Players with a High Out Rate

Out Rate (Withdrawal Rate / Cash-Out Rates) is a metric that shows the ratio of withdrawals to deposits.

Formula: (total withdrawals / total deposits) x 100%.

Example 1: A player deposits € 100 and withdraws € 30. Out Rate = 30% (healthy).

Example 2: A player deposits € 50 and withdraws € 200. Out Rate = 400% (at first glance — bad).

But is a high Out Rate always a bad sign? In our view — not necessarily.

The first step is to understand where the player’s large balance came from before they started cashing out aggressively. There can be many reasons, but let’s focus on the most common ones.

🏆 Big Win

It’s great news for players, and it’s a normal case for the casino. When a player wins, withdrawals go up and so does the Out Rate — that’s normal.

In such cases, it’s important to have clear procedures for large wins, as well as withdrawal limits and caps on the number of requests. If the player is active, they often reinvest part of their winnings, which helps stabilize the Out Rate.

🚨 Bonus Hunting

Bonus hunters often show a high Out Rate. They exploit bonus system loopholes, build up a balance, and withdraw it while making minimal deposits.

When reviewing such players, you should track not only Out Rate but also Bonus Rate — the ratio of bonuses to deposits.

⚠️ However, context matters. For example, a new player claiming welcome bonuses will have a naturally high Bonus Rate — and that’s fine. But if their RTP is over 100%, they will keep cashing out, pushing the Out Rate higher.

For “veteran” players (>8 deposits) with Bonus Rate > 60% and Out Rate > 60%, we classify them as bonus hunters and apply a separate protocol:

If their metrics stabilize, we reclassify them as “ex-bonus hunters” but keep partial restrictions and continue monitoring.

💳 Aggressive Withdrawals

Some players follow a pattern: make x3−5 on their deposit and instantly cash out. This quickly increases Out Rate and requires a specific approach.

We’re currently testing a “Cancel Withdrawal Bonus” for such players, but it’s too early to draw conclusions as the experiment is still running.

🎁 Lack of Play Incentives

Some casinos overuse deposit bonuses but fail to reward gameplay itself. As a result, players have no reason to keep playing, only to cash out.

It’s worth implementing loyalty programs, achievements, cashback, and other mechanics to encourage continued play. We plan to share insights from such experiments in a future article.

🫡 Takeaway

A high Out Rate is not always a problem — it’s a signal that calls for deeper analysis: player tenure, RTP, bonus activity, and playing style.

Understanding the context enables better decision-making and more effective management of different player segments.

Reactivation: Low-Value Players vs. High-Value Players

In this post, we’ll explore two reactivation campaigns targeting players of different lifetime values — and how the results took an unexpected turn over a six-month period.

Initial goal: bring dormant players back.

We segmented the audience into two groups:

1. Low-value players — Lifetime deposits between € 300-€ 500, last deposit over 90 days ago.

2. High-value players — Lifetime deposits exceeding € 10,000, last deposit also more than 90 days ago.

From each segment, we selected 1,000 players matching these criteria and launched separate offers:

For low-value players, a reactivation was counted when they made a deposit to unlock the bonus.

For high-value players, only deposits made after activating the bonus were considered reactivations.

Results after 2 weeks

Low value:

High value:

At first glance, the LV segment performed better in volume — 103 out of 1,000 returned, covering campaign costs with a positive ROI.

The HV segment had a much lower response rate but delivered a high ROI — just a few deposits fully offset the investment.

Mid-term takeaway:

Both campaigns were profitable.

After 6 months

Revisiting the same player groups revealed an interesting twist:

The total deposits from LV players were 15.3% higher than those from HV players. Over time, the numbers won.

🫡 Final insights:

Still, post-reactivation behavior is directly tied to retention quality. Weak retention mechanics mean you’ll be reactivating the same players again within months.

Optimists and Pessimists Reactions to “Near-Wins”

An analysis of how a player’s psychological profile affects the perception of the “near-win” mechanic and its behavioral consequences. Based on materials from Pepper Partners and a Chinese study by Xia et al. (2018).

This approach allows us to explore how optimists and pessimists respond differently to the same scenarios — and what it means for engagement and retention in online gaming.

