Guest: William Bonalume, Director of Operations, Open Gaming
Host: Jack Crabtree, Head of Sales, Gamecheck
Everyone thinks working in iGaming means Vegas. William Bonalume explains why a modern online casino operation looks a lot more like a bank or a big fintech operation.
In this episode, Jack Crabtree is joined by William Bonalume, who runs operations at Open Gaming. Before moving into iGaming, William spent years in Brazil's regulated fintech and payments sector, including time inside Meta's fintech business unit, working across KYC, KYB and AML.
The conversation covers the biggest misconception about iGaming, and how the mindset in Brazil shifted as the market moved from unregulated to regulated.
William's background sits in risk, KYC, and AML. He worked in Brazil's fintech and payments sector for several years and spent time inside Meta's fintech business unit before moving into operations at Open Gaming.
That background shapes how he sees the industry now. Rather than treating iGaming as a separate world, he applies the same compliance discipline he built in fintech to how an online casino operation is run day to day.
The biggest misconception about iGaming, according to William, is that it resembles Vegas: bright lights, floor staff, a physical casino experience. In practice, a modern operation runs on data, risk controls and payment flows, much closer to how a bank or fintech business operates.
This shows up in the daily rhythm of the job. Decisions are driven by dashboards and metrics, and the skills that matter most are the same ones used in payments and risk management.
William checks a consistent set of numbers every morning: users online, deposits, withdrawals and gross gaming revenue (GGR). These figures give an immediate read on how the platform is performing and where attention is needed.
He notes that the picture can shift significantly within a single day. The numbers at the start of the day and the numbers by the end of it can tell two different stories, which means operational decisions have to be made on current data rather than assumptions carried over from the day before.
William uses metrics and risk analysis on withdrawal activity to check how the flow of the house is working, giving him an early signal if something in the operation needs a closer look.
Beyond the daily check-in, William reviews KPIs and cost efficiency with his risk team on a weekly basis too. This regular rhythm, daily and weekly, has become more important now that the market in Brazil is gaining momentum following the shift away from grey market status.
Brazil's move from a grey, unregulated betting market to a regulated one changed how operators think about their business. William describes a shift in mindset where compliance and licensing requirements became a fixed cost of doing business.
As a result, cost efficiency now drives many of the operational decisions he makes. With regulation setting the baseline requirements, the competitive edge shifts to running operations as efficiently as possible while staying compliant.
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No. According to William Bonalume, a modern iGaming operation runs more like a fintech business or a bank than a physical, land-based casino. The work centres on data, risk management and payment flows rather than a casino floor environment.
William checks users online, deposits, withdrawals and gross gaming revenue (GGR) every morning. These figures can change considerably by the end of the day, so decisions are based on current data rather than the previous day's numbers.
As Brazil moved from a grey, unregulated betting market to a regulated one, compliance became a fixed operating cost. This shifted operators' focus towards cost efficiency as the main way to stay competitive while meeting licensing requirements.
William worked in Brazil's regulated fintech and payments industry, including a role within Meta's fintech business unit, focusing on KYC, KYB and AML. He now applies that risk and compliance background to iGaming operations at OpenBet and DonaldBet.
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Gamecheck Insider is the official podcast from Gamecheck, the independent game integrity platform for online casino players and operators. Each episode features candid conversations with industry figures, player protection advocates, and the Gamecheck team on the subjects that matter most: fake games, fair play, and the realities of the online casino world. New episodes are available on YouTube.
