GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 45 - October 2019

here’s a gambling market out there that’s got about 20 million monthly visitors. And odds are, you don’t know about it. So it’s time to learn what this market is, who the successful affiliates are and how this ecosystem differs from tradi- tional iGaming. Have you heard of skins gambling? What’s a skin? No, in this case it’s not the largest organ on your body. If you’re a gamer, a skin is a digital artefact that doesn’t affect gameplay, but does differentiate you. For example: You play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. You’ve got a black gun. You buy a gun skin for $5, and now you’ve got a red gun. And before you ridicule these people, just think about the stuff other people collect: paintings, baseball cards, Pok é mon cards, beer cans . . . . We’re human, we collect stuff. Skins are essentially cryptocurrency and have a tradable value. People want to gamble, so they pawn these items of value to gamble with them. Hence, skins gambling. Skins gambling has had huge spikes of activity, first in May 2016 and then in April 2017. Ever since, skins gambling has slowly declined in popularity. The main point about skins gambling is: It is gambling for gamers and nobody else. These days, skins gambling is slowly losing momentum, but that vacuum is being filled with loot boxes — which are much like “lucky dip” bags — and what I call “gamer gambling.” Gamer gamblers see themselves as one of the 400 million gamers on the planet. Gamers win because they use their judgement to make faster, better kills than the next player. Gamers don’t see themselves as helpless gamblers. They see casino players as helpless losers who have no control over what they do. Casino players want to ride that rollercoaster of luck. They’re happy to let go of the steering wheel to see what fate brings. Ca- sino players love the dopamine hit randomness serves up. Even if a casino player loses, that dopamine hit still comes through. That’s why casinos make profit — because gamblers come back even if they keep losing. We all have a self-image that steers our decisions and, ultimately, our life. You are reading this because you are an affiliate. It’s who you are. We all gamble in some way. Anything with an uncertain outcome is a gamble. You might gamble on investing in a new website. The more experienced you are, the less of a gamble you’re taking. But technically, any speculation is still a gamble because there is still an uncertain outcome. The closest comparison between a gamer gambler and a tradi- tional casino gambler is probably table game players. You play blackjack efficiently, you reduce the house edge to a technical minimum. That takes skill. So what is a gamer gambler casino? (Hint: It’s not a regular iGaming casino.) A gamer gambler casino has: • Multiple games (usually three or four). • Simplified game mechanics. • Instant messaging and chat. • Tokens you buy with cryptocurrency, skins or regular currency. • Very few slots. • Small bet sizes. • The feel of a mobile application: no pictures of people, none of the iconography from normal casinos. • A design built for function. GAMER GAMBLING Illustration by Iconic Bestiary/Shutterstock G P W A t i m e s . o r g 36