Study Overview

The test involved 27 pronounced optimists and 25 pessimists. Players placed bets in a test slot game with four possible outcomes:

🔴 Absolute win — bet x5, all 4 reels match.

🔴 Win — bet returned, 3 identical symbols in a row.

🔴 Near-win — 3 identical symbols, but not in sequence; bet is not returned.

🔴 Loss — all symbols are different.

Players could keep their bet fixed or increase it by 10x. Each participant wore a neuro-headset that monitored brain activity.

Key Findings

🔵 Optimists increased their bet after a near-win in 31% of cases.

🔵 Pessimists — only in 23% of cases, but they were more likely to raise their bet after an actual win.

🔵 Optimists’ brains perceived a regular win almost the same way as an absolute win. Pessimists’ reaction to a win was closer to their reaction to a near-win.

🔵 EEG analysis showed that for pessimists, there is a direct link between brain activity during a near-win and the decision to take a risk — while for optimists, no such link was found.

Why It Matters for iGaming

🔴 The same mechanic works differently: for optimists, a near-win is a trigger to take risks; for pessimists, it’s a win.

🔴 Behavioral response to scenarios can help identify psychological profiles.

🔴 This data can be gathered without EEG — simply by tracking bet changes after specific outcomes.

Implications for Operators

🔵 Personalizing scenarios based on player behavior can improve retention.

🔵 For vulnerable groups, the frequency of near-wins can be reduced.

🔵 Using such data increases both platform responsibility and efficiency.

Hidden Advertising Bypassing Bans — How Does It Work in Sports?

In our latest post, we discussed how indirect advertising of iGaming products is successfully integrated into sports leagues such as the Pakistan Super League and the Sri Lanka Cricket League. Sponsors like 1xBat and DafaNews find creative ways to circumvent restrictions by using similar-sounding names for their media partners. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

🏎️ A Story from Formula 1:

In 2006, the International Automobile Federation introduced a ban on tobacco advertising. For teams like Ferrari, this became a real challenge, as Marlboro was one of their main sponsors. So, how did they deal with the situation?

💡 The Solution:

Ferrari came up with an original workaround — they replaced the familiar Marlboro logo with a barcode design that vaguely resembled the original. From a visual perspective, the similarity was noticeable, and associations with the tobacco brand remained.

📸 In old photos of the Ferrari racing team, you can see how this barcode looked on race cars and drivers’ suits. However, it wasn’t that simple — Ferrari faced criticism for “hidden” tobacco advertising. Team representatives argued that the red color wasn’t Marlboro’s brand shade but rather the traditional Italian racing color.

😅 Ultimately, public pressure became too strong, and Ferrari was forced to remove the barcode. Interestingly, the team’s fans didn’t oppose the idea at all and even actively bought merchandise featuring the “tobacco” barcodes.

🔍 Takeaway:

Hidden advertising in sports is not just a way to bypass bans — it’s also an art of balancing brand image with legal requirements.

Personality Traits & Gambling: Nigeria vs. Norway

We explored how Big Five personality traits influence player behavior across regions. The analysis is based on materials from Spice Your Dice and original research:

🇳🇬 Nigeria — 390 online players surveyed using the Big Five model and South Oaks Gambling Screen.

🇳🇴 Norway — 10,081 participants evaluated with the PGSI index.

We compared players across the five Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness.

1. Neuroticism

🔴 Nigeria: 76.7% of players show high anxiety and emotional instability.

🔵 Norway: Similar trend — neuroticism correlates strongly with problem gambling.

Takeaway: High anxiety is a universal psychological risk factor.

2. Conscientiousness

🔴 Nigeria: Only 5.6% of players exhibit strong self-discipline.

🔵 Norway: Low conscientiousness is also common among problem gamblers.

Takeaway: Impulsivity and lack of self-control are consistent behavioral patterns.

3. Agreeableness

🔴 Nigeria: Just 3.8% of problem gamblers display empathy or trust.

🔵 Norway: High-risk players also show low levels of agreeableness.

Takeaway: Distrust and self-centeredness may distort risk assessment in gambling.

4. Extraversion

🔴 Nigeria: Only 9.5% of players are extraverts.

