Global Gaming: Cultural Progress, Consulting, and Fruit Compliance w/ Julia Weygandt
Release Date: 10/30/2025
Gaming Payments, Fraud & the Cost of Getting to Market | Chelsie Cooper, Approvely
MaxBet Podcast
Fraudsters targeting gaming operators on Reddit, startups waiting a year for payment processing, and a company willing to take the financial hit when transactions go wrong. Welcome to the surprisingly complicated world of gaming payments. Chelsie Cooper, Founder and CEO of Approvely, joins Hillary McAfee to talk about what happens behind the scenes every time a player makes a deposit or requests a payout. From three-second settlements and fraud guarantees to the challenges facing emerging gaming operators, Chelsie offers a look at an essential part of the industry that rarely gets much...
info_outline
The App That Predicts Sports With 78% Accuracy
MaxBet Podcast
What happens when sports bettors have access to predictions that are more accurate than the sportsbooks themselves? John Hanna, co-founder of XO Sports, joins MaxBet to talk about the technology behind an app reporting externally audited prediction accuracy as high as 78%, compared with sportsbook predictions around 64–67%. And that raises a much more interesting question: what happens when the bettor gets smarter? John and Hillary get into how a group of technologists built XO Sports to process millions of streams of data, continuously learn and improve its predictions, and put technology...
info_outline
The G2E Survival Guide + Bluberi’s Gucci Row Era
MaxBet Podcast
G2E is a marathon disguised as a trade show, and Mike McKiski has some thoughts on how to survive it. Mike is back on MaxBet for our pre-G2E episode to talk about the advice he gives G2E rookies, dinners vs. parties, pacing yourself, getting enough sleep and the deeply suspicious people who somehow manage to do all of it and rally again the next morning. We also get into Bluberi’s “Gucci Row” era, how the company has grown to ten studios with double-digit year-over-year growth, and what they’ve been working on ahead of this year’s show. That includes Sir Mix-A-Lot games,...
info_outline
The MaxBet Fridge Hall of Fame Awards
MaxBet Podcast
The gaming industry has no shortage of lists, and frankly, we didn’t want to be left out. So Fiona Power joins Hillary McAfee to hand out honors including Best Industry Feud, Industry Badass, Best Booth, the Get Shit Done Award, Best After Party, Best Dressed, Industry Mom, Industry Dad, and several other categories of enormous cultural importance. The criteria were simple: preferably someone who hasn’t already won everything, ideally not C-suite (two people snuck past us on that one, but the rest of you have had your moment in the sun), and absolutely no assholes. The winners receive the...
info_outline
What Happened to Innovation in iGaming? | Sue Schneider
MaxBet Podcast
Sue Schneider was building the iGaming industry in the mid-90s, before most people had an email address. She’s watched it grow from an unregulated frontier into the highly regulated global industry it is today, and she has some thoughts about what we gained and what we may have lost along the way. Sue joins MaxBet to talk about the early days of online gaming, the rise of regulation and whether the industry has made it too difficult for new companies and new ideas to break through. We also get into prediction markets, sweepstakes, state vs. federal regulation, why she never thought U.S....
info_outline
Building the Future of Skill-Based Gaming | Desiree Dickerson, THNDR
MaxBet Podcast
What happens when you build a startup in a category most of the industry is still trying to understand? Desiree Dickerson, CEO and Co-Founder of Thunder, joins MaxBet to break down skill-based gaming, how Thunder solves player liquidity through cross-operator matchmaking, and why operators, lotteries, sportsbooks, and sweepstakes companies are paying attention. We also discuss startup pivots, product-market fit, industry education, and the realities of building a business where the rules are still being written. Plus: rapid fire, conference pet peeves, tarantulas, business cards, and an...
info_outline
Why Aren't More States Legalizing iGaming? | Brandt Iden
MaxBet Podcast
Subtlety isn't exactly a MaxBet core value, so we start with the obvious question: Why are operators leaving the AGA? After surviving the opening question, Brandt Iden, VP of Government Affairs at Fanatics Betting & Gaming and former Michigan State Representative, sticks around to talk about why more states still haven't legalized iGaming, what's keeping legislation from moving, the tax revenue states may be leaving on the table, and why prediction markets have become one of gaming's biggest debates. As always, we wrap things up with a rapid-fire round covering everything from Google Meet...
info_outline
AI in Gaming: Where to Invest and Where to Wait
MaxBet Podcast
AI has become the answer to just about everything. Need to cut costs? AI. Need to grow revenue? AI. Need to impress your board? AI. The problem is, very few people can explain where the ROI actually is. This week on MaxBet, Hillary McAfee sits down with Cris Kuehl, Chief Data & AI Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, to sort through the questions gaming executives are asking behind closed doors. Where should companies be investing in AI? Where should they absolutely not? Does every company need a Chief AI Officer? What should startups be doing today so they don't get left behind tomorrow?...
info_outline
"Find a Way or Make a Way" | Simon Thomas on Building the Hippodrome
MaxBet Podcast
Simon Thomas owns the Hippodrome Casino, one of the most iconic gaming and entertainment venues in the world. Located in the heart of London, the Hippodrome attracts a third of all casino admissions in the city and has become known for doing things differently. In this episode of MaxBet, Simon joins Hillary McAfee to talk about building a business around experiences, why most problems have a solution if you're willing to find it, and how the Hippodrome grew into a destination that combines gaming, sports betting, restaurants, bars, live entertainment, and hospitality under one roof. They also...
info_outline
The Hottest Trends in Slots Right Now
MaxBet Podcast
If you care about slot floor strategy, which features are actually working, or just want to hear your favorite games and suppliers come up in the conversation, this episode is for you. Brendan Moore from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming joins MaxBet to break down the games, mechanics, cabinets, and features getting real traction on casino floors right now. Brendan gets into the suppliers, the games climbing the charts, the mechanics players are responding to, and the features proving they actually have staying power. We talk about what Konami, AGS, Sega Sammy, Bluberi, IGT, Aristocrat, and Light...
info_outlineJulia Weygandt came ready with stories about gaming culture, consulting, and one very weird German regulation about free fruit. She’s been in this business for more than twenty years and has seen it all; the cultural curveballs, the boardroom dynamics, and the kind of conference stories that only make sense if you’ve worked in gaming.
The industry has grown up a lot in recent years, and we talk about what progress really looks like from the inside.
If you’ve ever smiled through a networking event and questioned all your life choices, this episode is for you.
Quick flex: Eilers & Krejcik Gaming is one of our sponsors, which means this episode is officially smarter than it sounds, and they have great taste.