Earlier this month, I saw Evolution teasing Disco Balls on LinkedIn. I immediately made a note to play and review it, after its official launch on September 9th 2026.

Now, I’m not normally a huge fan of live game shows. I do enjoy Sweet Bonanza CandyLand and Monopoly Big Baller, but not much else. But for some intangible reason, I really liked the look of this, and was excited to try. 

First Impressions

I’m not going to lie, my first thought was “what the hell is going on?” But that’s probably because I happened to join in the middle of the VIP Disco bonus game.

It also didn’t help that I’ve never played Funky Time, an earlier Evolution release, before. I now realise that Disco Balls is inspired by that game, borrowing the DJ Booth set and the dance floor bonus rounds, where the familiar Mr Funky character struts his stuff.

That said, despite my confusion, I was genuinely moving my shoulders to the groovy music – the soundtrack is an absolute belter. It’s also really colourful, and just a fun theme generally.

Disco Balls – Key Facts

Supplier	Evolution
RTP	96.08%
Max Payout	10,000x
Release	September 2026

Object of the Game

In fairness, the aim of the game is incredibly simple. Pick a number from 1 to 20 and if that number is drawn, you win.

The main source of confusion was figuring out how much you get. But I also didn’t understand why there were two progression bars, plus a cat that randomly lobs multipliers onto the grid. 

Still, if you spend just a short amount of time playing, it’s actually really easy to understand. And I was at it for two full hours, because it’s surprisingly enjoyable.

Disco Balls Gameplay

After placing your bets, 100 balls bounce around the drum. There are:

• 20 result balls – Numbered 1 to 20, these end the game when drawn. Bet on that number, and the combined value of all multipliers on that square determines your result. Even if the game ends with the first ball drawn, you’re guaranteed 5x.
• 80 step balls – There are 40 yellow and 40 red step balls in the chamber. Whenever one is drawn, the progression bar of the same colour moves one step. Occasionally, it may progress two steps instead – this happens randomly.

Disco Cat

Before the first ball is drawn, Disco Cat – the moggy with the funky sunglasses in the bottom-left corner – throws up to four multipliers onto the grid. He then repeats this process for every step ball that’s subsequently drawn.

There are two kinds of multiplier, plus two special symbols:

• Cat Multiplier – Ranging from 3x to 20x, these are just regular multipliers that contribute to the final payout.
• Disco Balls – These range from 3x to 10x, but guarantee an extra multiplier for that square with every subsequent step ball drawn.
• Disco Bonus – If Disco Cat produces a vinyl record symbol, the Disco Bonus triggers at the end of the round. Two symbols increase the final payout by 2x.
• VIP Disco Bonus – A vinyl record with the initials “VIP” triggers a bigger bonus game, played on a larger dance floor. Multiple symbols increases the result up to 4x.

Example Disco Balls Game Round

Okay, let’s run through a quick example to cement exactly how it all works:

• Bet placement. Let’s say I place £1 on the number 5 space. Betting ends and the game begins.
• Multipliers. Disco Cat throws up to four multipliers onto the grid. He generously gives the 5 square an 11x boost.
• First ball. The first ball is randomly chosen – it’s yellow, so the yellow progression bar ticks up from 5x to 7x.
• More multipliers. Extra symbols hit the grid. This time, my number gets an 8x Disco Ball, bringing the total to 19x. This also guarantees future multipliers should more step balls emerge.
• Second ball. A red step ball is drawn, moving the red meter from 5x to 7x. The game continues.
• More multipliers. The appearance of a step ball means Disco Cat throws more multipliers onto the grid. My number 5 pick doesn’t benefit this time.
• Third ball. A result ball is drawn and the game ends – it’s the number 5, which is red. I’ve got the winning number, so I get 7x from the red bar, plus the existing 19x on the 5 square. That means 26x my £1, bet for a £26 return.

All clear? Pretty straightforward stuff, really isn’t it?

Disco Balls Bonus Rounds Explained

The final thing to mention is the bonus game, which triggers when either of the vinyl symbols combine with the winning number. Both variations share the same fundamental gameplay mechanics, but there are few subtle differences.

Bonus Name	Dance Floor Size	Multiplier Range
Disco	37 tiles	1x to 100x
VIP Disco	63 tiles	1x to 500x

Bonus Round Gameplay

The final base game multiplier carries over to the bonus game, where Mr Funky moves around collecting additional multipliers. His direction is determined by the spinning wheel at the top of your screen. 

Whenever he steps on a regular multiplier, these are added to the total, shown in the bottom-left corner. If he steps on a floor multiplier, the value of five randomly chosen squares doubles. 

Collected multipliers leave an empty space for two turns, eventually resetting to their original value. Should Mr Funky step on an empty space, nothing happens – obviously. He can fall off the edge, though, which is how the game ends.

Final Thoughts 

I genuinely enjoyed Disco Balls, but I’m not sure how often I’ll return to it. As an action junkie, I primarily play roulette. But I do still break sessions up with some blackjack, and a couple of game shows now and then.

My issue with Disco Balls is how difficult it is to win. If you play a single number, like I did, it’s not unrealistic to go 12 or 15 rounds without success. And each game can last a long time – particularly when there’s a bonus round.