🔵 Norway: Extraversion shows no notable effect on gambling behavior.

Takeaway: Gambling in Nigeria may serve as a coping mechanism for social withdrawal.

5. Openness to Experience

🔴 Nigeria: Lowest score — just 0.8% of players are open to novelty or creativity.

🔵 Norway: No significant difference between gamblers and control group.

Takeaway: In developing markets, players tend to stick to familiar models and “their own rules.”

Summary

MISTAKES IN CREATIVES THAT COST YOU DEARLY

When it comes to creating ad creatives, the first thing to focus on is the user’s pain points. But there’s an important nuance: media buyers often keep re-uploading the same creative simply because they like it. It may look beautiful and be well-produced, but that doesn’t guarantee its success.

Always remember: the creative should appeal first and foremost to your target audience. A great example comes from Bangladesh. At first glance, their creatives might look outdated — square graphics, poor quality, simple presentation. But they convert! Why? Because they match the expectations and emotional triggers of the local audience.

Key takeaway: Your creatives don’t need to please you — they need to please your potential customers. To achieve this, you must:

  1. Understand the audience’s pain points.
  2. Build hypotheses based on those pain points.
  3. Highlight those pains directly in your creatives.

From experience, most creative-related mistakes happen when this principle is ignored.

Mistake 1 — Reusing old creatives.

Even experienced buyers sometimes go back to using old videos. But the market and audience evolve quickly, and what worked six months ago might not work today. It’s better to start fresh with a new idea and build a new creative.

Mistake 2 — Poor localization.

This includes:

• Text errors

• Wrong currencies (e.g., using dollars instead of euros)

• Incorrect payment methods

• Low-quality UGC voiceovers — the actor speaks with errors or broken language

Even a strong creative idea can lose impact due to these small issues, reducing conversion.

Mistake 3 — Incentivized or misleading creatives.

Promises like “$ 1,000 for signing up” or “real money for installing the app” don’t work. Yet, both beginners and seasoned buyers still test such tactics. The problem? These creatives promise things the product doesn’t deliver — leading to low-quality traffic and poor conversion.

Mistake 4 — Mass uploading old strategies.

Repeating the same tactics without adapting to market changes often leads to disappointment.

Don’t forget: the success of your creatives depends on their ability to solve real problems for your audience!

How to Increase Tournament Engagement Through Notifications

In this post, we’ll explain how to boost player engagement in tournaments using “tournament notifications.”

Tournament Participation Mechanics 🎮

First, let’s describe how a player joins a tournament on our platform. To participate, the player needs to:

1. Visit the tournament page;

2. Click the “Join” button.

After completing these two steps, the player will start earning points for bets made in tournament games.

Hypothesis Description 💡

As part of a task to improve player engagement in tournament activities, we formulated the following hypothesis:

If we develop a system of tournament notifications and show them to players, tournament engagement will increase.

Based on this hypothesis, we created three types of notifications:

Notification 1: appears 24 hours before the tournament starts;

Notification 2: appears 30 minutes before the tournament starts;

Notification 3: appears 24 hours after the tournament has started.

Each notification is a small card in the corner of the screen, displaying the tournament name, prize pool, and a “Learn More” button. Clicking the button takes the player to the tournament page.

A/B Test Description 🧪

To test our hypothesis, we launched an A/B test.

Control group: sees no changes.

Test group: receives tournament notifications.

We selected 200 players based on the following criteria:

— The player made more than 500 bets in the previous week;

— The player had never participated in local tournaments before.

Both groups were offered the same tournament with identical conditions and duration (1 week).

Results 📊

First experiment:

Control group:

 — 7 players registered for the tournament;

 — 87 players were active during the tournament (made deposits or bets but didn’t register).

Test group:

 — 38 players registered for the tournament;

 — 78 players were active during the tournament.

We decided to repeat the experiment with a new player sample (all other conditions remained the same).

Second experiment:

Control group:

 — 9 players registered for the tournament;

 — 79 players were active during the tournament.

Test group:

 — 42 players registered for the tournament;

 — 90 players were active during the tournament.

Conclusion ✅

Based on the test results, we see that the hypothesis proved to be effective and attracted significantly more players.

