, there is a small space with lots of elements fighting for room so it is important to be very clear with Product Owners on what are the most important elements of the slot game.

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Interviews

Safety First: Slots Temple Q&A

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Safety First: Slots Temple Q&A
Reading Time: 2 minutes

 

For a company that has begun to blur the lines between affiliate and operator, social responsibility remains the ultimate watchword for Slots Temple, says CEO Fraser Linkleter.    

 

How important is social responsibility to the affiliate side of Slots Temple’s business?

We began life as an affiliate business that offered free demo games and slots tournaments (and we still do!). This allowed us to build a highly engaged base of players that genuinely loved playing slots. From day one, we always put social responsibility at the heart of everything we did.

We always believed that an entertainment-driven socially responsible gaming experience created a sticky player-base that trusted us and created better quality traffic for our partners.

 

Has tightened regulation of the gambling industry over the past few years impacted affiliates’ responsibilities towards its users?

Definitely. Affiliates deliver an estimated 30% to 50% of acquisition to operators in the UK, and while the sector is not directly regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, these numbers demonstrate that the responsibility to protect players from harm should be shared.

Increased regulation over the past few years means that operators, rightly, must be more cautious about choosing their affiliate partners. Ultimately, as affiliates, we must accept the responsibilities we share as part of the gambling supply chain.

The reality is, while affiliates are not directly regulated, the standards to which operators are held by regulators are passed on to us through our partner contracts. Affiliates that do not comply with these standards will struggle in this climate because operators will only work with the partners they can trust to behave responsibly. So social responsibility has become not just an ethical consideration but a strategic business decision too.

 

In 2022 Slots Temple received a license from the UKGC which allowed you to offer paid tournaments and real-money slots. Has this changed the way you think about social responsibility?

Social responsibility was always a big part of our business model, and our UKGC license was a recognition of that. Of course, offering real money games means that we are held to the same high standards as all licensed operators.

That means KYC, deposit limits, timed reality checks, affordability checks, self-exclusion options, and so on. But for us, it’s about more than mere compliance. Our model has always been about being a safe destination for fun play and prizes. As I say, we’ve fostered this community of slots fans who trust us and it’s important that we maintain that trust through the way we operate.

Ultimately, the license allowed us to offer our player-base more choice. First, that was free-to-play tournaments with cash prizes, and then low-stakes paid-for tournaments with bigger prizes, plus real-money slots.

 

So, your experiences as an affiliate have made you a more socially responsible operator?

Yes, because it has helped us understand what our players want. For example, we believe safer gambling is about smaller deposits. Where we offer cash play, it’s always small buy-ins and small bet sizes. There are tournaments for 1p, or you can play for free in UK tournaments, all with real cash prizes.

We also think it’s important to educate players about the games we have on site. For example, we clearly display the return-to-player (RTP) and volatility of the game customers are about to play before they are able to access the game.

It’s about being on the side of the player – whether you’re an affiliate or an operator. Ultimately, we believe that an entertainment-driven, socially responsible gaming experience will foster a loyal, trusting player-base.

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