It’s also pretty painful watching Mr Funky dance when you know there’s nothing to gain at the end of it. That said, it’s one hell of a buzz when you’re involved.

I’ll definitely incorporate Disco Balls into my rotation for now. But whether or not it stays depends on me finding the right strategy. I need a way to increase my win frequency without draining my bankroll too quickly. And I’m open to suggestions!

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Get in Touch

Dominic Field is a freelance iGaming writer who’s been around the gambling industry since 2008. This Disco Balls review aside, his showcase contains more examples of his work.

Use the form below to discuss your own content requirements.

They say you shouldn’t go looking for trouble. If there’s a chance you might not like the answer, maybe don’t ask the question. Well, that’s kinda how I feel right now. Here’s why.

Insulted by ChatGPT

I’ve been quite busy the last couple of months, producing 17,000+ words a week for two different clients. There’s a little bit of Aussie sports betting content in there, but it’s mostly been sweepstakes casinos and mystery shopping sites – particularly those with Pokémon trading cards. These platforms seem to have replaced the vast quantities of prediction market site reviews I’ve been witing this year.

Am I a good writer?

Anyway, during a rare moment of downtime, I thought it would be interesting to ask AI about myself. I like to do this now and then, to make sure I’m showing up in the most popular answer engines. You never know where people might be looking for a content writer.

To make sure the bot wasn’t just sucking up to me, as they’re known to do, I asked a follow up question. Something along the lines of “is Dominic Field actually a good iGaming writer, or are you just saying that because you think I’m him?”

Helpfully, it gave me something of a critique, highlighting what it thinks my strengths are. Somewhat unprovoked, it also proffered an opinion on the negatives, calling me “not especially literary or sophisticated“.

Slot Bot Thinks I’m “Unsophisticated”

Luckily, I’m not easily offended. But I did think that was a bit rich coming from a plagiarism machine.

I then provoked it into giving a more detailed breakdown. I won’t reproduce everything it said, but here’s the handy little summary it gave me at the end.

6.5 out of 10! How dare you?

Reflections

Now, this all just a bit of fun, obviously. But it did make me reflect on my writing a bit.

Throughout my academic years, I was always good at English – it just came naturally. When I was at primary school, I used to love writing stories and comic books. The latter died because I suck at art. The former died because I discovered football, computers and girls.

For a long time, I wanted to be a sports reporter. If I could start again, I’d probably do that straight out of school, instead of studying BS like politics and psychology at university. I was always complimented by teachers and tutors on my writing ability.

But, to coin an AI-ism, here’s the thing: I don’t write that way any more.

Is the AI right?

Since becoming a full-time content writer, I’ve lost my old style. When I go through the archives and look at the earliest paid work I produced, it’s nothing like my most recent texts. Long, winding sentences with crazy comma control. Flamboyant vocabulary. Actual paragraphs.

I almost never write a sentence longer than 20 words these days. Got to keep readability in mind, after all. A paragraph of more than 60 words? Get in the bin. Headings everywhere, for no real reason.

Writing for the internet really has rendered my style somewhat unsophisticated. ShatPGTips actually has a point.

Existential Crisis

What’s my point here? I don’t think I have one. But one thing’s for sure – the AI can only judge me on what’s it’s read online. And my online style is very much the product of what every client I’ve ever had has asked for.

It’s almost like I’m mashing up all of their briefs, instructions and content into one giant melting pot of content. You might even call it… “slop”.

Oh my god, am I AI?

Maybe Elon’s right. Maybe it is all a big simulation.

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Dominic Field is a freelance gambling writer. Contact him if you need content. Or anything, really.

Maybe just a chat. Please, he’s losing his mind, here.

It seems like 90% of my recent workload has been writing about prediction markets. 

If you don’t know what they are, the short version is this – Americans have discovered betting exchanges. But since gambling is illegal in large parts of the country, they’re pretending it’s something else. 

How Come Prediction Markets Aren’t Gambling?

You know how sweepstakes casinos are just gambling with extra steps? You buy fake currencies like Gold Coins, then they give you special Sweepstakes tokens as a bonus. These can be redeemed for USD at the convenient rate of 1 to 1.

But it’s definitely not gambling, honest. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

Prediction markets use a similar sleight of hand, but they pretend it’s like binary trading instead. They offer a real world proposition, phrased as a simple yes/no question, then you buy a “contract” on whichever outcome you think it will be.

Prediction Market Mechanics 

Prices are usually displayed in cents, and they add up to a dollar. As such, they effectively tell you the implied probability as a percentage. 

Imagine the following proposition:

Will England win the 2026 World Cup?

• Yes – $0.10 
• No – $0.90

This suggests a 10% chance of England lifting the trophy, and a 90% likelihood of the Three Lions failing as usual.

If your “prediction” is that England will win, you can buy an event contract for ten cents. Purchase as many as you like, in fact – 100 costs $10, for instance – and then wait for the outcome. 

If you correctly predict the outcome of the market, your contract settles at $1. Guess wrong, and you lose the investment. 

This Feels a Lot Like Gambling

Yeah, because it is – obviously. Some platforms don’t even bother with the pretext of contract pricing, giving you the probabilities right off the bat. 

Just play along, like everyone else. Hear me out.

