Who's Matt?
Matt is a co-founder of The Casino Wizard and a long-time online casino enthusiast. As an online marketer, he’s well acquainted with the online world, but it was his passion for casino games the main reason why Matt decided to launch The Casino Wizard.
Matt’s passion for online gambling has helped the project grow over the years. His ability to seize opportunities has allowed the site to flourish organically, whilst providing the team with an unparalleled level of expertise.
Casino & iGaming Trajectory
Matt’s trajectory in the online gambling world is more related to his passion for gambling than to his professional experience. Before the creation of The Casino Wizard, Matt already had over 15 years of experience in the online marketing scene, having graduated from the Breda University of Applied Sciences in 2004.
Since the creation of our site, Matt has gained invaluable online casino experience, which he combines with his marketing expertise to produce some of the best content that we’ve published on our site.
As a big fan of travelling, Matt has gotten to experience some of the biggest gambling markets in the world, including Monaco, Las Vegas and Macau. As a gambler, he mostly enjoys poker, roulette and slots, although you may also see him playing other games, depending on availability and permitted limits.
Here are some of Matt’s most relevant professional achievements and positions:
The Casino Wizard
- Co-Owner and Contributor: Aug 2017 - Present
Webmatters Online BV
- Founder: Jan 2016 - Present
Oceanwide Expeditions
- Online Marketing Manager: Nov 2014 - Ovt 2017
Yonego B.V.
- Online Marketing Team Leader: Aug 2012 - Oct 2014
- Senior Internet Marketer: Aug 2010 - Jul 2012
Education & Studies
Matt is a Bachelor in Leisure Management, a degree that he obtained from the Breda University of Applied Sciences. He has a vast experience in online gambling, having started as a player in 2003, more than a decade before launching The Casino Wizard.
He frequently attends some of the biggest iGaming summits in the world, particularly iGB Live! and SiGMA events.
Matt has become a connoisseur of the online gambling world and combines his experience in leisure with his iGaming knowledge to offer the ultimate gambling pathway for readers to follow.
What Does Matt Do for The Casino Wizard?
Matt pulls a lot of the strings that help make The Casino Wizard one of the top casino reviewers in the world. His experience and trajectory in the iGaming industry allow him to become a fundamental part of The Casino Wizard jigsaw. He takes charge of tasks like:
- Developing and working on expert casino reviews
- Writing guides with first-hand experience thanks to his many years of playing
- Putting into test the very best slots in the industry, and looking for new slots to review
- Chasing after the best bonuses in the industry and writing about them to help others find lucrative deals with fair bonus terms
How Matt Stays Up to Date
Matt is the brain behind how The Casino Wizard operates. He combines his marketing expertise with his casino know-how to make sure that the site offers the latest and most relevant information on everything related to the world of gambling.
There are two key activities that help Matt stay up to date with industry trends, both related to the world of iGaming and online marketing:
- Together with Klaas, Matt is a frequent attendee to some of the world’s biggest iGaming conferences and events. You’ll often find him at ICE Barcelona, ICE London and SiGMA events all over Europe, including Malta’s world-class summits.
- As well as reading daily news in portals like iGamingBusiness (a site that all of our members frequent), Matt is aware of the latest changes in the Google algorithms, which prioritize helpful content. His awareness of these changes ensure that The Casino Wizard is compliant with the latest recommended practices.
Matt’s Best & Worst Casino Experiences
Best Casino Experience
Matt’s best gambling experience came when he was 24 years old. He played in a poker tournament organized by one of his friends at Breda, where everyone paid a $20 buy-in. He ended up winning the whole thing, which saw him walk with a profit of $250.
Although the amount wasn’t of much significance, it was this experience that actually got Matt hooked on the world of gambling.
He has managed to translate that day’s success into more joyful poker days. Matt was always a fan of poker ever since he learned to play the game for fun when he was a kid; as an adult, he’s used his love for the game to enjoy playing against people from all over the world.
Worst Casino Experience
During his travels around the world, Matt once lost over $2k playing roulette in Macau. As he recalls it, it was “the single worst night” of his gambling life: it was one of those days where things just never seem to went his way. He didn’t even use progressive strategies like the Martingale: he was set on making random spread bets on European roulette tables, but he just wasn’t able to win bets.
