Casino Guru Insiders Christmas special 2025: Yankee Swap as a Year-End Lesson

As we get ready to close another year, the Casino Guru office is once again filled with fairy lights, Christmas punch, and the sound of colleagues catching up between sips of mulled wine and bites of cookies. It wouldn’t be December here without our traditional office Christmas party – and, of course, Secret Santa.

Secret Santa is already a staple at Casino Guru. Everyone who wants to participate draws a name, buys a small gift for that specific person, and keeps their identity secret until the big reveal. This time, though, we’re adding a twist.

Not your typical office Christmas party

In the classic version of Yankee Swap, everyone brings a wrapped gift; numbers are drawn, and participants take turns either opening a new present or "stealing" one that someone else has already unwrapped.

The rules and names of the game differ by region. You might know it as White Elephant or Dirty Santa, but the basic idea is the same.

But don’t worry, we decided to try a different kind of swap – a Yankee Swap of jobs and personalities. Instead of presents, our colleagues now have the opportunity to swap jobs (or even personalities) with another person from the office… at least for this Christmas party.

But before we learn who would like to swap with whom, and why, we want to take a moment to look at what made this year special for Casino Guru.

A year is worth all the celebration

Over the past 12 months, Casino Guru has continued to grow in quality and quantity, as a longstanding industry voice for fairness, transparency, and safer gambling.

• We won Best Affiliate 2025 at the SiGMA Central Europe B2C Awards. Casino Guru was also named Best Bonus Comparison Affiliate of the Year at the AffPapa iGaming Awards LATAM and secured Safer Gambling Initiative of the Year at the iGB Affiliate Awards. These achievements add to an already impressive record, including Best Casino Affiliate at the EGR Operator Awards 2025 and Casino Affiliate of the Year at the SBC Awards 2025.
• That's not the end of it! At Malta Gaming Affiliate Awards, Casino Guru won not one, but three prestigious awards –

1/ Safer Gambling Initiative of the Year Award;

2/ Best Casino Affiliate of the Year Award;

3/ Affiliate Idol - Lifetime Achievement Award.

• Moreover, the Complaint Resolution Center passed a huge milestone this year, officially reaching $50 million recovered in player funds since 2019, after handling over 16,800 cases and more than 1,000 complaints per month for over two years.
• Another one of our projects, Casino Guru Academy, crossed the5,000-learners mark in November 2025, confirming great demand for free, practical courses.

All of these achievements, along with countless product improvements, content updates, collaborations, and internal small wins across teams, set the stage for this year’s Christmas special.

Welcome to the Casino Guru Yankee Swap

The office is buzzing with that sweet spot when holiday spirit meets after work hours, and the punch bowl is never quite full, and someone definitely put Last Christmas on repeat again. In between all that, we pulled a few colleagues aside, and asked them one simple but revealing question:

"If you could do a Yankee Swap with anyone at Casino Guru, swapping your job or personality with theirs, who would you choose, and why?"

Daniela (Public Relations & Creative Projects Director):

"Oh, I’d obviously go straight for the CEO chair! [laughter] I mean… a boss role could fit me pretty well, don’t you think? [more laughter] But no, seriously. The more I think about it, the more I realize how much pressure, responsibility, and constant decision-making come with it. So let me just say this: huge respect for our C-level management. They have a lot on their shoulders and are still absolutely killing it every single day."

"And my ultimate option number two for Yankee Swap is always my dearest colleague Šimon. Who wouldn’t want to be laid-back, fun, and smart at the same time? That’s honestly a superpower."

Daniel (Senior Product Manager):

"That’s exactly what I wanted to say! I’d choose Šimon as well. He’s incredibly easygoing and approachable, and I really admire how naturally he can start a conversation with anyone, even complete strangers, and make it feel effortless. He comes across as friendly, open, and relaxed, which are qualities I sometimes struggle with, especially in unfamiliar social situations."

"I don’t think I’d want to be like that all the time, though. [laughter] But borrowing a bit of Šimon’s ability to walk into a room full of strangers and handle challenges with such calmness is something I’d definitely appreciate."

Maroš (Head of Content):

"Oh nooo… listen, I don’t want to repeat the same answer, but I have to say Šimon as well. He’s a completely different person than I am, and I think it would be fascinating to see the world from his perspective."

Šimon (Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling):

"Awww, you guys! That’s very sweet! And you know, it’s funny, because I also admire my laid-backness in other people." [laughter]

"That’s why I’d personally go for Lukáš (Head of Development). And also, because he works very closely with our brilliant developers. I’d love to be in his shoes for a day and experience that kind of collaboration."

Not everyone wants to swap

Luckily, not everybody in the office picked Šimon for their Yankee Swap. This topic sparked a passionate debate across teams, and some of the answers were simply too good not to share.

For example, our colleague Biba (HR Business Partner):

"Honestly, no one. From where I sit, everyone here is exactly where they should be. Everyone at Casino Guru has a role, personality, style, and set of quirks that fit perfectly. So, I’ll gladly stay right where I am and enjoy us being ourselves."

Petronela(Head of Complaint Resolution Center) skillfully avoided the question in a similar way:

"That’s impossible! I couldn’t pick just one person! Nooo." [laughter]

"I’d love to borrow a bit from several people – Matej’s analytical clarity, Kristína’s technical know-how, Biscuit’s out-of-the-box thinking, Matej’s and Adam’s sense of humor, Martinka’s energy, Kubo’s eye for detail, Veronika’s lightning-fast typing, and Števka’s calm approach… and plenty more from the rest of the team too."

On the other hand, Ľubo (Project Manager) approached it very simply and directly: "I’d love to be a casino analyst. I think I’d enjoy being as far away from meetings and decisions as possible for a day."

Many colleagues also mentioned swapping jobs with newer team members. They praised the feeling of being in the early days of a new role when everything feels exciting, learning is the main focus, and responsibilities haven’t fully piled up yet.

Swapping shoes, keeping values

As the music gets louder and the last Secret Santa gifts are unwrapped, there’s one thing we know for sure: even if many roles were swapped, our values would stay exactly the same.

Even if people changed jobs, desks, or personalities for a day, we’d still be driven by fairness, transparency, and a genuine desire to keep improving.

And maybe that’s the real takeaway from this year’s Yankee Swap. You can try on someone else’s shoes, gain a new perspective, and appreciate different strengths, but what truly matters is the shared foundation underneath it all.

And last but not least, from everyone at Casino Guru, we wish you happy holidays! Take a well-deserved break and recharge properly for the next year to come.

This interview is part of Casino Guru Insiders, a series of interviews during which experts from Casino Guru share their unique workflow, reveal insider information, and offer an exclusive overview of experience-packed know-how.