Dmitry Starostenkov, EvenBet: “The trend to make gaming more entertaining will continue”

EvenBet Gaming CEO Dmitry Starostenkov rounds up 2022 and tells Focus Gaming News how we can expect online poker to develop.

Exclusive interview.- Online poker continues to evolve, and few people know that better than EvenBet CEO Dmitry Starostenkov. Focus Gaming News caught up with him for an update on EvenBet’s latest developments and how things look for the future.

EvenBet Gaming rounded off this year with the launch of its Game Constructor tool. How’s that been
received?

We have put a lot of work and testing into this new tool, now available for all operators using the EvenBet poker platform. It was critical to ensure its flawless work and the ability of the poker room managers to use it with ease, without much help from our support or development teams.

It wouldn’t work if the Game Constructor were too complicated. But finally, we have found the balance between functionality and straightforward logic. As a result, we have very positive feedback coming every week, and our first customers are already starting to conduct their own experiments with game modifications.

Many of our customers are very excited about this tool: they wanted to try numerous changes and see how it would affect engagement and revenues. Now, they can do it in-house without waiting in the development queue.

How important do you think this kind of flexibility will be for operators going forwards?

The more forward, the more important it becomes. In every igaming vertical, we see the increasing importance of segmentation, targeting, and analytics.

The possibility to target different player groups with special offerings and game types is becoming crucial for online poker operators who wish to acquire and retain players effectively. The Game Constructor may become an essential part of the operator’s marketing and engagement ecosystem within a platform, combined with CRM and promotional modules.

EvenBet Gaming has been forward-thinking in terms of exploring the use of crypto and NFTs in gaming. Do you think the industry still needs to better understand and utilise these new possibilities?

Yes and no. By now, we are more or less acquainted with the options and the possibilities of blockchain tech and crypto in igaming. However, we lack cases of blockchain use: I’m sure that as soon as we have a half-dozen successful projects using, for example, NFT objects, everyone will try to get its share of the pie.

At the start of blockchain tech development, we saw more failures than success stories; it made companies cautious about investing in these features. But I think that now, the operators and start-ups need to decide if they want to be the pioneers in blockchain implementation or the runner-ups.

“The possibility to target different player groups with special offerings and game types is becoming crucial for online poker operators who wish to acquire and retain players effectively.”

Dmitry Starostenkov, CEO at EvenBet.

What trends do you expect to see develop in the next year?

Firstly, the greater demand for differentiation: customisation, creating new game types, branded games, and innovating in UI. In the mature regulated markets, many projects offer the same games and promotional mechanics. But as regulation limits more and more the conditions of online gaming promotion and bonus use, operators will need to offer something unique and different from simply paying out the new players. In emerging markets, standing out is an even more effective strategy to succeed.

The trend to make gaming more entertaining, especially in online poker and sports betting verticals, will continue to expand. The casual players are becoming a key source of revenue for the industry. To retain them, an operator needs to offer attractive interfaces, cool interaction tools, and easy onboarding and learning. We will see more innovations in the entertaining mechanics for sure.

“The operators and start-ups need to decide if they want to be the pioneers in blockchain implementation or the runner-ups.”

Dmitry Starostenkov, CEO at EvenBet.

What do you think poker players in particular will be looking for?

In terms of the general service, they will be looking for quick onboarding and an easy understanding of the poker room functionality, fast and headache-free payments and withdrawals, friendly communities within games, and the possibility to interact with each other.

For the games, the general preferences tend to move in the direction of the fast-played games, including all forms of rapid poker and sit-and-go tournaments, or otherwise, fresh modifications of the poker classics like Omaha when you need to discard some pocket cards or when you actually see pocket cards of other players.

Of course, there will always be high-rollers who learn the tactics and mathematics of the game and are ready to sit out through dozens of unworthy hands. However, it is quite a small and closed community, while the massive revenues come from millions of casual poker amateurs who want to play fast, get more high-value combinations, and share their success with friends.