The Future of Player Betting

Zach Dixon is the co-founder and COO of Player’s Lounge, an app and service that allows players to bet on themselves across games like FIFA, Madden, NBA2k, Apex, and Valorant. Many of us know the story of Skillz, the real-money gaming and esports company that was building betting rails for casual mobile games, and may be dubious of how player betting fits into the gaming ecosystem. However, in this episode, we discover the nuances between "head-to-head" and "against-the-house" betting, the business models associated with them, and the operational challenges that come with the two formats. Those include how to verify outcomes, the function of prop bets, what betting in-game currency “means,” and how to balance bets to skill payouts. We also cover some of the distinctions between “betting” and “gambling."

To learn more, you can check out both Player’s Lounge’s products on sports here and on Valorant and Apex Legends here. 

This episode is brought to you by Pragma. Pragma is a Backend Game Engine that powers services like accounts, matchmaking, and player data for the world’s most ambitious live service games. To learn more, head to https://pragma.gg/

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Sound design by Gavin Mc Cabe.