My weekly column, “Becky’s Affiliated”, is released every Thursday morning and this series of mine has been running strong for over three years now. I cover everything in the gaming industry from affiliate advice to Bitcoin, regulation, innovation, key conference takeaways and everything else in between. Sometimes my column includes an interview with an industry expert or two, other times I share my own opinion on a particular topic, but no matter what form it comes in, each installment of Becky’s Affiliated comes to you straight from my heart.
2016 proved to be an exciting year with Trump’s election, advancements in Bitcoin and Blockchain, Virtual and Augmented Reality innovation, eSports and so much more. Looking back on the year, these are my top five favorite Becky’s Affiliated editions spanning a variety of topics, nicely recapping some of the highlights from the year.
5)Advice for iGaming Affiliates with Roo Wright: Its never too late to start (again)
Roo Wright is one of my oldest friends in the business, an incredibly successful iGaming affiliate with well over a decade of experience in the industry. Wright is the co-founder of BingoPort.co.uk and he sold his online bingo businesses, including Bingo Port, in 2014 for 10.5 million pounds. While most would think retirement is the next step after a sale this large, Wright could only stay away for a few years and now he’s back in affiliate land with the website Hityah.com.
This edition of Becky’s Affiliated was created to inspire affiliates with advice and experience from one of the greatest and to remind us of what an outstanding industry we work in.
4) UIGEA 10 Year Anniversary with Victor Rocha and Jeff Ifrah
October 13, 2016 was the 10 year anniversary of UIGEA, a bill that was passed on September 30th, 2006 and signed into law by President Bush several weeks later. The impact of this bill is still felt today and no one who was working in the iGaming industry at the time of its passing missed the news when it hit.
In this special edition of Becky’s Affiliated, I included two separate video interviews with Victor Rocha and Jeff Ifrah on the 10 year anniversary, both shot at G2E 2016. Rocha and Ifrah shared their memories of UIGEA’s passage and the impact the bill had on the iGaming industry back then all the way through to today.
3) UK Paving the way for Bitcoin and mixed fiat iGaming operators with Jon Matonis
As you likely already know, we at CalvinAyre.com are huge fans of Bitcoin and Jon Matonis is one of the leading experts on Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. The UK Gambling Commission announced its decision to add Bitcoin to its list of acceptable currencies as of October 31, 2016, a piece of news that prompted a video interview with Matonis on the subject.
In this installment of Becky’s Affiliated, Matonis complimented the forward-thinking of the UKGC which has provided a nice example for other regulators in our space. While Bitcoin-only casinos operating in the unregulated space have provided a testing ground for the appetite of Bitcoin in the iGaming market, Matonis explained how the UKGC’s move helps set the stage for Bitcoin acceptance in the regulated iGaming space.
2) Fireside chat with Patrick Basham on US Presidential Election, Brexit and Bitcoin
I first met Patrick Basham about six years ago in London after reading his book, “Gambling: A Safe Bet”. Straight off the bat I appreciated Basham’s fearless attitude towards sharing his opinions on highly controversial topics including everything from politics to gambling, movements of the alcohol industry, the tobacco industry and so on.
When Basham told me he was coming to London in early October this year, I scheduled an interview with him so we could discuss his opinion on hot issues such as the impact the results of the US election and Brexit will have on the gambling industry and the potential of Bitcoin. This is one Becky’s Affiliated installment no one should miss.
1) Why you should watch Shared Experiences
Just a few weeks ago I dedicated an edition of Becky’s Affiliated to one of my favorite CalvinAyre.com video series, “Shared Experiences”. This series took us over a year to prepare for, everything from choosing our subjects to scheduling time with them to filming, editing and finally releasing the series with the re-launch of our site.
I love this series so much as it highlights the exceptional leadership we enjoy in our industry today and because it provides insights on how to better manage your business and even how to improve your life. In this edition of Becky’s Affiliated, I run through each subject, why we chose them and explain in greater detail what you will learn while you are watching this inspiring series.
