GPWA Times - Issue 21 - May 2012

that even the female employees have started to take an interest. We all love our sport both play- ing and watching so the weekly sweepstakes is always interesting. You recently joined Winner Affiliates af- ter working with other Playtech-powered brands. Is the fact that you’ve worked spe- cifically at Playtech brands a coincidence or intentional? What makes marketing Playtech brands different from marketing others? I have been working with PT brands for nine years now and it is a fact that they are the biggest software provider in the industry and also a market leader in the field. When you are working with the best it does make your job easier but also sets a bar that you need to reach on a daily basis to make sure you don’t do injus- tice to the brand. I know the brands very well, and how they have grown is amazing. I only see bigger and better things for them, which here at Winner we will be a huge part of. What do you know about the industry now that you wish you had known when you first started? I think in hindsight everything is easier and for sure the nine years have been a huge learning curve but nothing has sur- prised me that I can think of. I knew from my early days that the potential was huge and the way the industry has evolved has been remark- able and a credit to all of the people involved as I do believe that it is these people who have brought about this change and not just things like technology or regulations. How do you ensure that payments are sent out on time? And when do your payments go out? Again our experience tells us how im- portant it is that affiliates get paid on time and we have a payment processing team that takes care of this and has to date been really efficient and we haven’t had any problems. We have a good process in place that is internally secure and yet relatively painless as well to ensure no silly delays. We pay out once a month before the 10th of each month. Where do you think the industry will be in five years? I think mobile and tablet gaming will continue to be huge and surpass online PC gaming by some way this year or next with the development in smartphone technology es- pecially. I think that the market will continue to consolidate itself with other big JV’s and mergers but most of all I believe that the social side of the industry will grow. It’s important for affiliates and operators to be connected to Facebook and other networks as that is the di- rection I see it going. What is it like to work in the online gambling industry in Tel Aviv? While the city has a big population, the industry has a rather large presence there. Do you run into people who work in the industry (outside of your own colleagues) often? I think it is similar a bit to Gibraltar, where everyone knows everyone. It is a small world and you often find that you mingle in the same circles and it is all in good fun – I wouldn’t say there are any fierce rivalries or any- thing like that; at the end of the day we are all here to make good business and have fun while doing it. We work in one of the best industries in the world if not the best, so we have to enjoy it and thank our lucky stars how fortunate we are that we get to do what we do. Word is you recently ran your second mara- thon right in Tel Aviv, raising money for the Rishon Multiple Sclerosis Aid Group, which supports Jewish people with MS and raises funds for research. How did it go? And why is this cause so important to you? It is a great cause and a charity that is very close to my heart as MS has affected my immediate family and is an illness that has no cure. I channel all my charity work towards MS hoping that one day a cure may be found. Everyone says I am mad for running my second marathon but when you think about people who suffer from MS (and other illnesses) around the world it makes run- Yoni (right) completed his second marathon earlier this year. 67 Affiliate Manager Interview Series