Matt says that he lost “9 out of 10 bets” he made that night. Although that run didn’t end his love for gambling, it certainly did kill some of his love for roulette games: he didn’t play roulette again until he visited Malta with Marco and Klaas in 2023!
Must-Know Facts About Matt
Know-How & Expertise
Matt’s expertise in the world of iGaming and online marketing has helped The Casino Wizard become what it is today. His knowledge of the online casino world has allowed him to provide expert opinions and share them with those who love online gambling as much as he does. As a gambler, Matt has:
- Played in more than 200 online casinos
- Visited some of the world’s most renowned online poker rooms in Macau and Las Vegas
- Claimed hundreds of bonuses in popular online casinos
- Been an avid slot player for over a decade, before the days of Starburst and Book of Dead
His online marketing ideas, as well as his ability to know how to implement them together with Klaas’, have paved the way for an era of success. As a gambler, poker player, and marketing expert, Matt knows what the consumer wants and how to convey it in the right way to truly help those that need it. You can check out Matt’s interview with SiGMA published on iGamingBrazil.com.
The Passion Behind the Idea
Poker was the main drive for Matt’s passion for online gambling. He’s been a poker fan most of his life, a passion that was fueled by the growing TV presence of the World Series of Poker in the 2000s, and ultimately cultivated thanks to the widespread availability of poker rooms in online casinos across the globe.
The introduction of poker bonuses all but helped make him an even bigger poker geek. He became a bonus hunter and regular visitor to online poker and casino sites, which started in low-limit rooms but has now seen him become a regular in high-stakes tables across the iGaming world.
A Drive to Make a Difference
Back when Matt and Klaas first laid out the foundations for The Casino Wizard, it was clear to Matt that the site would need to take a different approach to what the industry usually offers if they were to be successful.
This drive to make a difference is what has represented Matt throughout his entire professional life. Influencing change within any industry can only be achieved by someone that is as willing as they are capable – and that’s precisely what Matt brings to the table.
Matt’s Recommended Casino Events
- The WN iGaming Summit in Cyprus, hosted in cooperation with Google, which helps industry members keep up to date with everything related to Google trends and online gambling.
- Europe’s iGX Summit, where customer experience is prioritized and networking events are aplenty.
A Q&A with Matt, Co-Founder of The Casino Wizard
Why did you decide to “take a gamble” in The Casino Wizard?
Me and Klaas share a similar perspective on this, after being successful entrepreneurs in the world of online marketing. We both saw this as a challenge, and since we were both very passionate about online gambling, we decided that it would be the perfect opportunity for us to collaborate.
What lessons did you take from your previous marketing roles at that you’ve applied to The Casino Wizard?
One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from my previous marketing roles is the importance of understanding your audience deeply. At Yonego, for example, I worked on campaigns that required tailoring messages to specific customer profiles, which taught me the value of personalization and data-driven strategies.
At The Casino Wizard, I’ve applied these principles by ensuring that every piece of content we produce is both informative and relevant.
What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own site in a competitive niche like iGaming?
Just don’t do it; we have enough competition already! Jokes aside, the best thing you can do is stay focused and keep your head down. There’s a lot of work to be done since the creation of a casino reviewing website, especially in the sense that you have to make it offer something unique; something that others aren’t offering.
Newcomers to the niche may find it overwhelming. To me, after working on the site for many years now, it’s what keeps me motivated.
What do you believe sets The Casino Wizard apart from other affiliate marketing sites in the iGaming industry?
I know that many people will say this, but I believe that we’re one of the few sites that are truly committed to transparency. Here, we don’t care about fees or stuff like that: if we don’t like a casino, we’re going to give it a negative rating. Compare some of the casinos that we’ve rated badly to the scores they’ve been given by leading brands and you’ll see what I mean.
At the end of the day, we’re gamblers ourselves, and we wouldn’t like to be deceived by so-called “experts”. We act like we expect others to act. It’s that simple.
How does your passion for poker influence the way you approach creating content for The Casino Wizard?
It doesn’t, really. I love playing poker, but I also love partaking in all sorts of online gaming and land-based activities. A lot of people come to our site looking for top casinos, not poker sites. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy writing about poker, though: we have published poker content that I’ve written together with Marco, our Chief Content Writer.