As prices fluctuate in response to real world events, you can buy and sell more contracts. It’s possible to change your position as often as you like, just as if you were trading on the stocks and shares.

So it’s *not* gambling at all – it’s trading, silly.

Are Prediction Markets Legal in the US?

In fairness, I’ve been a bit of a dick about this so far. Despite the fact that prediction markets are very obviously a form of gambling, you could say the same about any kind of speculative trading, whether it’s stocks, cryptocurrency or whatever.

Prediction market platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket and Robinhood are approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That’s a legit organisation that regulates actual trading and finance platforms at the federal level. 

If it thinks prediction markets fall under its jurisdiction, who am I to argue?

Legal Disputes

I might be a nobody, but some entire US states – like Illinois and Nevada (lol) – are currently embroiled in legal disputes with CFTC. 

Why? Because they also (correctly) feel that prediction markets resemble what Europeans have called “betting exchanges” for over a quarter of a century. They believe these platforms should be regulated at the state level, in line with sports betting. 

Why Are Prediction Markets So Popular? 

These platforms have certainly exploded in the last few years, with hundreds of millions of dollars traded every month in the US. But why?

Well, because, unlike gambling sites, they’re technically legal in all 50 states – ongoing disputes aside. 

What better way to place sports bets – and speculate on other real world events, like politics and entertainment too – if sportsbooks are illegal where you live?

These platforms also make the idea of trading far more accessible to beginners. They’re much less intimidating, with simple user interfaces that boil things down to straightforward probabilities and binary options. 

Need a Prediction Markets Writer?

As I said at the top of this hit piece blog post, these platforms are all I’ve been writing about in the past three or four months. So, if you’re an affiliate, and you need someone to write prediction markets content for you, let me know.

It should go without saying – but just in case – I obviously don’t write my actual opinions on this stuff for clients. I’m far too professional for that – I’ll dance to whatever my organ grinder tells me to, like the corporate whore that I am.

I’ve been doing all of this work as a ghostwriter, unfortunately, so some other fucker is getting the credit for my expertise. Occupational hazard. But if you want examples of my work in this field, contact me and I’ll figure it out. 

After all, I don’t just write amazing content. I solve problems for you, too.

How has society allowed customer service to degrade so badly? Honestly, it’s just so bad now – endless loops of “press 1” and ridiculous chatbots that simply don’t work.

It’s terrible everywhere, but in the Philippines, it’s next level. This week, I’ve made six attempts, over a 48 hour period, to have Globe – one of the two biggest telecommunications companies here – answer the simplest of questions:

Which countries are included in the new Roam Surf packages?

Sidebar

While writing this rant, it dawned on me that other people with the same question might stumble onto this post. If that’s you, scroll to the bottom – I’ve put the full list of eligible Roam Surf countries there. 

Now, back to the tirade.

Digital Nomad

I’m about to go on a six week trip that covers Japan, Aruba and the USA. My usual digital nomad-ery of football, flights and freelancing.

For once, Globe has come up with a really nice product – Roam Surf – which gives you data in “multiple countries”. Normally, you have to buy a roaming package for each individual country, so I welcome this news.

But the thing is, they don’t tell you anywhere on their website – or within either of their apps – which countries are included in the Roam Surf packages. After an extensive search, the best I could find was that it’s “120+ countries”. Does that include Aruba? I’ve no idea. 

So I tried to contact support. 

LOL

This is a simple question that should take seconds to answer. They can either point me to the published list of Roam Surf countries that I’m obviously missing, or they can at least just tell me whether or not Aruba is included.

Wrong. Nothing is ever easy when trying to get customer support in the Philippines. 

48 Hours for Globe to Answer a Simple Question

To reiterate, I did eventually get my answer. But it took six tries and 48 hours. And I had to stop everything I was doing while chatting with the agent who eventually helped me.

The entire interaction took 40 minutes, by the way.

If you look away for just a few minutes, they’ll terminate the conversation. They don’t need much of an excuse. You have to give them 100% attention – no working, cooking or doing anything else – or they’ll kick you and you have to start again.

I had Messenger open on a second screen, as well as my phone, to make sure attempt number six was a success. 

Intentionally Dishonest

What gets me is the blatant dishonesty of it all. You give them everything they need to answer the question, and they don’t even try.

Instead, the agents pose nonsense questions to you, hoping you’ve temporarily gone offline, or have been distracted by something else. This gives them an excuse to terminate the chat.

And this isn’t a telephone call, by the way. It’s a conversation on Facebook Messenger. Why is the chat even being terminated at all? It could be open for 20 years and it would make no difference. Make it make sense.

Dirty Tricks

Here are some of the reasons Globe refused to answer my question:

1. They wanted to know whether I was on a pre-paid or post-paid plan. Does that change the countries on the list? No, but they ended the chat when I didn’t reply quickly enough, in their opinion.
2. I was in bed. Having reached out around midnight, they said wait times are longer than expected and asked if I still needed help. I said yes. They eventually connected me at 7.10am, long after I’d given up and gone to bed. That chat ended ten minutes after it began, when I was very obviously offline. Could they not have just answered my question, instead of pretending they needed a response from me first? They could, but would require a genuine desire to provide support.
3. They wanted my phone number first. Does my number affect the list of Roam Surf countries? No, but they terminated the conversation anyway. Even though I’d already provided it to the FUCKING chatbot before I ever reached a human. 

