How to Get Started in iGaming: a Beginner's Guide

iGaming is one of the most profitable, yet challenging verticals in traffic arbitrage. Entering this niche raises many questions: where to drive traffic, which sources to work with, how to earn real money, and where to start as a beginner? This guide sets out key guidelines and helps novice arbitrageurs quickly understand the logic of the vertical so that they can consciously launch their first campaigns.

Why is it worth entering gambling in 2025?

Gambling is a direction in arbitrage where traffic is directed to offers related to gambling. This concept includes not only online casinos, but also lotteries, bingo, instant games, crash games and many other forms of entertainment. Sports betting deserves a special mention. Formally, this is also gambling, but betting is often separated from the general segment.

Why do many people want to get into gambling? This niche remains one of the most profitable in the digital market. Those who manage to enter it and gain a foothold can expect consistently high earnings over the long term.

Gambling generates a huge amount of traffic: every day, millions of users play, place bets and come back again.The audience is growing at a rapid pace, and interest in gambling offers is only increasing.

There is always a choice in this area: from online casinos to sports betting, arbitrageurs have plenty of room to maneuver, selecting sources, formats, and approaches that will lead to profit. If you are looking for a niche that can provide good earnings and growth prospects, gambling is definitely worth considering.

How traffic arbitrage works in gambling

To understand how to drive traffic to gambling, you need to understand the most basic logic: you buy traffic, bring people to the offer and get money for their actions: registration, verification, deposit, or a percentage of the player's losses. That's the start, and then it's all about the craft: choosing an offer, a source, an approach, and endless optimisation.

What is an offer?

An offer is a proposal from an advertiser (casino, bookmaker, or affiliate network) for which you get paid. Essentially, it's the product you're driving traffic to. Each type of offer has its own engagement mechanics, approach to creatives and audience. Here are the main types you will encounter.

1. Casinos and slot machines

This is one of the most stable and popular offers in gambling arbitrage. This includes slots, roulette, live games, etc. Online casinos receive huge amounts of traffic every day, and the games themselves are designed to keep users engaged. Many arbitrageurs have been pouring money into this for years.

2. Sports and esports betting

Betting is also worth paying attention to. There are a lot of events going on right now: football, UFC, NBA, esports. Flooding creatives on betting requires its own approach – analytics are more important here than emotions. Features: the audience is mature and solvent, converts well through predictions, Telegram, YouTube. The influx of traffic before major tournaments is the best time to start flooding new bundles.

3. Lotteries and bingo

This is a type of offer that many people underestimate. But people's interest in lotteries is literally ‘in their blood.’ Launching a campaign is a great option for a quick start and testing: simple mechanics, a wide target audience, and easy moderation. Many people find it easier to launch these types of offers in the early stages.

4. Telegram casinos and innovative platforms

The market is changing rapidly: casinos are appearing in messengers, blockchain platforms, hybrid products. They offer a new format, softer promotion conditions, and new approaches to creative flooding. This is an excellent space to flood fresh ideas and quickly test hypotheses.

How do you earn money?

There are three key formats for earning money in gambling: CPA, RevShare, and Hybrid.

1. CPA (Cost Per Action)

You receive a fixed payment for an action – most often for the first deposit (FTD).

The advantages of this model are that payments are fast and straightforward, and it is quite easy to calculate the return on investment. CPA is an excellent option for testing and beginners. However, there are also disadvantages: strict traffic verification, high risk of fraud or ‘junk’ leads.

2. RevShare

RevShare is a percentage of the player's losses, usually 20-50%. Income is spread over months. In this format, it is difficult to predict profits. This option is for those who build a long-term strategy and know how to attract ‘smart’ players.

3. Hybrid (CPA + RevShare)

Hybrid is both an instant payment and a percentage of losses. For example: £40 for FTD + 25% RevShare.

This format allows you to partially recoup your investment immediately and still have the prospect of future earnings.

Where to start for a beginner in arbitrage

Let's take a step-by-step look at where a beginner arbitrageur should start.

Step 1. Learn the basics

Don't rush into launching campaigns right away. Before you get started, it's important to learn the basics. But no training alone will teach you how to arbitrage traffic for gambling. The same goes for any other vertical. Theory is just the foundation: the structure and basic principles without which it is difficult to move forward.

Step 2. Choose a niche and an offer

You are already familiar with the types of offers in gambling arbitrage: casinos, betting, lotteries. Your task is to choose an offer from an advertiser for which you can put together a working package: upload creative content in the source format, pass moderation, maintain the cost per click and show the affiliate high-quality traffic.

Step 3. Set up your tracking system

A properly configured tracking system is the foundation of any arbitrage process. Without a tracker, you are working blind: it is impossible to understand which sites are generating quality clicks, at which stages conversion is falling, and where exactly your budget is ‘leaking’.

Step 4. Test traffic sources and creatives

Don't assume that one combination will immediately be successful. One of the most common mistakes made by beginners is not testing. Launch a campaign with a small budget, different creatives, and different approaches, and see what works.

Step 5. Optimise and scale

If the combination is profitable, you can increase your budget and spend more. Success is not a one-time launch, but a continuous refinement.

