Castle Casino: Q&A with CEO David Merry

David Merry, CEO of newly launched Castle Casino shares some thoughts with Livedealer.org on his company’s prospects and live gaming generally…

Q: First a brief bio…what is your previous experience in the online gambling industry and what prompted the move to running a live deal casino?

A: I was working as a full time SEO consultant when a colleague moved to become the affiliate manager at an online casino. We met up around a month after he started for a quick drink and he was telling me about his new job, through this I realised that the casino affiliate industry was a profitable area to be involved in and that I could utilise my skills to promote other casinos and hopefully make a side income. That night when I got home I started buying domains as well as existing web properties such liveroulette.co.uk amongst others and began promoting live casinos around the web, after around 6 months I had a number of these running. After seeing the  profits involved in running portals I couldn’t help but think towards discovering how online casinos operate and how I could get investment to start one. By December 2009 I had a business plan and had handed it around to potential investors, by July 16th 2010 after months of gruelling work and investor meetings Castle Casino was officially live and running.

Q: What have been the major challenges in getting a live casino off the ground?

A: To be honest I would say that the most challenging times have yet to be discovered and lie in marketing and breaking into markets. However I would say at present (aside from gaining financial investment) the hardest phase was finding the starting ground, running a live casino is comparatively easy compared to trying to fit the 100 pieces together and get the initial product live and to the market. I remember sitting on my laptop with the investment already guaranteed and being totally daunted by the task ahead of me, every little decision, be it with which software to use or which company I should contract to design the casino and then managing them thereafter, could make or break the casinos success. Let’s just say sleepless nights and all day meetings were common for a good few months!

Q: There are now quite a few live gaming platforms out there.  Why did you choose to go with ViG?

A: I had meetings with a number of platform providers however VIG really stood out to me for three primary reasons. Firstly, there was the friendliness and good nature of the team, I had to take into account that I would be working in partnership with whoever I chose for years to come therefore a good relationship had to be present. Secondly I was impressed by their range of live casinos already present, they all looked fantastic, operated seamlessly and were branded brilliantly and uniquely, I tested all the casino platforms and I loved the software from the get go. Lastly was the ambition and dynamics that they held, most platform providers had a flat offering, whereas VIG were never satisfied and always looking forward, they strive to become the best live casino provider in the market by a long way and I want to be part of that.

Q: In terms of geographic market (US aside for regulatory reasons) where do you see most potential for Castle, and the live casino industry generally?

A: Although hard to crack, I still consider the UK market breakable and full of potential given the right live offering. Casino TV channels are springing up all the time and I think they do a great job of marketing the technology to the wider market, let’s not forget that until late last year a casino had never had a slot on terrestrial television over here. Further down the line, Castle Casino aims to move into the European market where live gaming (at least using the resident language) doesn’t seem to have taken off as much.

Q: You have set the bar pretty high early on in terms of novel promos (Lamborghini Gallardo promo).  Can you give any hints as to what’s planned in the future?

A: Well I can’t give away the game entirely as nothing is set in stone, however let’s say that we are in stages of negotiation with a luxury yacht provider about an all-inclusive around the world trip!

Q: Do you think live casinos will ever have more players than RNG casinos, and if so when?

A: Yes I do, over the next 3 or so years I see more and more RNG casinos adapting their platform to include a live offering and then wider gambling being notified of the benefits and added thrill. It’s hard to put a timeframe on this, however I think that given the option the majority of casino players prefer to play live.

Q: Are you a casino gambler, and if so, your favorite casino and favorite game?

A: To be honest, I do participate in online gambling however I wouldn’t say I am a huge internet gambler, I spend half of my life on the computer so I prefer to get out and gamble in brick and mortar casinos every now and then. When I do gamble I will pay a visit to a casino in London and more than likely try to disguise lost money as a research expense! My favourite game has to be roulette, something about trying to beat the wheel has always fascinated me.

Q: Gazing into the crystal ball where do you see Castle Casino 1, 2 and 5 years from now?

A: This is a very interesting question. In 1 year, I see Castle Casino having a large fan base in the UK, something that I feel would be a solid foundation to expand on internationally. By year 2, I think we should have at least be active and starting to crack the European market. And by year 5, Castle Casino and hopefully other online properties by that time will be a worldwide success and I will be sunning myself on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean!

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You can read more about Castle Casino here