Matej Novota: “608 casinos have changed their T&C thanks to us”

Matej Novota, the Head of Data & Complaints at Casino Guru, leads a dedicated team focused on gathering, assessing, and updating essential casino data. Alongside managing the Complaint Resolution Center, he handles the most complicated players’ complaints and is regularly in touch with operators and other professionals in the gambling industry.

In this interview, Matej highlights Casino Guru’s mission to promote fair and safe casinos by auditing all online casinos and advising them on improving their terms and conditions. He explains that Casino Guru’s Safety Index is based on an algorithm using real data, and reflects how safe a casino is for players, therefore it cannot be bought.

How is the cooperation with casinos that want to improve the Safety Index on the Casino Guru website? What unfair terms and conditions should casinos avoid? Read on to find out!

Q: So, before we get into how the improvement of Casino Guru's Safety Index works, could you explain what the Safety Index is?

The Safety Index represents how safe a casino is for players. A high Safety Index indicates that the casino is unlikely to cause problems for the player. We evaluate safety from various angles, likehow a casino treats its players, the likelihood of encountering something unfair while playing at this casino, and its history of complaints, particularly unresolved ones. We also focus on the casino's terms and conditions and identify problematic clauses.

Q: Can you give us examples of what exactly problematic clauses are?

One example is "irregular betting patterns." Many people aren’t exactly sure what this means, and when a casino vaguely states in its terms and conditions that any irregular betting pattern is forbidden, it leads to confusion. For instance, we dealt with a case where a casino accused a player of engaging in an "irregular betting pattern" simply because they placed bets on the same roulette number 20 times in a row.

Another issue is the vague definition of "significantly lowering the bet amount." A lot of casinos state that players can’t significantly reduce their bet after a win, but what does that actually mean? There's no specific number provided, and everyone has a different interpretation of what "significantly" means.

There are also cases where casinos limit players from betting more than 30% or even 10% of their deposit. For example, if I deposit €100 and make €10 bets, that’s fine because I’m within the 10% limit. But if I make another €10 deposit and place a €10 bet, I’d be violating the terms by betting 100% of my deposit. Similarly, if I deposit €100 and then place a €50 bet, I’d also be in violation.

This isn’t an issue of unclear terms and conditions—it’s about unfair practices. We don’t see why casinos should limit the size of a bet. If the game allows it, players should be able to bet as much as they want. A number of players who have won fairly have complained about this specific rule, which casinos sometimes use to avoid paying out their winnings.

Q: So, when you say you try to help casinos to a higher Safety Index, does that mean you clarify their terms and conditions?

Essentially, yes, that’s part of our work. We audit the casino and present our findings to their representatives. We explain why we consider certain practices unfair and suggest ways to fix them. From there, it’s up to the casino to decide how they want to proceed.

Q: Do operators generally accept your advice? I imagine changing established processes must be challenging.

It varies. Some casinos are very receptive, while others aren’t as open to change. However, in my experience, many that initially reject our suggestions often reconsider after some time.

Q: Does the effort to improve terms and conditions always come from Casino Guru, or can it go both ways?

It can definitely go both ways. We usually reach out to casinos after updating our database. The experts responsible for the update are required to contact the casino, explain what was found, and suggest improvements. That’s a standard part of our process.

However, sometimes casinos contact us first. We have a strong reputation in the gambling industry, so many online casinos monitor their Safety Index rating on our site and reach out if they feel it’s lower than they’d like.

Q: During an update of casino information, what do you focus on besides terms and conditions?

We also look at player complaints. We gather all the complaints we can find online, including those on external platforms, as well as complaints submitted to our Complaint Resolution Center.

At the start of each update, we already have a general sense of how the casino handles complaints and its overall track record. If we spot any issues, the casino is notified immediately and given the chance to address them.

Q: Is there a difference in how a casino gets penalized when it comes to player complaints? Do different disputes affect the Safety Index differently?

Yes, definitely. We classify complaints in various ways, and the penalty depends on factors like whether the casino is responding to our inquiries or not, whether it's a recurring issue, and other similar considerations.

We also scale the severity of the violation, which can range from something as simple as missing information to much more serious cases.

Q: When you communicate with casino representatives, do you inform them about the severity of the issue?