Step 6. Monitor quality and compliance

In gambling, it is important to control the quality of traffic: fraudulent leads, multiple accounts, and low user activity quickly lead to deviations, holds, and blocks. Before launching, make sure that your bundle complies with the advertising platform's rules, affiliate requirements, and the legislation of the selected geo. This includes: creative type, acceptable wording, age/region restrictions, and submission format.

These tips will help you build your strategy step by step. Arbitrage is not a set-and-forget process. Real mastery comes only through practice. In gambling, one of the most difficult verticals, it is impossible to learn how to work without going through your own tests, mistakes, losses, and optimisations. Yes, at first you may lose money several times in a row, but this is what gives you an understanding of how to test combinations correctly, how to scale, which creatives pass moderation and which do not.

Traffic sources: what to choose and why

The audience behaves differently in each traffic source, so it is important to test where exactly to pour your traffic. Many arbitrageurs make their main pour into several directions at once: push, pop, TikTok, YouTube, etc.

Find the most effective sources for beginners and an explanation of why they work better than others in iGaming.

1. Push notifications remain the easiest and most affordable way to get into gambling: low prices, soft moderation, and quick launch allow beginners to quickly understand the mechanics of the vertical. Yes, the traffic is cold, but with competent pre-lands, push campaigns consistently give a positive CR in Tier-2/3.
2. Popunders and clickunders are all about volume and low entry costs. The format is aggressive, but it is ideal for slots and crash games, where users only need one click to get into the game. If you need mass and quick tests without large investments, this is one of the most effective options.
3. TikTok, Reels, and Shorts currently provide the most engaging traffic in gambling. Short videos perfectly convey the excitement, dynamics, and visuals of slots or crash games, so leads can be hot even with small budgets. The only downside is that moderation is strict, and creatives require constant updating.
4. Facebook and Meta Ads are the choice for those who are willing to spend time warming up accounts and masking. In return, you get a warm audience and powerful optimisation algorithms, which work especially well for betting, expert approaches and ‘rational’ gambling.
5. Google Ads brings in the hottest traffic: users themselves are looking for where to play or what to bet on, and this is immediately reflected in the quality of deposits. The work is more difficult due to strict rules, but the result is worth the effort, especially in sports events or casino queries.
6. Gambling options such as ASO and motivated traffic are suitable for those who see a future in mobile products. App promotion is a long process, but it brings in players with high retention and excellent LTV, which is ideal for RevShare or hybrid.
7. YouTube and content traffic are not about arbitrage, but we would also like to mention these strategies. People trust authors, and if you know how to create useful content and educate your audience, such traffic brings stable passive income for months. It's not about a quick start, but about the long game.

How to make creatives that really convert

If you are promoting a casino or slots, show the dynamics: spinning reels, winnings, happy faces. In crash games, short videos with a moment of take-off and a sharp ‘crash’ work best – the viewer immediately feels the risk and the desire to ‘make it in time.’ Lotteries, instant games and light games work well through the feeling of simple luck – as if the chances are higher here and the winnings are closer.

Betting requires a different approach: people come here not for emotion, but for logic. Creatives with analytics, forecasts and an expert tone will convert better than bright videos.

In gambling, it is important that a potential customer understands in a second why they should click. The most effective creatives are always simple, understandable, and convey excitement.

Common mistakes made by beginners in arbitrage

The main problem is trying to copy and use other people's combinations without understanding them. Arbitrage is a constant testing of hypotheses. What worked for one arbitrageur in a certain geo and source may not work for you at all.

The second problem is the lack of systematic analytics. Beginners often only look at clicks and CPM, but ignore depth: CR, lead quality, deviations.

The third is spending too much of the budget too early and unjustifiably. Remember: first tests, then settings, and only then scale.

Finally, many people do not read the source rules and end up with bans, holds, and offer deviations. Moderation is stricter in gambling, and affiliate programmes are more attentive — it is better to spend 10 minutes studying the information.

Useful tools and platforms

Without tools in gambling arbitration, you won't see what exactly brings in money and where conversions are lost. Here's a checklist of the most important tools for your work:

• proxies – IP/geo masking, account isolation, bypassing geo-blocks and restrictions;
• cloaking – showing different content to different audiences (moderators vs real users);
• spy services – competitive intelligence: which creatives/landing pages work, where and for whom;
• anti-detection browsers – isolating browser digital fingerprints, managing a large pool of profiles;
• tracking systems – counting clicks, sessions, leads and their distribution by source/campaign, as well as calculating EPC, ROI, etc.;
• Payment tools – accepting/withdrawing funds, accounting for finances, integration with CPA/affiliate programmes;
• Analytics and user behaviour tools – allow you to see what users are doing on the website: where they linger, at what stage they lose interest, how they move through the funnel; help improve landing pages and increase conversion rates;
• CRM systems and postbacks for lead management – help track not only clicks, but also lead quality, application status, repeat sales, and upsells; automate communication between the tracker, CPA network, and financial reports;
• Automation tools and AI assistants – use neural networks and auto-rules to generate creatives, optimise bids, and analyse data; reduce routine tasks and accelerate campaign scaling.

A competent set of tools helps turn traffic into profit. With the right approach, you will be able to run stable campaigns and not get lost in the data.