We know that you like to read about fellow affiliates, so we are bringing you another inspirational story of gambling affiliates. For this interview we caught up with Adel , full-time affiliate webmaster of SweetBet.com: an online gambling directory which reviews and also lists some of the most reputable online poker, casino, bingo, sports betting and other gambling related websites.

Name: Adel 
Age: 48
Hometown: Canberra, Australia
Living in: Canberra, Australia
Favorite Food: Molokhia
Must Read Book: The Demonologist : The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren
Profession/Job title: Full-time affiliate webmaster

GAV: Hello Adel, first of all, tell us and our readers a little bit about yourself. How did your career start in the industry? What was the main idea of developing this great online gambling/casino directory?

Adel: I started off as a high school teacher, but the high stress and low pay of the job forced me to look for other ways to generate an income. I was really interested in making money online, so after researching many ways of making money online, I started promoting online dating sites. Eventually, I came across casino affiliate programs, and haven’t looked back since. Instead of listing as many online casinos as possible, Sweet Bet only reviews and lists the most reputable and best converting online gambling sites in the industry.

GAV: Since there are thousands and thousands of websites out there in your niche, where do you think Sweet Bet stands now?

Adel: Over the many years of operation, I’ve acquired a decent number of regular visitors that access the site on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Most of them are looking to play free games, read the news stories and find the latest casino promotional offers.

GAV: How do you see the online casino market/industry at this moment?

Adel: There are way too many online casinos out there, and so much competition. It’s an uphill struggle to rank in the search engines, acquire new signups, keep hackers at bay, keep the sponsors happy, identify and remove rogue casino affiliate programs and stay ahead of the pack.

GAV: How did you start and most of all what bumps did you have to overcome in the beginning?

Adel: I started off promoting dating affiliate programs, before setting up and managing my own dating sites. The money was OK, but I noticed that affiliates who were promoting online casinos were making much more money than me, so I started promoting online casinos. I initially went broke and closed everything down, until I received a cheque one day in the mail. That one cheque motivated me to give it another try, work harder and not give up. So here I am today, almost 20 years later.

GAV: We have analyzed Sweet Bet and found some great casino reviews. Are you writing it by yourself or do you have a team of people writing for you? How many reviews are there on your website? How about the gambling news section, tell us a bit more about it?

Adel: I wrote some of the reviews, but the majority were written by freelance writers that I contacted through online gambling forums. There are over 230 casino reviews, but most of them have been moved to the “No Longer Promoted“ section because the casino affiliate program closed down, turned rogue or did not convert. The gambling news section gives me a chance to keep the site updated with regular, fresh and interesting content, and a reason to announce something new to the site’s Twitter, Google+, Tumblr and Reddit audience.

GAV: How do you manage to keep the content fresh and relevant on your website, when a lot of fluffy and nonsense appear on the Internet non-stop?

Adel: I have a “to do“ list where I record tasks that must be completed on a regular basis. Then there are one-off tasks and projects that need to be completed. Regular tasks include things like making sure that the site information is up to date, writing news stories, and posting the latest online casino promotional offers. One-off tasks might be something like adding a free games section to a site or moving one of my sites to a new server.

GAV: We are pretty sure that you receive messages from Affiliate Managers on a daily basis showcasing their best products. What are your thoughts on how a real Affiliate Manager-Affiliate relationship should be built?

Adel: I believe that trust is the most important factor in the Affiliate Manager-Affiliate relationship. If an unknown affiliate program contacted me and asked me to work with it, I will more than likely ignore its request because I’ve never heard of it before and I don’t see many affiliates promoting it. However, if a trusted affiliate manager asked me to promote it, then I would more than likely join the program and give it some exposure to see whether it converts or not.

GAV: How do you see the future of the online casino/gambling industry? For instance, will it become a truly global phenomenon?

Adel: As long as there are corrupt politicians favoring special interest groups, restrictive laws that impinge on people’s rights and freedom to spend their money on what they wish, and online censorship, the online gambling industry will never become a truly global phenomenon.

GAV: Tell us one change that you want to see in the casino affiliate ecosystem?!

Adel: I’d like to see more online casinos and affiliate programs offering Bitcoin as an additional form of payment. There are so many benefits of using Bitcoin.

GAV: Do you have any advise you would like to offer for the newbies who are looking to venture into this great industry!?

Adel: Be very careful when choosing which affiliate programs to join. Read the program’s terms and conditions, read posts on the forums about the program and always ask forum members what their experiences have been with the affiliate program in question. You don’t want to join a program, and spend a lot of time and money promoting it, only to find out that it’s rogue and will not be paying you.

GAV: Do you attend any iGaming/online casino conferences? If so, which one is your favorite and what is your most fun experience?

Adel: The last iGaming conference that I attended was many years ago in Sydney. It was great. I met a lot of people in the business, learned a few things, and had a great time. Back then I was single and carefree with no young children or school schedules to worry about.

GAV: What do you think the chances are for Eastern Europe to become a potential gaming hot spot in the near future? Where do you think the region must still improve upon?

Adel: I think that the opening of the Tigre de Cristal casino in Russia’s Primorsky region is the beginning of what could be a growing international gambling destination. However, to compete with gambling destinations such as Las Vegas and Macau, the region must offer its visitors more than Las Vegas and Macau offers them, and at much better prices.

GAV: Where would you like to travel in Eastern Europe?

Adel: I would definitely say Bulgaria. It’s such a beautiful country with picturesque landscapes, over 30 ancient castles, and so much culture and history.

GAV: Where you wouldn’t want to travel in Eastern Europe?

Adel: I’m not sure how safe I’d feel traveling to Ukraine amid all of this military buildup in the region, and the escalating tensions between countries in that part of the word.

GAV: How about a favorite celebrity, do you have one?

Adel: I don’t have a favorite celebrity, but I generally like celebrities that can make me laugh, like Jim Carrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin & Ricky Gervais.

GAV: Tell us your opinion about the Gambling Affiliate Voice?

Adel: It’s a great website that is packed with interesting and useful information. I especially like the affiliate interviews, and reading about how everyone got started in this business.

Would you like to suggest some more questions or subjects for future interviews? Make sure to send your suggestions to: [email protected].