iGaming Content Writing: What 40 Years in Journalism Taught Me

I’ve got iGaming, journalism and content marketing running through my veins, thanks to an unconventional 40-year career.

Not that I look down on any hard-working competitors in the saturated iGaming content-writing space, but I truly believe there’s no one else who can match my experience and skillset. From news editing national newspapers in the UK, to running PokerStars’ content operations, and now leading my iGaming content-writing agency, I’ve been on quite a journey.

But as every business owner associated with online gambling knows, you can’t take anything for granted. AI has been a significant disruptor, slashing Magic Word Media’s revenues and forcing us to become leaner and meaner (while still being friendly to deal with, of course).

Leaving Rupert Murdoch for Isai Scheinberg

If ever there were two self-made, enigmatic business moguls, it’s these two. And I’ve worked with them both.

“If ever there were two self-made, enigmatic business moguls, it’s these two. And I’ve worked with them both.”

When I was a news editor at The Sun, Rupert Murdoch, while visiting London, would regularly walk up to the news desk to ask what the big stories of the day were. Unfortunately, the first time he did this to me, the breaking news was that our editor, Rebekah Wade, had been arrested after an alleged confrontation at home with her soap-star husband, Ross Kemp.

That was in 2005 and, although I didn’t know it then, it wouldn’t be long before I joined PokerStars and Isai Scheinberg. The distance between a newsroom and a gambling company is shorter than either side likes to admit, something we have written about before in the strained relationship between journalists and gambling.

Like so many others, I’d started trying online poker. One day on the news desk, I answered a call from PokerStars asking if I’d like to go on a press trip with them to Las Vegas to see the World Series of Poker. During the stay, I got on well with the PokerStars execs, and they agreed to buy me into various European Poker Tour events.

The business had exploded since its online qualifier, the aptly named Chris Moneymaker, famously won the WSOP in 2003. And it was now looking for a head of content to support it. It was a natural fit for me, and I began running the PokerStars Blog before adding the copywriting team and the PokerStars School to my duties.

It Was All About the Players

While my journalism skills were important, I soon realised that PokerStars was laser-focused on doing everything for its customers. And that transitioned into my teams making the players the stars of every piece. We didn’t just cover news, we unearthed the stories behind qualifiers at major events, helping to create narratives and characters that brought tournament coverage to life.

Storytelling like this was missing from other poker outlets at the time, and the readership of PokerStars Blog skyrocketed until 2011, when Black Friday shut down our American market. Subsequent regulation across different territories forced us to fragment the website, and SEO became increasingly critical in supporting content efforts.

This was my first real encounter with the art of SEO in content writing, and how you can maintain a brilliant narrative while still targeting Google’s favour. I’d like to think that pleasing regular readers with interesting copy, while attracting new ones via search, played a small part in PokerStars’ ongoing success, leading to its $4.9 billion sale in 2014.

It’s Not All About You

Building a brand image and creating content that puts the customer above all else were key for PokerStars. But still today, we see so much iGaming content that dismisses storytelling entirely. The content is all about the company and its services, and not about what it means to the customer.

It’s the customers reading it, after all, so why not address their needs and pain points? Read just about any casino or sportsbook ‘About’ page to see hundreds of words of nonsense about why ‘we’re the largest and the best casino in the world’. It’s all we, we, we, not you, you, you.

“It’s all we, we, we, not you, you, you.”

Writing on iGaming affiliate sites is another sad example of how so much content is thin and poorly researched. How many dull casino reviews have you seen that look like thousands of others? They’re littered with cliché phrases, and barely scratch the surface of what it’s like as a player to experience a site.

Magic Word Media, which I founded in 2018, strikes a better balance, drawing on my journalism experience and my player-centric work at PokerStars.

Boutique Content Service

We’re certainly not the biggest iGaming content agency. But that makes us agile and able to offer a personal service for our clients. I’m eternally grateful to them all, and while I never take their custom for granted, I’m thrilled so many stay with us year after year.

The client base reflects the iGaming industry, a mix of casino and sportsbook operators, mostly from regulated markets like the UK, Canada and the US. Although we work primarily in English, we do offer other languages, for example, working with a significant operator in Spain.

Then we have the affiliates, which tend to cover regulated and grey-market territories. And we work with iGaming service providers, like game studios, HR and tech companies.

You can split the clients into two camps: those that still supply incredibly detailed briefs for each article, and those who leave it all to us. While the former makes our job easier, we’re flattered that companies trust our experience and SEO know-how to structure pieces correctly in an ever-changing search minefield.

Hit by the AI Explosion

Which brings me neatly to the impact of AI on content writing. I won’t sugarcoat it: AI has been a disaster for us, and for content writers in every niche, not just iGaming.

It’s a double-edged sword. Firstly, many affiliates think they’re saving a fortune by churning out hundreds of pages of AI slop. That’s money straight off the table for us. Secondly, the AI-generated summaries at the top of most Google search results mean fewer people click on affiliate sites, leading to yet more pressure on content budgets. This publication has looked at the same split from the other side, in where AI has already won in iGaming content, and where it can’t follow.

“AI has been a disaster for us, and for content writers in every niche, not just iGaming.”

Operators, on the other hand, particularly those in regulated markets, are sticking with skilled content writers. The risk of AI hallucinations, and from Google punishing them for thin content, is too great. Just ask any of the AI agents about a site’s bonus and its terms and conditions, and you’ll see how dangerously wrong the answer can be.

With that said, I’m not ashamed to admit that AI has forced me to cut some roles at Magic Word Media. I had to take a couple of very good writers off the payroll as some affiliate clients cut budgets or dispensed with human writers altogether. Budgets are being squeezed from the other direction too, as the promo code tracking problem sets out.

We tried offering a service to edit poor AI content, but it’s not setting the world alight. Because of the time it takes, it still costs 50% as much as our own human-written content. In testing, we were told it still doesn’t sound human enough. Well, that’s why it’s half price, folks; you get what you pay for.

At the end of the day, I’m a firm believer in what goes around comes around. The amount of achingly poor AI content, with its repetitive structure and phrasing, not to mention terrible accuracy, is becoming increasingly obvious. Google will punish this drivel, and affiliates will come to realise that even editing the pages isn’t enough. They’ll need to revert to professional writers.

Good human content today fuses an interesting, customer-centric narrative with traditional SEO techniques, all while now expressing authority. Google loves that, and it’s why we get asked so much for use of our bylines and author bios. In-the-know clients want their content to ooze authority and trust, and to respond directly to what their readers are looking for.

Regulatory Headwinds

Once we’ve collectively overcome the AI tidal wave, I’m expecting regulatory changes to be the next storm on the horizon.

We’ve already seen in markets like the UK, where increasing taxation and clamping down on how operators attract new players are hitting the bottom line. This feeds through to some affiliate sites, and that eventually reflects on content budgets.

Future technology will surely also make it harder for players in regulated markets to access non-licensed, unregulated offshore casinos and sportsbooks. With the screw turning, that, too, will mean less money for affiliates.

All of which means that over time, it will be a case of survival of the fittest. And by fit, I mean legal and responsible, and offering a terrific service.

Come back and ask me for my thoughts in five years; we’ll see if I’m right. Hopefully, Magic Word Media will continue to be the shining representative of iGaming content writing quality.

PokerStars was sold for $4.9 billion in 2014

PokerStars sale price

AI-edited content still costs 50% as much as human-written content

Cost of editing AI content versus human writing