As a result, we began using tournament notifications but implemented the following rules:

— Tournament notifications should not appear when a player is in the cashier or in-game. We should not interrupt the player during key actions (deposits and bets).

— Tournament notifications from different tournaments must not overlap. The player should not see multiple tournament alerts on their screen simultaneously.

Player Reactivation: Free Spins vs Deposit Bonus

We recently ran a reactivation campaign targeting users who had made only one deposit and had been inactive for 30 to 365 days.

Our goal was to test which incentive works better for re-engaging players: a percentage deposit bonus or free spins for depositing.

Target audience:

More than 10,000 users met the criteria, but for the test we selected two groups of 1,000 users each.

Group A:

— 50% deposit bonus

— Min. deposit: 40 EUR

— Max. bonus: 500 EUR

— Wagering: 35x

Group B:

— 100 free spins

— Spin value: 0.2 EUR

— Min. deposit: 40 EUR

— Max. win: 500 EUR

— Wagering: 35x

A user was considered reactivated if they claimed the bonus and made a deposit.

📊 Results after 2 weeks:

Group A:

— Email opens: 283

— Website visits: 124

— Deposits made: 54

Group B:

— Email opens: 345

— Website visits: 239

— Deposits made: 149

🧩 Conclusion:

Free spins proved significantly more effective. Nearly 15% of Group B made a deposit, compared to just 5.5% in Group A.

The free spins campaign also showed a better ROI relative to deposit value, as the bonus cost per user was lower.

However, the main objective was user reactivation — and in that regard, free spins clearly outperformed. A longer-term ROI comparison will show which players bring higher lifetime value.

FOMO in iGaming: How the Fear of Missing Out Affects Player Behavior

Even if you’ve never heard the term FOMO, you’ve almost certainly experienced it.

A simple example: “Only today — the best discounts on our product.” This kind of message creates a sense of urgency: “If I don’t buy now, I’ll have to pay more later.” That’s FOMO — Fear of Missing Out — a psychological trigger marketers use to encourage action: purchase, registration, deposit, etc.

We decided to test FOMO-based mechanics in the iGaming space and are ready to share real results.

A few notes before we begin:

All tests were conducted in A/B format;

Only the test group was exposed to FOMO elements;

We’ll focus on hypotheses and results, skipping the technical details.

🎁 Deposit Bonus

Hypothesis:

Adding a label like “Exclusive Offer” and a countdown timer to a deposit bonus will increase bonus activation through the FOMO effect.

Setup:

Both groups received the same bonus. The test group saw additional urgency elements. Participant groups rotated daily. Duration — 3 days.

Results:

— Day 1: test — 31%, control — 15%

— Day 2: test — 28%, control — 17%

— Day 3: test — 32%, control — 15%

🤝 Referral Program

Hypothesis:

Adding a countdown and CTA like “Invite your friend now and get an exclusive no-deposit bonus” will drive more engagement with the referral program.

Setup:

Both groups had access to the updated referral program, but only the test group saw the FOMO messaging. Duration — 1 week.

Results:

Test group: 11% earned the bonus, 65% visited the referral page

Control group:

4% earned the bonus, 29% visited the page

💰 Welcome Offer for Organic Traffic

Hypothesis:

Displaying a countdown timer on the welcome offer will increase conversion from visits to registrations and from registrations to deposits.

Setup:

For two weeks, all organic traffic was split into two groups. Only the test group saw a timer on the welcome offer. The offer itself was identical.

Results:

Test group:

— Week 1: Visit2Reg — 9%, Reg2Dep — 14%

— Week 2: Visit2Reg — 5%, Reg2Dep — 11%

Control group:

— Week 1: Visit2Reg — 8%, Reg2Dep — 15%

— Week 2: Visit2Reg — 7%, Reg2Dep — 13%

🫡 Conclusions

FOMO tools work especially well with active or previously engaged users. These players already know the platform, so limited-time offers trigger a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

For new users, FOMO is less effective. This audience is still exploring the product and can’t yet distinguish between standard features and truly unique opportunities. Their decisions around registration and first deposits are more likely influenced by overall trust, UX, reviews, and general terms — not by artificially created pressure.