More Shithouse Behaviour

By now, I’ve cottoned on to the fact that they’re looking to ask questions at all times. They don’t want to solve anything that takes them off script, regardless of how easy it would be. So it all becomes a game of cat and mouse.

The aim is to get you off the line, however they can. If they resolve the problem, sure, that’s one way. But that takes effort. A better way is to ask you a question – literally anything at all – and hope you get distracted. 

If you don’t reply in time, they cut you off.

The most common trick is to repeat the question, then say something like “can you confirm I’ve understood correctly?” – if you don’t reply, you’re gone. 

They did this to me four times during the interaction where I eventually got my answer. But I wasn’t letting the slippery fuckers off the hook this time.

Seriously Globe – go and fuck yourselves. All the way off, and then some more.

Corporate Bullshit

So, why can’t they just take the time to answer the question properly? I’ll tell you why. KPIs and corporate cocksucking.

Customer service teams are only ever interested in checking boxes and meeting nonsense targets. By automatically ending the conversation after half a microsecond, they’re keeping the average customer interaction time nice and low. 

When the manager has their quarterly review, they can show the CEO how quick they are at dealing with queries. Everyone can pat themselves on the back and jerk each other off about what a wonderful job they’re all doing.

Are the customers actually being assisted? No, but who cares? That was never the point. We’ve met the target for interaction times, so we all get bonuses. FUCK the customer.

Companies Just Don’t Care

This angers me for two reasons. First, I’m fucking sick of getting shit service from every company on Earth. But secondly, there’s no excuse for not wanting to improve your products and user journeys.

Why don’t they have pride in their work and the service they provide any more?

Before I switched to freelancing, I gained a lot of gambling industry experience, working for some really big organisations, in pretty senior positions. I always tried my best to use and understand the products I put out there, so I could identify problems in the customer journey.

Instead of sitting in my nice air conditioned office all day, I would go to the coalface and talk to customers and cashiers, asking what challenges they faced and how we could improve the product.

Nobody seems to do this any more. Nobody gives a shit. Did we meet our targets? Cool, bonuses and handjobs all round. Screw the users.

Rotten Culture

But targets are only being met because customers can’t actually get their complaints across. Companies have no idea where the faults are, because consumers aren’t able to report them. We’re not being heard.

Lazy support agents pulling tricks like those at Globe don’t help. But honestly, having worked in Filipino companies for a long time now, I doubt it would matter if they fed this stuff up to the middle management anyway. 

They’re so protective of their own positions, they’d never risk rocking the boat by actually reporting problems to the big bosses.

List of Globe Roam Surf Countries

If you discovered this post because Globe is a telecommunications company that can’t fucking communicate, here’s the answer to your question. 

As of May 14th 2026, the following countries are eligible for Roam Surf:

Albania, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, French West Indies, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands), San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Vanuatu, Vatican City and Vietnam.

I want to quickly share something that happened to me yesterday. If you’re a relatively new and inexperienced writer, or if you just lack confidence sometimes, hopefully you’ll get something out of this.

Before I start, the aim of this post is not to complain about clients who try to lowball you. It’s not about poor rates of pay generally. Instead, I simply want to illustrate what can happen if you assert yourself and push back against people.

Potential New Client

Last week, I received a LinkedIn message about a potential new casino content project. Nothing unusual there – I’ve spent years building a personal brand on that platform, and it’s by far my main source of new business.

However, we didn’t discuss very much at all. They wanted to chat over email first. Okay, no problem.

Yesterday, this dropped into my inbox:

Lowball Rate

“Hi Dominic,

We are looking for a freelance content writer to join our team and think your profile could work well.

I’d like to suggest a paid trial casino review at €0.05 per word.”

Now, if you’ve read my post about how much iGaming writers can earn, you’ll know this is far below my usual rate of $0.14 per word. Although I wrote that piece a couple of years ago, nothing much has changed in terms of my pricing.

Blunt Reply

Naturally, I didn’t see the point in going any further. The proposed fee is too far from my own to bother negotiating. What would they offer me, maybe €0.08 max? It’s still nowhere near my expectations. So, I sent a short, sharp and to-the-point reply.

But within just a few minutes, this happened:

Pushing Back Works

I learned a long time ago that, if you want to increase your prices, you must not accept lowball offers.

I know that’s hard when you don’t have much work and the bills are piling up. But if you keep accepting joke rates, clients will keep paying joke rates. This is basic economics.

When I replied to that email, I genuinely wasn’t attempting to negotiate. It wasn’t some sort of power move. I didn’t even expect a reply, as I assumed my email would be considered rude.

All I was trying to do was say “no” as efficiently as possible, so as not to waste the time of either participant.

But it just goes to show what can be achieved when you assert yourself.

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My name is Dominic Field. I’ve been in the gambling industry since 2008. Please get in touch to discuss my iGaming content services.

It seems to me there’s a deliberate misunderstanding of what people mean when discussing the use of AI in written content. So let’s clear things up.

