BetPokies is an online gambling source owned by John Gold in 2020. Currently, the website operated by Zehr’s Media LTD, is targeting the Australian gambling community by providing the readers with casinos and games reviews, numerous guides on different issues, from means of payment to gambling in moderation, as well as a blog section, which tells the audience about the latest events, offers, and innovations in the market. To learn more about the BetPokies team, their review process, and the project in general, we reached out to the above-mentioned John Gold. While talking to him, we also learned more about the upcoming reviews.

Founder’s Perspective: Insights from John Gold

At that time, when I launched the project, the website was mine entirely. I wrote all of the guides, reviews, and even blog articles. With time, the website developed and attracted a larger audience, which also increased the scope of work. I stated that despite my more than ten years of experience in the gambling business and my passion for the job, it is not possible to do everything by oneself. And as I have always emphasized, it is not realistic for one person to be an expert in all fields. This is how the team of BetPokies had expanded”.

John elaborated and described the team of experts in more detail: “Currently, we are four leading experts. Charles Morey, who used to be an intern in 2022, decided to stay after his internship ended. He’s handling the financial aspect of gambling, writing guides and articles on payment methods.Alicia Want, along with our team of more than ten testers, takes care of pokie reviews – all of the pokies you see on BetPokies are reviewed and hand-checked by her. Last but not least is Poppy Bate, who takes care of casino reviews. To make a review, she has multiple steps to complete, which I think we can directly ask Poppy to describe and take a closer look into while talking about the upcoming review”.

Since BetPokies is an affiliate project, we were wondering if it means that a casino like GeniePlay can buy a review that will appear on the website. John commented: “Shortly – no. I understand where you’re coming from with this question. However, it's not how we work. We do not receive any money from casinos directly – we are paid only through commissions from affiliate programs”.

Talking about the influence of cooperation on the reviews, he said, “We review, not advertise. If my colleagues or I see that there’s something wrong with a casino–whether it's a licensing that seems fake, or, for example, there are not enough payment options, or maybe the customer service seems unreliable–we will point it out. You can find plenty of sources across the internet that avoid telling the truth about a casino, but on our website, you will never find a fully positive review of any brand. Not because we necessarily try to find something negative but because we learned to notice things that may be a con for the Australian gambling community.”

Inside the Review Process and the Upcoming GeniePlay Feature

GeniePlay is a recently appeared casino on the market and is a brand that is planned to be analysed by the team of BetPokies, according to John. Let’s take a look at the process a casino has to undertake to be reviewed and published on the BetPokies website.

With that being said, we asked Poppy, the above-mentioned casino reviewer of BetPokies, to comment on the steps she goes through in order to make a review:

“First of all, my main principle is to test a casino myself. I have a couple of criteria I check in casinos, which are licensing, design, games, bonuses, providers, customer service, and other special features that make a casino unique. To check licensing, for example, I go to the website of an authority that handled the casino license. I check if it’s real because, unfortunately, sometimes casinos lie and put in nonexistent licensing, which is obviously a big red flag”.

We wanted to know more about the upcoming GeniePlay review, as BetPokies always provides high-quality products, and since the brand is new, we would want to see what Poppy has to say about it. Poppy said that the review is on its way and is currently being analysed by the team of testers to see if there are any other flaws she hasn’t encountered.

“So far, I can tell that the casino has plenty of potential. I always appreciate it when a casino tries to differ from other brands by coming up with a unique design or, for example, a mini-game. GeniePlay visually is great, has a themed design, shows good results performance-wise, as well as it clearly states all of the terms and conditions, and has responsive customer service and plenty of other positive things you can soon read about on our website. But there were also some flaws you cannot ignore, such as no information about licensing in the footer of the page, and I’ve seen multiple gamblers commenting on having trouble withdrawing their winnings from the casino” – said Poppy.

As John said, one person cannot be an expert in everything. Poppy agreed with that statement and said that even though reviewing casinos is her responsibility, she can ask other experts to help:

“Now it happens less because I’ve gained a lot of experience over the past couple of years, and with time I learned some patterns, and I don’t necessarily need to ask Alicia or Charles for help when it comes to pokies or payment methods every time I review a casino. However, if I feel unsure about these topics, I know I can ask them to answer my questions without any doubts, or I can ask them to read my review to give it a fresh perspective if it’s needed. In our team, it works both ways, which, I think, helps to improve the quality of our work a lot”.

So, for now, we are waiting for the review to appear on the website to see all the insights Poppy has for us to see.

How to Improve Your Gambling Experience with BetPokies

BetPokies, as a team, highlights that they stand by responsible gambling. On their website, when it comes to casino reviews, you can find a section dedicated to responsible gambling that shows how to play responsibly with this or that brand. For example, some casinos allow their players to apply limits through customer service or account settings.

You can also find a whole guide written by the team that has collected plenty of recommendations, programs and helplines one can use in case of any problems with gambling. What we’ve found interesting is that the page also has a test that allows you to check if your gambling is under control quickly.

The quiz takes only a couple of minutes, as there are only seven questions. If you’re a gambler, we would recommend you take the test even if your gambling seems healthy to you – better safe than sorry. Remember: gambling should be fun and not harmful!