Exploring the key role trading has for sportsbook security

The SBC Digital – Sportsbook event heard from some of the biggest minds in iGaming risk management to paint a picture of efficient growth and consumer retention. 

Ted Menmuir, SBC Media’s Editor-at-Large, welcomed Matthew Trenhaile, Mike Forslund, and Ivan Gojic on his panel to reveal the secret behind keeping risk exposure at bay while maximising market expansion.

Placing the sportsbooks’ trading teams front-and-centre in the discussion, Menmuir brought up the question whether or not they are still the “engine room” for operators.

“If they’re not they should be,” Trenhaile, who is the owner of Anubis Trading, said: “Essentially they are the front-of-house, the person who is serving – the waiter. 

“Sportsbooks are there to take bets and they’re the only people who see real-time bets, real-time behavioural patterns that can be observed. They are the first people to see how this impacts the flow of the sportsbook.”

Trenhaile added that trading teams serve as the “hub of the wheel”, essentially being the end point of communication for all other branches of the sportsbook – from customer service, through marketing, to compliance.

“And if they’re doing their jobs correctly, they will also be providing intel back to all those departments. Traders should be encouraged to think about giving those people the right tasks and where to direct their energies to do the analysis.”

You’re not alone

As it turns out, risk management can prove challenging if it is being handled solely by the operator. When that’s the case, the way forward is to look for help elsewhere.

This is where companies like Yolo Group and their tech development divisions come into play. Forslund, who is the company’s Head of Sales and Business Development, commented: “Operators cannot really control everything. Sophisticated bettors find new ways to exploit vulnerabilities. 

“I work in the crypto sphere, and we build a lot of facilities around helping operators. We have AI-driven algorithms, we have a lot of automation on our side, it would be almost impossible for an operator to do all of this by itself.”

One particularly interesting outtake from the conversation was that risk management is not just about keeping bad customers out, it is equally about catering to good value customers, as losing them could also be considered as risk.

Trenhaile added: “We always focus on how to manage potentially toxic flow or bad customers.

“In a world of rising costs and increased competition, making sure the good value customers are looked after is the ultimate risk management. You don’t have a business without them. 

“And there is a risk if they leave. For me, giving those good customers what they want is a trading function as well.”

To watch the full webinar, you can click the link here.