Q&A - Charles Cohen, CEO, Probability
The chief executive of mobile casino operator Probability discusses social gaming, potential entry into the US market, and the importance of TV advertising in growing gambling brands.
eGaming Review (eGR): You recently passed the first phase of Facebook integration “ how long did the process take?
Charles Cohen (CC): It hasn’t taken long, because the technology was only available from Facebook towards the end of last year. Facebook’s technology platform was a long way behind their traditional web platform but they’ve put in a huge amount of investment and effort to bring it up to speed. We were one of the first, but you don’t need Facebook’s permission to do this. It’s an agnostic platform so as long as you’re not breaking the rules within the Facebook environment, you just get on with it. We’re looking at Facebook more as a platform for the community of our players rather than as a transactional platform in its own right.
eGR: Your B2B operations have been doing particularly well with deals in place with major operators “ how has this side of the business developed?
CC: We’re benefiting from the success of the mobile sportsbooks that our clients are offering. Sticking a button on to play roulette or slots or bingo, even just for them is extra revenue, but also means they can offer their clients a full range of their games on mobile that they’ve got them playing on the web. Where we are trying to learn from the experience of the last cycle “ which was the online technology cycle “ is that for a company to do well at B2B it’s got to be able to offer each of its clients something different, so we’re working hard to ensure the offering Ladbrokes has got is going to feel different to those on Hills and on Paddy, so they can all feel that they’re offering something distinctive to their customers if they want it.
eGR: You have applied for a finding of suitability in Nevada. How confident are you of securing a licence there?
CC: In principle, we don’t think we’ll have any issues. Probability is in a good position in terms of being a relatively young firm with a clean track record. We think it’s just a question of the due diligence, which is extensive. You have to respect the process “ they’ve been in this game for a long time and they know what to look for. If you’re not prepared to put up with the level of detail that’s required then you shouldn’t be doing it. We don’t have any deals in place with potential partners in Nevada. In fact, we’re deliberately not looking to talk to people. There doesn’t seem to be any point in starting to have commercial conversations when you don’t know when or even if you will be able to supply them with a service. I’m sure it might make sense for others to do so but in our case there’s no natural partner because there’s no one doing mobile yet.
eGR: How much has TV advertising helped the business in the last year?
CC: This year we’ve discovered that TV works for us and that’s completely changed the business. We’ve gone from mobile marketing to TV marketing but what’s really interesting is the stat that 80% of these customers aren’t online gamblers. This means there’s this huge growth potential for lots of businesses out there. The online market is in longterm structural decline because there aren’t any more PCs being bought, so the fact is that the growth is on mobile. I’d encourage as many people as possible to look at the mobile opportunity and do something about it now before it’s too late.