Absolutely. Casinos receive detailed information about their Safety Index, and they also get a breakdown of what they’ve been penalized for and how much it’s affecting their Safety Index score.

Q: What happens after operators agree to collaborate with you on clarifying their terms and conditions or other procedures?

We explain what needs to be done and offer suggestions. It’s a collaborative process—casinos often give us counter-suggestions on what’s possible for them and what’s not. We go back and forth until we find a solution that works for both sides.

Many problematic terms can be easily adjusted by casinos; they just need to communicate them to players in advance and remind them how things work. It’s important to understand that most players don’t read the terms and conditions, even though casinos argue it’s the player’s responsibility to do so. We get that.

But at the same time, casinos typically include clauses in their terms and conditions stating they can change at any time. In practice, this means that every player should re-read the terms before each session—potentially 30 to 40 pages of text. Obviously, that’s unrealistic for most people.

Q: Now, let’s say a casino accepts all your suggestions and fixes the problematic areas. Does that automatically result in a significant improvement in its Safety Index?

That depends on the size of the casino and the severity of the issues that were corrected. As I’ve mentioned earlier, there are less serious problems, but also very significant ones.

For example, there are casinos whose terms and conditions state that they can cease operations at any time, and if that happens, all player deposits would be forfeited to the casino. We find this completely unfair. Even though it may rarely occur in practice, it poses too much risk for us to overlook, so we apply a substantial penalty for that.

Q: Can casinos improve their Safety Index in ways other than changing their terms and conditions, like through excellent customer service or a responsible gambling plan?

Not really. We don’t usually add bonus points to a casino’s Safety Index, though there are a few rare exceptions. For example, casinos that earn our Fair Badge receive a small boost—about 0.2 points—because they meet our strict standards for fair treatment of players.

When a casino meets all the criteria outlined in our Fair Gambling Codex, the size of the casino then determines how high its Safety Index can go. The bigger the casino, the higher its rating can potentially be.

A new casino typically starts with a Safety Index of 7.3, which we mark as "good" Safety Index. After we assess their terms and conditions, that number may go up or down.

Q: Why do larger casinos have an advantage over smaller ones?

Smaller casinos often face issues with win limits. There’s a risk they won’t be able to pay out if a player wins a huge jackpot, so they include win limits in their terms and conditions. And even if they don't have win limits in T&Cs, there may be a small chance that they won't be able to pay out a big win.

Unfortunately, this small chance is enough for us to not give casino high Safety Index, even though we understand their business situation. Larger casinos typically don’t have this problem.

Q: How many casinos have already adjusted their terms and conditions and improved their Safety Index?

As of now, 608 casinos have changed their terms and conditions thanks to us, and every casino that has made these changes has seen an improvement in its Safety Index.

If we counted how many casinos improved their Safety Index by resolving player complaints, this number would be in the thousands.

Q: What motivates Casino Guru in this process? It sounds like a lot of work, and yet you do it for free.

Our main goal is to raise the standard in the industry so that every casino around the world has a perfect Safety Index and is safe for players. Of course, that’s a bit of a utopian vision, as different regulators have different standards. For example, the UK Gambling Commission has much stricter requirements compared to regulators in places like Curaçao.

Q: Is there a chance that a better license improves a casino’s Safety Index?

Yes, there’s a good chance, but it’s not a hard and fast rule. It’s possible for a casino with a UK license, for instance, to have a lot of complaints or misuse certain rules. But generally, in better-regulated jurisdictions, there’s a higher likelihood that the regulator will step in if something goes wrong.

Q: What do you wish every operator knew about the Safety Index and how to improve it?

I think it’s important for operators to understand that there are plenty of factors and variables involved in calculating our Safety Index, and they’re all mathematically driven.

Our Safety Index is based purely on an algorithm that processes real, concrete data. This means operators cannot buy their way to a higher position on our Safety Index, which is something a great number of other affiliate sites allow. Casino Guru has never operated that way, and we never will.

In short, we only promote casinos that we genuinely believe are fair and safe. It’s a win-win-win strategy: when we promote a good casino, the players are happy, we’re happy, and ultimately, the operator is happy, too.

And if operators want to increase their fairness and safety, we’re always here to help them make the best choices for themselves and their customers.

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.

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