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. W...

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 solut...

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 climbin...

Everyone's talking about AI in gaming. Most of it sounds impressive. Not all of it is real. This is Part 3 of our WTF with IGI series where we bring the data people in to talk to the rest of us. Turns out, having an AI strategy is more than just telling your employees to use ChatGPT like Google. We break down IGI's latest research and get into what operators and suppliers are actually doing with A...

Here's what actually happened in gaming this week, minus the polished version. Top 5 Stories for the beginning of May 2026: 1. FanDuel replaces Amy Howe as CEO - What does this mean? 2. What happened with Prediction Markets - still messy but printing $$? 3. UFC betting under the microscope (again) 4. Don't F*** with Canada: a reminder that regulation is not a suggestion 5. Wynn Al Marjan announces...

This week, Alex Tomic joins MaxBet for a conversation that goes well beyond the usual industry talking points. We get into the growing research around psilocybin as a potential treatment for gambling addiction, how biohacking became part of his routine, and which does he *actually* prefer: SBC or SIGMA? Also in this episode: Ick of the Week (straight from Indian Gaming Association Tradeshow. The l...

Freeplay. PAR. Rebates. Lotteries. Tony Lucas has spent years studying all of it, and the verdict is ugly. At best, casinos are misusing these tools. At worst, they are hemorrhaging millions straight off the bottom line. I n this episode, he lays out what the research shows, why the industry keeps pushing back on it, and what's really driving that resistance. If any part of your job touches a prom...

From DEI pioneer to startup champion, Kelly Kehn joins the MaxBet Podcast to talk about what it takes to build in gaming right now. Kelly has spent more than two decades in iGaming and co-founded the All-In Diversity Project.  She's now working with Defy the Odds alongside Sue Schneider and Paris Smith, supporting founders and helping open doors that have not always been open.  We get into: Buildi...

On this episode of MaxBet Podcast, Martina Åkerlund breaks down what actually drives company culture and why so many leaders get it wrong. As CEO of Elevated Edge, Martina works directly with founders and leadership teams to build companies that perform without burning out their people. This conversation gets into the real issues and what actually happens inside teams when leadership avoids hard d...

What is DraftKings actually paying attention to right now… and what does that mean for the rest of the industry? In Episode 1 of WTF?! with IGI, MaxBet sits down with a Director from UNLV's International Gaming Institute to break down the trends shaping gaming behind the scenes. We get into what suppliers should be building over the next 3 years, what is actually working in persistent games, and h...

MaxBet is teaming up with UNLV International Gaming Institute to create a mini-series lovingly and relatably called WTF?! with IGI. Because there are people out there doing incredibly smart research on our industry. So we're bringing them in to break it down, translate it, and tell us what we probably should've known sooner. If you're an operator or a supplier, you'll probably want to hear what IG...

Magnus Olsson, CCO of Play'n GO, joins MaxBet to discuss the evolving economics of iGaming. From hosting partners in the Formula 1 paddock to building games that players return to for years, Magnus shares how entertainment value and strong storytelling drive long-term retention. The conversation covers U.S. regulatory hurdles, the differences between European and American gaming markets, and why t...

Hillary sits down with Catie Di Stefano, one of the most genuinely connected people in the gaming industry. With 15 years in gaming (which officially makes her a self proclaimed baby dinosaur), Catie has built a strong reputation for how she approaches both marketing and LinkedIn in a B2B world. It's practical, consistent, and rooted in real relationships. The conversation covers how people can sh...

AGS recently launched a new brand identity at G2E, and this episode unpacks what that evolution represents for the company. Julia Boguslawski and Nikki Davis from AGS share why the rebrand was necessary, what they wanted the market to better understand about who AGS is today, and how the new identity reflects the company's growth across slots, tables, and interactive. The conversation explores the...

Joe Solosky, Managing Director of Sports Betting at NASCAR, joins the podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on what sports betting looks like from a motorsports and league-side perspective. Before helping build out NASCAR's sports betting strategy, Joe spent six years with the FBI, giving him a unique lens on regulation, integrity, and how leagues think about betting partnerships. We talk about...

Aristocrat CPO Matt Primmer joins MaxBet and gets right into it, including whether he prefers Lightning Link or Buffalo and how he looks at product even when he's off the clock. We chat about his mindset around change and adapting, why doing things the same way as before usually means something is wrong, and how intensity, efficiency, and short meetings shape the way he leads. He also shares why,...

Emily Haruko Life Coach and CEO of Soroca joins the show to talk about what actually improves teams and company culture. Emily works within B2B organizations to help leaders strengthen communication, increase efficiency, and build healthier work environments. A major focus of her work is emotional intelligence. She shares a study where Coca-Cola implemented emotional intelligence training and saw...

Mark Phillip, CEO of MetaBet and Are You Watching This?!, breaks down the future of sports betting, real-time sports technology, and the rise of prediction markets. An MIT dropout with a brilliant mind for product and data, Mark brings sharp insight and surprising clarity to one of the fastest-moving sectors in gaming. If you work in sports betting, iGaming, trading, or anything tied to real-time...

Marcus Yoder showed up with clear opinions on M&A in gaming and did not dance around any of them. We talked through a bit of the IGT and Everi merger, how leaders should think about integration, and what actually builds culture once the dust settles. This one leans into people more than deals. How they react. How they stay connected. How you keep a team steady when everything around them is shifti...

The unregulated U.S. gaming market is worth hundreds of billions, and states are finally starting to realize what they're leaving on the table. This week on the MaxBet Podcast, Shawn Fluharty joins us to talk about how iGaming legislation actually gets passed, who's shaping the conversation behind the scenes, and why education and relationships are the real shortcuts to getting things signed. We c...

Julia 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 ab...

Online casino is changing and not everyone agrees on where it is headed. Ben Clemes and Seth Young from High Roller Technologies join the podcast to talk honestly about regulation, grey markets, sweeps, prediction markets, payments, and what responsible growth should look like in iGaming. Seth brings a sharp perspective on how legal gaps drive product evolution, and Ben explains how operators can...

IGT has shaped video poker for more than 40 years with games like Double Double Bonus Poker™, Triple Double Bonus Poker™, and Ultimate X Poker™. In this episode of MaxBet Podcast, Hillary McAfee talks with Darnell Johnson and Shannon Bloom about how multi-hand play changed the game, why volatility and configuration matter to players, how bartenders influenced the design of the PeakBarTop™ cabinet,...

Four days. A million steps. Zero chicken tenders. Hillary sits down with Korbi Carrison to talk about what really goes into pulling off the biggest show in gaming. From live animals on the floor to security guards you'd never spot, Korbi has seen it all in her 25 years at G2E, and she's spilling the tea with us.  We also cover how to actually survive the week- like for real: keeping your body movi...

Ari Mizrachi is back and standing on business in this episode on true persistence games and advantage slot play. His first appearance in October was one of our most successful and most controversial episodes. Now, Ari returns to share where we are at now and break down why he believes advantage play is detrimental to every facet of the slot economy: operators, suppliers, and players alike. From th...