With the World Series of Poker (WSOP) reaching its culmination, the spotlight for the past few months has been on gambling, specifically online gambling.
Events like the WSOP, which hosts lucrative online poker tournaments, are what feeds into the interest in online casino gaming. This year’s WSOP saw many newcomers emerge from obscurity and win their first WSOP bracelets, alongside hundreds of thousands, sometimes even millions, in prize money.
But online gaming has been booming for years, and even in the absence of major professional tournaments, professionals have been busy maintaining their form on leading online gaming platforms.
This article will look at a few of the criteria that online gaming brands have to meet to attract professional gamblers to their ranks.
Brand Recognition
Professional players can be quite picky in selecting a casino site that will meet their precise needs and requirements.
Over the last decade, the iGaming sector has seen the emergence of several brands that have garnered an impeccable reputation for providing reliable, personalised, and customer-oriented services. Some of these operators, like PokerStars or GG Poker, have also been known to sponsor tournaments for poker and other casino games.
The bottom line is that professional and casual players will often go for a gaming provider with a proven track record rather than choose an obscure brand.
Casino Licensing and Security
Professionals would conduct a thorough UK online casinos review to ensure the company holds an adequate operating licence before even considering registration.
Professional gamblers in the UK will check if the casino is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, the nation’s main gaming regulator.
A UKGC license implies that the company providing gaming services is in full compliance with remote gaming regulations and provides all necessary player protections. The commission’s strict gaming policies have helped curb the spread of unregulated online gaming and helped create a trusted gaming space for ordinary players and professionals alike.
Loyalty/VIP Programs
Most major online gambling brands in the UK have a loyalty scheme or VIP program to award and incentivise player engagement.
VIP programs are designed to appeal to ordinary users as well but are frequently constructed into multiple tiers, the highest of which can only be achieved by the most dedicated players.
The top levels of VIP programs are often tailored to the needs of high-rollers and professionals, offering many personalised benefits and perks to high-status members.
These perks can include everything from tournament invitations and personalised offers to higher withdrawal limits, cashback, and so on.
Casino Bonuses and Promotions
Professional gamers don’t (always) play out of sheer love for the game. They are there to win money, and when you offer them an incentive, like a casino bonus, you can be sure they will be interested.
Some casinos aim more toward attracting casual casino players with smaller welcome bonuses and new-player promotions. Knowing the wide appeal of high-stakes gaming, other platforms provide cash offers that would better suit players with deeper pockets and professional bettors.
Some sizable casino bonuses come with wagering requirements that are often hard to meet and require vigorous and quite costly gaming spells over several days. While casual players would struggle to claim these bonuses, they represent a welcome sight for many professionals.
Live Casino Tournaments
Small tournaments have served as a springboard for many players who would later dive into professional waters.
With the advent of online casinos, poker, blackjack, roulette, and baccarat tournaments have become more accessible to the general public.
Tournaments are a training ground for ambitious players and future professional gamblers, with casino operators promoting live casino events for players of every skill level. Major operators like UK-based 888 Poker and PokerStars also host live poker tournaments where professional players often compete for hefty cash prizes.
Large Selection of Casino Games
Professional gambling mostly involves poker, where there is a wide interest in competitive poker events among both amateurs and professionals.
Major online casino sites would often have a separate section dedicated entirely to poker, including Omaha, Texas Hold’em, and Caribbean Stud Poker, among other variants.
But there is also a small market for professional players of blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, although these games are generally considered to be more chance-based.
Professional players look for operators with an extensive choice of live games that involve playing against actual dealers and players.
Casino sites that promote live gaming partner with major developers whose primary target is live casino players.
Developers like Pragmatic Play and Evolution Gaming run popular live dealer studios with various poker, blackjack, baccarat, and roulette tables catering to beginners, high-rollers, and professionals.
Convenient Payments
High-stakes players and professionals who actively participate in online events tend to play for days, even weeks on end.
Of course, professionals can play casually like any ordinary player (only with a much greater skill set). Still, they are often drawn to high-risk wagering and tend to manage large gaming budgets.
For that reason, one of the first things any professional would look for in a gambling operator is a convenient banking policy that allows sizable deposits and convenient withdrawal rates.
A Word of Notice
Gambling is still a widely disputed practise, even as governments in the UK, Europe, and the US are easing restrictions against such practices while staying alert to the dangers of problem gambling.
A professional player is someone, often a poker player, who earns most of their money playing casino games.
Many casino games, including poker, are based, to an extent, on luck, so being a professional player always involves a high level of risk. Professionals often have vast gaming budgets, can estimate how much they can afford to lose and have high confidence in their skills and complete control of their emotions.
When not competing in large tournaments, professionals sharpen their skills by participating in small online tournaments organised by web-based casino platforms, with a growing number of online gaming operators adjusting their services and products to accommodate pro players.
