GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 33 - October 2015

There many different personalities at InterCasino, and we learn from each other on a daily basis. At the water cooler we usually catch up on what happened over the weekend, like who is going to which concert, or talking about the statistics over the weekend and celebrating if there was a big winner. What online gaming conference do you look forward to the most? The affiliate conference I am always looking forward to the most is of course the one in London, as it is the biggest one and very good for business. It used to be at the St. Paul’s Cathedral Hotel, which was by far the best official conference hotel ever . . . there even used to be a Lamborghini in the ho- tel for the conference, which was really cool. From the conferences in Amsterdam, I have received some of my best contacts and made many new friends. What do you wish you could change about the industry? I think that many great changes are already happening in the industry with the introduction of regulation in different markets. Besides that, I wish that the American market would open its doors again. That would be awesome. Where do you think the industry will be in five years? My guess is that more than 50% of the players will be playing through their mobile device and that it will be reg- ulated in each country in Europe in the next five years. Also, there will be more 3-D animation games, and maybe it will be completely virtual, so that you will be able to play with your Google glasses or any other virtual glasses. You speak English, German, Hebrew and Italian. How important is it to be multi- lingual in the online gaming industry? Are there any other languages you’d like to learn? I wish that I had the time to learn Japanese or one of the languag- es spoken in China, as I’m very curious about understanding these markets and how to do business there. In general, it is important to be multilingual in this in- dustry since you meet so many business partners from all over the world. It is defi- nitely an advantage if you speak the same language as your affiliate, in order to not have misunderstandings, which can hap- pen sometimes. All in all, I am happy with the languages I already speak, which of course help me in my day-to-day work. You live in Israel, correct? Is that where you grew up? Where else have you lived? I have lived in Israel for nine years now, specifically in the beautiful and friend- ly city Tel Aviv, and it was for sure the right decision to come here. I grew up in Munich, Germany, where I went to school and where I spent all my life before I moved to Israel. I do not know if I will spend the rest of my life here, but for now I really enjoy it, and for sure I will spend the next couple of years in Israel. If someone from out of town were to visit you, where is the one place you would have to take them? This is an easy answer, as I like adventures, culture and traveling. If someone from out of town is visiting me, I usually take him to Jerusalem to the Wailing Wall and to the historic Dead Sea, where you are able to float in the water. Jerusalem is for many people a holy place, and you can find all different kinds of re- ligions in one place. This usually makes a trip unforgettable and it is the experience of a lifetime. What is the last book you read? I have to be honest with you, I wish I had more free time to read. In my spare time (I don’t have enough of it), I love to read the news about all kinds of stuff, for example, poli- tics, sports, gaming and gossip. What’s your favorite movie? My favorite movie is Star Wars . I basically grew up with all the Star Wars movies and there was never a time where I got bored re- watching it. I am also a big fan of all the Marvel movies, such as Iron Man and The Avengers , which are very good. So the last movie I saw was Ant-Man , which I recom- mend to you as well, if you like Marvel movies too. What do you use for most of your Web surfing: A desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone? I have not used a desktop computer for a very long time as I need to be flexible, especially with my job and the traveling. So mainly I use my laptop for Web surfing, but I also use my smartphone and my iPad here and there. iPhone or Android? And if we took out your earbuds, what would we find you listening to? I am definitely an Apple person and connected with their whole network. I have an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook Pro and Apple TV at home. It makes a lot of things easier as everything is saved on my iCloud. Concerning music, I am very open-mind- ed, but you will always find me listen- ing to classic and modern hip-hop. I also like to listen to a little bit of R&B, electro, house and mainstream. If you could go anywhere on vacation, where would you go? Thailand, as almost everyone who has been there already has said nice things about it and that it is very relaxing. I also would really like to vaca- tion in Las Vegas to see the capital city of gambling and what is going on over there. If you could have dinner with three people, living or dead, who would they be? Tough question, but I guess it would be with the hilariously funny comedians Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen. I know that from the begin- ning this would be one of my most amus- ing dinners ever. Name three things that people reading this magazine don’t know about you. As I have nothing to hide and I am an open book, there is not much that people don’t know about me. Though only my good friends from the past know that I was a professional Go-Kart driver — I started at the age of 10 in a Go-Kart that went 150 km/h and drove in the Club and South Bavarian Championship series for about six years. Besides that, I have been a veg- etarian for ethical and health reasons for three years. Also, I love extreme sports and I have been I have been a huge fan of the football team Bayern Munich since childhood as it is my hometown club. AFFILIATE MANAGER INTERVIEW SERIES Affiliate Manager Interview Series