Using AI in Written Content

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, as I find it annoying. There’s not a day goes by where I don’t see someone on LinkedIn talking nonsense about writers and the use of AI.

Take this clown, for example.

Do you see the sleight of hand at work here? AI-driven systems include search engines and grammar tools, so we should also class spell-check and computers as AI.

Playing dumb. Pure engagement farming.

Missing the Point

A similar post in this genre goes along the lines of “AI isn’t bad. In fact, you’re stupid if you’re not using it in your writing process”.

They’re saying it’s okay – good even – to use LLMs for research, brainstorming and other simple tasks. But that’s not what the anti-AI brigade are complaining about. And I think these posters know it, which is the bit that winds me up.

Deliberately Disingenuous

I’ll confess, I’m part of the problem. That’s right – Dominic Field just can’t help shitting on the use of LLMs to spit out hot garbage. I post about it on social media all the time, fuelling the discourse a tiny little bit more.

But for all my hatred of artificial “intelligence”, I’ve never had an issue with writers using it as a search engine, for example.

I mean, it’s always wrong, obviously. But if you have time to waste double and triple-checking everything the AI says, go for it. Knock yourself out. I don’t care.

Similarly, nobody actually minds if you’ve asked an LLM to draw up an awful blog post outline, on which to hang your own words. Nor is it an issue to have the AI summarise large chunks of text, to speed up research.

I honestly believe no one, not even AI’s harshest critics, gives a toss about this kind of thing. If you claim otherwise, you’re either missing the point or being deliberately disingenuous.

So What’s the Real Problem?

It’s screamingly obvious to me that, when people complain about AI in written content, they mean using it for generation. Prompting the model to “write an 800-word blog post about gambling in style X mentioning points A, B and C” – that’s the issue.

People don’t want to read the bland output of a predictive text engine, which is what Large Language Models do. There’s also evidence that Google penalises you for posting such trash. 

That’s what people are talking about. Producing reams of AI-generated drivel that says the square root of fuck all. Then attempting to polish this steaming turd, delivered freshly from the bowels of ShatPGTips. Or even worse, using it as is.

Get in the Bin

So let’s have less of the engagement baiting on social media, yeah? 

Trying to imply that using AI as a search engine is exactly the same as spinning LLM-generated content doesn’t wash. And pretending spell-checkers are the same as Perplexity and Claude is just about the dumbest take I’ve ever read. 

Still, I suppose it’s preferable to the “not takes” offered by AI. So many words generated, but not a single interesting point made.

My AI Usage Policy

If you’d like to know how I use such tools, feel free to check the AI usage policy I recently added to my website.

And of course, if you need quality iGaming content that’s free of tawdry LLM output, drop me a line today.

I’ve seen a few people reintroducing themselves on LinkedIn lately, and honestly, I think it’s a good idea. I started writing my own, but it got a bit “War and Peace” in length, so I figured I’d turn it into a blog post instead.

My name is Dominic Field, and I write iGaming content

If you’ve only connected with me recently, you probably think I just moan about AI and Upwork all day. Well, that’s only about 98.5% true. There’s other stuff going on, too.

I called myself a digital nomad for a while. But after spending the whole of 2022 and 2023 on planes, travelling through nearly 20 countries, I’ve not been nearly as mobile lately. These days, I only really travel for sporting events.

Like how I spent last summer in Switzerland following the England women’s team in their latest European Championships success. Or making the round-trip to see Sheffield United choke on the biggest stage. Again.

At least I got in The Star newspaper for my five minutes of infamy.

Where I Live and What I Do

I live on a paradise island, so I’ve not been travelling as much. Honestly, I’ve just been kinda bone idle.

Boracay’s White Beach is consistently named among the world’s best, so it’s really easy to stay at home and avoid the hassle. I’ll try to move around more again in 2026.

One thing I’m never lazy about, though, is my work. I’m a content writer, not a copywriter. Why do I make this distinction? Because I *can* write sales copy, I just don’t want to. I hate the process. It’s not for me.

If I wanted to work hard and not enjoy it, I’d go back to the corporate world.

I quit my career to do things I actually like. Things like sharing my thoughts and experiences of casino games and betting sites. So that’s why I focus on reviews, “how to” guides and blog content.

Slot reviews are my absolute favourite things to produce, but I’m just as comfortable writing poker strategy articles or sportsbook reviews. You can see examples of what I get up to in the showcase on this website.

My Backstory

I quit a decent 13-year career in the gambling industry to do what I love – writing. Most of that time was spent setting up or managing sportsbooks, both online and retail, in SE Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

As a result, I like to think I can bring unique experiences and angles to my content. I’ve been a gambler all my life, so I understand the products inside and out. But I’ve also led teams in developing betting websites, products and games.

Social Responsibility

Similarly, you may see me commenting on the dangers of gambling. Again, I have a unique experience here, as a problem gambler myself.

It’s a battle you fight daily. Even when you’re responsible for the bottom line of a betting site. That’s why I get upset when people accuse the gambling industry of being ruthless, money-grabbing crooks.

There are some of those, as in most industries. But nobody wants to look out for vulnerable players more than somebody who *is* one.

I’m not in a position to shape those strategies any more. But I do my bit by refusing to write shithouse content that clearly prey on people’s addictions. Like “non-GAMSTOP casinos” and such.