Tattoos That Tell Gambling Stories

In this article, we’ve gathered some incredible stories of people who permanently marked their bodies with symbols of gambling, casinos, and luck. We’ll also highlight the most popular tattoos among players.

🀄️ Tattoos as Punishment

In China, during the Qin Dynasty (221−206 BC), gambling participants were marked with a special tattoo on their forehead. This was not a voluntary act — gamblers were branded as punishment. The tattoo served as a public mark of shame, allowing others to instantly recognize lawbreakers. Although this practice was later abolished, the fight against gambling continued.

💰 Forehead for Sale — As Ad Space

In 2005, American Caroline Smith made headlines after auctioning off her forehead for \$ 10,000 to advertise any company. Popular gambling website GoldenPalace.com purchased the space. Caroline went through with the tattoo despite her tattoo artists trying to talk her out of it — all for the future of her son.

🎭 Viktor Arkadyevich: Willing to Bet It All

Former chess teacher from Belarus, Viktor Arkadyevich, known by his nickname “Yoshkin-Matyroshkin,” spent ten years gambling at betting shops and racked up major debts. Now, he gets tattoos in exchange for money to pay them off — for example, one tattoo earned him \$ 5,000. Still, he soon returned to betting, even selling his toilet for more gambling funds.

💊 Two Friends and Their Love for Betfred

In 2021, two friends from the UK — Rob Irwin and Jonathan White — got matching tattoos of the Betfred gambling company after winning £14,000. They celebrated their win in Tenerife and decided to commemorate their friendship with ink.

🚫 Stop-Tattoos for Gambling Addicts

On forums, you can find stories of people who use tattoos as reminders of the consequences of gambling and their fight against addiction.

Claw Machines — Gambling or Just a Game?

⚡️ Can claw machines be considered a form of gambling?

You pay a small fee — and try to grab a toy. It seems like it all depends on your skill, but sometimes the claw opens too early, and the prize drops. So, what’s really going on?

Journalists from VOX examined the manual of one such machine and came to some interesting conclusions:

🔍 Key findings from the investigation:

After the article was published, one claw machine operator removed all related documentation — which raises the question: is this just a game, or real-money gambling?

⚖️ How it’s viewed in other countries:

In some countries, such as Brazil and Thailand, claw machines are officially considered games of chance, i.e., gambling.

Are Branded Games Necessary?

The short answer is yes. However, there are several nuances to consider.

Let’s break down how branded games can impact a project:

This list could go on, but it’s important to note that these points are somewhat abstract. We’re more interested in the actual impact of branded games — so here’s our experience.

On a project with a monthly GGR of $ 9−10 million, we added three branded slots and monitored the results.

📊 Registration Conversion

The first test ran for 3 months.

Hypothesis: The presence of branded games will build trust and increase the registration conversion rate.

Traffic was split 50/50.

The test group saw a registration form featuring branded game logos placed at the top of the homepage. The control group saw a standard form with the games positioned mid-page.

Visit-to-registration results:

Month 1:

Test group — 29%

Control group — 31%

Month 2:

Test group — 33%

Control group — 32%

Month 3:

Test group — 31%

Control group — 36%

Conclusion: The hypothesis was not confirmed — branded games did not improve registration conversion.

🤔 Interest in the Games

After launching the branded slots, we sent out a newsletter. The open rate was 43%.

Over the next week, interest grew:

One game entered the Top 9 by bet volume, another hit Top 14, and the third made Top 21.

Two weeks later, interest declined, and the slots dropped to around Top 35−40 — players returned to their familiar games.

🏅 Boosting Interest Through a Tournament

We launched a tournament using only the three branded games to spark interest.

Results:

Interest was successfully boosted. Even after the tournament, some players continued playing these slots. Total bets on these games increased by 25−30% compared to the pre-tournament period. The branded slots stabilized in the Top 15−20 range.

While most players still prefer familiar games, branded slots have formed their own audience.

🫡 Conclusion

Branded games are an effective marketing and PR tool. However, their advantages for players are not always obvious.

To boost engagement, it’s worth launching additional activities and tournaments, and actively introducing players to the games.

Game quality also matters — strong visuals and popular mechanics (like hold and win) significantly improve the chances of attracting and retaining players.

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