“We aim to take our product live in as many countries as possible”

Considering your background in the affiliate and media industry, poker is the latest stage in your professional career. Have you always been passionate about this game, or did the interest develop over time?

Poker entered my life before I even considered entering the igaming/gambling industry, as I made a living from it from 2009 to 2016.

What I love about poker is that you constantly need to solve problems, to challenge yourself, and it is, in a way, instructive, as you must have self-control, discipline and the composure to make the right decisions and evolve.

Fostering these essential qualities as an individual, including self-control, discipline, and composure, will invariably prove advantageous in all facets of your life, encompassing both personal and professional endeavors.

 What are your thoughts on the popularity of poker and the growth of the poker community in Greece?

Poker in Greece had been somewhat stagnant a few years ago, but just like worldwide, it has experienced a resurgence with the new formats of online gaming, regaining its popularity.

Regarding the live poker scene, after the pandemic and the end of all restrictions, we are witnessing a significant interest in live tournaments.

In Greece, there is a core group of players who participate in both online and live games, with the largest segment having more than 10 years of experience in the game.

 Are there any challenges that the Greek poker scene faces currently?

We have two major challenges ahead of us. The first and most significant is to create a new player base, to bring new players into the poker community in Greece, teach them the game, and make them fall in love with it. This is the most difficult task for those of us who love the game and are involved in it.

We have considered a series of actions to ensure that experienced players and professionals help those interested and have a smooth transition to the game, without losses, with the primary focus on enjoying the game and evolving. We have already opened a channel between our online and live events, allowing new players to have an experiential experience starting with lower buy-ins.

The second major challenge is to make Greece a poker destination for players from all over the world. We have a beautiful country, many wonderful places to visit, numerous activities in major cities, culture, and heritage, infrastructure, and of course, nightlife :P.

All of this could be combined with our favorite game. We invite poker enthusiasts to live a comprehensive experience at our next festival, from October 9th to 15th in Thessaloniki.

Recently, NOVIBET made its official debut at the WSOP. What are your impressions regarding this event?

I cannot put into words the experience we had. We are simply fortunate to be in the largest WSOP in history and to have had a member of the Novibet Team at the televised table of the Main Event.

I want to thank all the team members for the impeccable collaboration we had, a big congratulations for the impressive scores achieved by the players, and I hope that we will be present again with an even larger team in the next one.

As mentioned above, through our poker platform and our actions, we aim to provide more and more players with the opportunity to have similar experiences.

What are NOVIBET’s poker plans for the rest of 2023?

We aim to take our product live in as many countries as possible, and by the end of 2023, we will have succeeded in introducing our poker offering to at least three new countries where we operate. Additionally, two major live festivals are coming to Thessaloniki, while in Athens, we host tournaments every week. Our immediate goal is for our live events to establish themselves in the global poker community and to start being held in other countries around the world.