Thoughts on AI-Generated Content

I’m probably best-known for my LinkedIn takes on the use of AI to create content. If you aren’t familiar, allow me to summarise:

The only thing shitter than AI content is that pseudo-scientific garbage they call “AI checkers”.

Bollocks to the lot of it.

Let’s Connect!

So that’s me and my story in a nutshell. If you’re interested in more of my ramblings, let’s connect on LinkedIn.

And if you’d like to give me lots of money in exchange for insanely high quality iGaming content services, please get in touch using the contact form on this website.

I’m a freelance iGaming writer. But I don’t know for how much longer, thanks to AI.

I jumped aboard the ChatGPT bandwagon right away. Recognising it might one day take my job, I wanted to stay in touch with, and ideally ahead of, the latest developments. 

That’s why I was among the one million people who created an account within five days of its public release. 

First impressions 

Perhaps I could use it as a tool, I thought, making my own processes more efficient. It should help with research, at least, even if I don’t actually use it to produce text. 

Maybe it would create other forms of work, too, such as editing AI-generated content. I trialled a couple of gigs on freelancing platforms like Fiverr, doing exactly that.

It didn’t take more than a few weeks to realise this thing was not going to replace me. 

LLMs consistently make ridiculous factual errors. They hallucinate all the time, then spin generic, boring text. They can only really produce an average of whatever already exists on the internet, much of which is increasingly AI slop itself.

Don’t get me started on pseudoscientific nonsense like AI checking tools, either.

A change of heart

AI simply cannot do what I can. I’ve been extremely bullish about this for three years. However, on December 9th 2025, I changed my position.

Within the space of three or four hours, I learned the following:

• First.com, a gambling affiliate site that gave me a few bits and pieces of work in 2025, unexpectedly closed. I have at least half a dozen writers in my LinkedIn network who felt the impact of this.
• ClickOut Media, a huge employer of gambling writers, cut 85% of its content team. As a rough guess, that’s at least 50 English-language writers alone. They’ve run AI experiments throughout 2025, so you can draw your own conclusion as to why.
• Gentoo chose to defer November’s freelancer payments for a month. Whether or not this specific decision is linked to AI, I have no clue. But it’s no secret they’ve been struggling for some time.

I’ve never seen so many out-of-work gambling writers in my LinkedIn feed. Naturally, I’m now questioning my own future. I certainly don’t think I’ll be able to repeat my 2024 earnings any time soon.

What’s the problem?

So, what’s going on? I thought you said AI can’t do what you can do?

Well, it can’t. 

Take slot reviews, for instance. How can an LLM play a real money casino game, then recount its experiences in a compelling, engaging manner? 

I suppose you could invent some kind of API that feeds slots in and spits out some kind of review. Maybe it can detail the mechanics that way. 

But it still can’t tell you how it feels to play that game. LLMs will always lack that human connection. 

But that’s not the issue, here. AI overviews (AIOs) are.

Impact of AIOs

Affiliate marketing relies on attracting potential customers with a combination of quality content and SEO optimisation. But we’ve seen a dramatic drop-off in click-through rates (CTRs) since the introduction of AIOs. 

People just aren’t visiting affiliate sites at the same rate. And if they’re not doing that, they’re not clicking through to the casinos and sportsbooks being promoted. 

A Seer Interactive report in September 2025 revealed that organic CTRs for informational queries had dropped a staggering 61% since 2024. Paid CTRs fared even worse, plummeting by 68%.

Many affiliates just can’t make it pay anymore. As such, content budgets are being slashed. 

It’s AIOs that are putting gambling writers out of work – and that’s what I didn’t see coming. 

Inevitable changes

Now, I definitely did anticipate a reduction in the number of writers. I always talked about a pyramid, with the elite writers at the top, and swathes of low-quality output at the bottom. 

Those guys charging $0.01 per word – or less, God forbid – will undoubtedly be swept away by the AI revolution. Why pay for crap content, when you can generate it free of charge? 

But I always imagined those of us nearer the tip of the proverbial pyramid would be safe. The cream should rise to the top, right? 

Perhaps we’d have to drop our rates a bit, but there’d always be a need for iGaming content services provided by talented humans.

Now I’m not so sure.

The counter-argument

Some people continue to hold this view, like John Wright of StatsDrone, the iGaming affiliate analytics company. 

“I disagree that Google is completely destroying everything, but rather things have changed”, he told me.

“Google rewards authority, and that sometimes requires more than just words. It is products and deeper research.

If I had to write iGaming content today, or casino reviews, I’d be spending more time on the planning of content and research.

People are giving up with how Google is today, and are not willing to pivot or adapt. A lot of the good SEOs I know seem excited at the opportunity. They are using better writers and deeper research.”

Drawing thin?

It’s encouraging to see some optimism about the future of written iGaming content, at a time when I’ve never been more pessimistic. 

Personally, I still have a few clients keeping me busy – for now at least – who clearly value human content over AI slop. So I’m not folding just yet.

I guess we’ll see what happens in 2026. Only time will tell who’s right. 

As a writer, I’m really hoping it’s John. 

As 2025 nears its conclusion, I thought I’d share an update on the ambitious annual targets I set in December.

