Focus RISK-FREE JACKPOTS
jackpots within a short space of time. It's a revolutionary product that's going to change everything. Operators with their own games can use Topjack's jackpot system as a White Label sitting on top of their titles, while the company also offers its own platform and licence for the complete end-to-end solution.
Building the foundations The creation of Topjack Games has taken four years from initial kernel of an idea, through the incubation process, licensing, contracts and finally to the launch. Both Nick and Stan are formerly employees of PartyGaming. A chance seating change placed both men in contact with each other for the first time. As Nick describes, heated debate, technical ideas and their execution quickly followed. “Stan’s background is in what I describe as 'proper maths,’” explains Nick. “My background is in marketing and sales promotion, having spent a long-time in the gaming industry across numerous different roles. We could both see that liquidity had become the biggest barrier to the continued growth of the industry,
almost
complete at five months, practically there at six,
But we knew we couldn't have a sinGle question we couldn't answer.
and it was through these discussions that we identified what we saw as a solution - a bridge to the liquidity issue forged by indemnity insurance."
It's a concept that brings down the
barriers for smaller operators who can now offer massive
jackpots without the need for liquidity.
in which players believe they are playing a lottery game, but where in fact the risk is insured.
It's a concept that brings down the barriers for smaller operators who can now offer massive jackpots without the need for liquidity. Low liquidity games can offer massive prizes without risk to the operator, who can offer casino style games of their choice, rather than slavishly sticking to slots. From the outset Topjack clients can offer players £2m jackpots, rising to £10m and £15m
Four months into a process Nick describes as cooking a 'barbecue idea,' the putting of the world to rights while flipping burgers and drinking beer, a level of detail was being added to what was quickly hatching into a project, with a business and investment plan of its own. Time became a limiting factor for both men and as circumstances within PartyGaming created an opportunity to exit without acrimony, both Stan and Nick made the frankly reckless choice, to abandon terrific jobs for the unknown in order to follow the kernel of an idea to its conclusion.
"We spent 15 months in a villa in Spain, working every moment of every day on this idea," explains Nick of the mania
driving both men at that time. "It shocked us both what we were able to achieve in this period, the level of detail that we could process. That's not to say that we couldn't have achieved everything in three months, but we were so obsessed with creating a completely 'clean' model that we constructed and deconstructed the model over and over until we knew that it was flawless. It sounds arrogant to say that, but when you're dealing with compliance, with licensing and insurance at this level, there can be no compromise. We followed the idea from the legal perspective through to the product, the player, the promotion, retention, licensing, insurance and back to the beginning again. If each element wasn't 100 per cent clean, then we started from scratch all over again. We were almost complete at five months into the project, practically there at six, but we knew that we couldn't have a single question we couldn't answer. So we started again, over and over."
It's this level of obsessive compulsive drive that immediately hits you when you speak to Topjack. It's a laser-focus of detail, of expressing the mechanics of the idea, the clarity of its execution. The original idea had to withstand all the rigours that were about to be unleashed upon it, by regulators, investors, customers, insurers and most importantly, the players. Everything had to work from a player perspective otherwise all would have been for nothing.
"We knew that we had to get the right level of investment to drive this project, secure the insurance indemnity and achieve a white licence from the Lotteries and Gaming Authority in Malta, but beyond all the hype it had to fundamentally work for the player," states Nick. "Retention, acquisition and converting players had to be at the core of the proposal. We could have approached Lloyds and the LGA much sooner and would probably have met their requirements, as no one has asked for the level of detail to which we drilled down. However, ultimately your idea has to stand not only their scrutiny, but that of the most difficult audience, the player. I believe that we're now reaping the benefits of that level and depth of detail. We know how exactly our product functions at all levels, we can answer every question. That's not arrogance, it's a fact."
In adopting such a microbial level of scrutiny, both men knew that their concept could navigate the stages that were to come, where the risks were higher, both at the personal and corporate level. The next phase involved raising the investment they needed to indemnify the
June 2012 PAGE 43
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