Transparency Is Good for All

Before I start, I want to reiterate my belief that financial transparency is good for all of us. Sharing is caring.

When I started as freelance iGaming writer, I had no idea of my worth. And it’s become screamingly obvious since I first created my Fiverr account in June 2020 that I was undercharging for too long.

I’m not bragging when I discuss my earnings as a freelance writer – there are many doing far, far better than me. But in those early days, I lacked a mentor. I’d have loved someone to tell me what to charge, and how to build my own brand and move away from freelancing platforms.

The more information we all share, the less likely we are to be ripped off. Knowing the true value of your work is vital, and if we all discuss pricing, it should lift the floor for everyone.

My 2025 Targets

Okay, let’s get into it. When I shared my 2024 earnings, I also set three targets for 2025:

Let’s start with the good news: I had no problem meeting the last two goals.

I’ve worked much less than last year, where I was consistently pulling six-day weeks, often for 10–12 hours at a time. I set up a spreadsheet to manage my time like an employee, and I’ve stuck pretty closely to it.

Of course, the whole point of ditching my corporate career was for a better work-life balance, so I’m still flexible. If I feel like working on what is a scheduled day off, I do. I’ll just take a different day off next week when I’m tired.

The financial side, however, has not been good.

Actual Figures

I’m going to share some actual numbers in this post. When I’ve written about this before, I’ve been vague, using graphs to illustrate progress, but removing exact figures – stuff like that.

Looking back, I don’t really know why, as it’s not hard to work things out from the wider context. So for this post, I might as well go all-in.

The target was six-figures in GBP. This felt tough, but not unrealistic – I was already doing close to those numbers, so I just had to increase my rates slightly and reduce the time spent working.

Unravelling Quickly

January got me off to a flier, bringing in just over £9,000. However, in February, I argued my way into losing my second-biggest client.

Actually, I just pushed back against some stupid feedback.

I’d been working with them for a year, writing poker, casino and a little sports betting content. I’d never had anything but lovely comments from six or seven different editors. So I thought I had enough goodwill in the bank to call out this one bit of pointless feedback that was wasting everyone’s time.

I’ll concede I did it with an unnecessary attitude, for which I later apologised. But my point was valid, and I stand by it.

A few days earlier, I’d stopped working with a smaller client. I’d been looking to get out of that gig anyway, as the briefs were too fiddly. But the timing was horrendous – had it been the other way around, I wouldn’t have left that project.

A few weeks later, I completed the disaster hat-trick (disastrick?) when my main client unexpectedly suspended a project. I’d gone from regularly making £8,000–£10,000 a month, to literally no work at all.

Emotional Roller Coaster

It was clear by the end of February I’d miss my ambitious targets. There was no margin for error to begin with. Losing so much work so quickly was already too much – I knew I’d blown it.

The rest of the quarter was spent using my new vacation allowance, and trying to get over losing my two main clients. Honestly, I didn’t really snap out of my low mood until May, when my main casino content client returned. That guy pays $0.15 per word for priority access to my services.

The damage to my annual target was already done, but I’d realigned my expectations, and things were normal by July. That month I made £8,425 and I was feeling good again.

But being positive was an error. In August, my biggest client disappeared again, and is yet to return. As a result, I produced my lowest monthly figure since July 2021. For context, that was only my second full month as a freelancer, having left my “proper” job in mid-May.

All I really had in August was my sports betting content for OddsNews, plus whatever dribs and drabs came in from Upwork and Fiverr, which I basically abandoned years ago.

Depressing stuff.

In September and October, I bounced back to some extent, with figures of £5,389 and £5,987. But I’m currently having a quiet November, and I expect I’ll pull in something around the £4,500 mark. I’ve lost another casino content client this month, but I still project a figure of around £6,000 for December.

Reflections

Obviously I’m guessing at the last six weeks of the year, but I expect a final annual figure of about £66,000.

This is a complete disaster compared to my £100,000 target.

However, it’s important to zoom out. That’s still a great living – especially for someone with no kids who’s based mostly in the Philippines.

I’m obviously not complaining about “only” pulling in those numbers. Especially at a time when AI-generated content is threatening us writers. But it remains true that I missed my target by miles. I think it’s important to be honest, and not just talk about the good times.

It seems I’m returning to my 2022 and 2023 figures, which were £67,684 and £62,201. So last year was probably a fluke, rather than the norm.

2026 Goals?

I think I’ll wait a month before setting my 2026 goals, but it’s fair to say I’m not shooting for six-figures again. I hit my working and vacation targets, and I’ve quite enjoyed not burning out the way I did in November 2024.

There have been other positives, too. Having accidentally become pigeon-holed as a casino writer recently, I found myself producing sportsbook content again.

I managed a couple of trips to the UK this year, spending time with family – I haven’t done enough of that in recent years. There was also a month in Switzerland, watching the Lionesses do Lionesses things, and the saga of rescuing and homing a kitten!

I wonder what ups and downs 2026 has in store?

As an iGaming writer, the bulk of my work involves reviewing online casinos and gambling sites. Most affiliates provide a brief, but they never give you dummy account to play with.

Now, you can’t write casino reviews without testing a site thoroughly. Unless you’re a complete chancer, of course. But content creators don’t always have accounts of their own.

I’m asked to produce a lot of sweepstakes casino reviews, for example. But I don’t live in the United States, so I haven’t got a local phone number. This makes it hard to open an account.

I can’t be the only affiliate writer who’s struggled with this. By sharing my own experiences and solutions, I hope to help others.

Fake Accounts and Numbers

Inspired by a recent post from the excellent Ozric Vondervelden on LinkedIn, I want to discuss temporary and virtual phone numbers.

I’ve always gambled, so I have a lot of casino and sports betting accounts. But it’s unrealistic to expect an iGaming writer to use every single betting site.

That said, I am thorough. I always create an account and use the site before writing a review. But I don’t want a barrage of SMS spam, so I use virtual and disposable phone numbers to set them up.

Emails Are Easy

Getting a dummy email is easy. Create a burner account for joining casinos and betting sites, or use a disposable address. I favour TempMail, personally.

However, getting a fake phone number is harder.

The days of simply punching in a random string of numbers are long gone. The vast majority of gambling sites now require a real number, verified by OTP.

Disposable Phone Numbers

I’ve always used disposable numbers from Receive SMS Online, plus one or two others. These provide a whole bunch of numbers from around the world, but mostly the USA and UK.

Writers, or whoever else, can use these when creating a casino or sportsbook account. Just click on the number to open the inbox and receive your verification code.

Enter this at the casino site, and congratulations – you now have a verified account with which to write your review.

Temporary SMS Services

I’ve tried all of the following free-to-use fake number sites, and I’ve ranked them based on my experience:

1. Receive SMS Online. As I mentioned, this works for pretty much every regular gambling site and sweeps casino. There are lots of countries and numbers. However, if the it’s more than a few days old, expect someone else to have used it.
2. Online SMS Box. A wide variety of Geos, but not many numbers for each. This increases the likelihood that someone else has beaten you to it. However, I can consistently use these numbers to register at sweepstakes casinos.
3. SMS Activate. I’ve only discovered this recently, so I’m still pretty neutral on it. I used it successfully last month when writing a sweepstakes casino review in the US. Early signs look promising. [Edit March 2026] This site appears to have died already.
4. SMSPinVerify. Massive selection of countries, but you have to pay. Only a handful of free US numbers are available, which work for every casino or betting site I’ve tried. But they’re always registered by someone else.
5. Quackr. I hate this one. You now have to create an account to use any of their numbers. But whenever I tried in the past, the numbers were always old, so I never had much luck.
6. TempSMSS. Vast selection of seemingly inactive numbers from a limited choice of Geos. That said, the most common countries are present (US, UK, Canada, Australia). However, the US numbers are blocked by some sweepstakes casinos.

Far From Flawless

I’d say temporary phone number services work close to 100% of the time for regular online casinos. But not sweepstakes sites in the US.

However, the main problem is the numbers have already been used by someone else. You’re not the only iGaming writer out there, you know – we’re all at it.

I got fed up spending 30 to 60 minutes per review looking for a number that works. So I tried to set up my own private inbox.

I’ve tested a few services, but the amusingly-named Fanytel works best for me.

Seriously, though – what is that name all about? As a Brit, I can’t take it seriously…

Anyway, Fanytel is great, but it won’t be suitable for everyone, because:

1. Numbers are only for the US, UK, Australia and Canada
2. It’s not free. Each number costs $0.99 to set up, then $0.99 per month to maintain it.

The second problem is easily solved – bill your client. Ask them first, obviously, or you’ll piss them off. But if they’re too cheap to pay $1.98, you probably shouldn’t be working with them.

Sweepstakes Casinos Are Different

Fanytel solved most of my dummy account problems – but not all of them.

I write a lot of sweepstakes casino reviews for a US audience. These sites are getting clever when it comes to detecting people like me.

Not only do many of them enforce strict geo-blocking, including VPN detection. But they also know when you’re using virtual phone numbers.

I’m not a techie, so I don’t know how they know. But they know. My paid Fanytel subscription doesn’t work at many such casinos.

I’m too lazy to count them all. But I estimate I’ve refused around one-third of sweepstakes review requests this year, just because I can’t get an account.

Some brands, like Scarlet Sands and its sister sites, let me join. I can access enough features to write a proper review, but I still can’t verify my virtual phone number.

If you include those cases, I reckon half the sweeps casinos I’ve worked on won’t accept my virtual phone number.

Cheap SMS Verification

How do I get around this specific problem? So far, Textverified is the only tool I’ve found that helps.

For a small fee, you can receive both voice and SMS verifications. And crucially, it works at every casino and sportsbook I’ve tried, even the sweepstakes sites that block my virtual number.

Because I’m normally reviewing new sites, they’re often not in the Textverified list yet. As such, I have to use “Service Not Listed”, which costs $1.25 per SMS verification. Otherwise, prices range from $0.50 to $1 each.

Again, I suggest charging this to your client, rather than wasting time looking for free numbers that probably don’t even work anyway.

Wrapping Up

Hopefully, some of my fellow gambling writers will find these ramblings useful.

If you know of any similar services, paid or not, please drop a reply and share the love.

I write for gambling affiliates, and have done for nearly 20 years. Contact me if you need casino, sports betting or poker content.