In addition to being CEO of the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) and Grupo H2 Brasil, Igor is president of the Panamerican Sports Poker Confederation (CPPD) and the Brazilian Association of Skill Games (ABJH), as well as vice-president of the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Sports (ABESPI). Former CEO of SuperPoker Media Group until the acquisition by Playmaker, the position he will occupy in the company is not yet defined.
GMB - You were ahead of SuperPoker and in a masterstroke you joined Playmaker. I'd like you to tell me more about this $4.5 million deal.
Igor “Federal” Trafane - The merger with Playmaker was fundamental for the future plans of my business arm that worked in the media area (SuperPoker).
Today Playmaker is the third largest sports media group in Latin America; and this matched perfectly with the growth need that all my businesses had to have a bigger, more solid, more comprehensive and better prepared media partner to explore the opportunities of the new games market in Brazil.
Business has grown a lot. Brazil prepares to legalize new gaming verticales (sports betting, casinos, bingos, online market, fantasy, etc.). And having a giant media group as your partner to explore future opportunities together is sensational for both sides.
That is, the union took into account not only poker, but other gaming verticals. The synergy between different modalities boosted the completion of the business!
The poker player's interest in other games and other sports already exists naturally. Is obvious. inseparable. It's there, ready to be explored.
With Playmaker and its multinational operations, what we will do is explore this synergy and promote new games in a more comprehensive, more professional and much more efficient way for our current customers.
That was one of the big reasons why I wanted to join Playmaker.
How did the negotiation take place? Has SuperPoker been absorbed by Playmaker?
Playmaker acquired 100% of SuperPoker Media, but we received about 1/3 of that amount in shares of the company itself, as we strongly believe in the success of a project that aims to bring together the audience of poker players with a multinational sports media group; even more so in a country that is on the verge of regulating sports betting.
Why do you think Playmaker chose SuperPoker to join the company's huge network of sites?
SuperPoker generates 15 million annual visits and 1.25 million unique annual users across all of its properties, and is one of the most popular poker media groups in the world. I am passionate about poker and I am passionate about football. This association unites these passions. I have known Jordan Gnat (Playmaker CEO) for many years from his days at the Stars Group and we have great mutual respect and admiration for one another, and this opportunity now allows us to work together again as partners. My business group has more than ten companies, from poker tournaments to live poker clubs, poker supplies and more. Our media business needed a strategic relationship for the future. Playmaker is that partner and, in the long term, I will help grow this business as a shareholder.
What are the company's plans for the future and how is the process of integrating the leading group in the area of poker and skill games in the country, with the new verticals that will probably be legalized soon in Brazil?
Of course my group is prepared for the new verticals to come. We are the market leader in Real Money players (live and online) in the country at the moment. And this is something that cannot be missed.
To give you an idea, when we launched our App to play poker online we had 120,000 downloads in a single day. An absolute record in the history of the game in the country. And perhaps unprecedented in the world.
We have over 500 online clubs affiliated with our online gaming system.
We have the second largest in-person poker tournament in the world: the BSOP.
We have three huge physical clubs in the country, ready to explore betting and bingo operations in person.
We have more than 300 face-to-face clubs with whom we have a historical connection for partnerships.
To give you an idea, we created a fund to invest in casinos in Brazil and we already have R$ 1.2 billion (US$ 210m) for this new stage.
We already have advanced conversations with the biggest players in the gaming industry in the world to make business partnerships for this new stage to come. We haven't closed anything yet, because until the law comes, we can't sign anything, because the rules aren't established yet, but we already have many conversations that are quite advanced for the future.
Anyway, we are absolutely prepared for this new stage. Bring on the new games!!
Now talking about poker, what assessment do you make of the activity in Brazil in 2021? The covid-19 pandemic has boosted online gaming, but how were the face-to-face events?
The years 2020 and 2021 were extremely difficult not only for poker, but for many face-to-face activities around the world. Of course, some segments felt it more than others. And this was the case with live poker, as it depends on a large concentration of people, interacting closely with each other and in a closed environment. We were the first to be closed and the last to be able to reopen.
There were very tough months for the BSOP (Brazilian Poker Championship) and the H2 Club (the largest practice club in the country - with three units), but we managed to get through it and we came back with full force recently.
Online poker helped a lot, as we increased our operation by more than 500% in this period. Anyway, one thing made up for the other and now we're back with two fronts (live and online) much bigger and stronger.
At the end of 2021 we made the return of BSOP LIFE and broke all the records in the history of the series:
- More than R$ 40 million (US$ 7m) in prize money
- More than 25,000 entries
- Players from 28 different countries
- 32% new players
In other words, our group showed strength and musculature to resist this gigantic adversity and resumed with the online much bigger and the live already reestablished and with performance currently above 100% of the pre-pandemic period.
How does Brazil position itself in the poker world ranking, in terms of the number of players, betting volumes, championships and deals?
Brazil by far leads the poker industry in Latin America, both in terms of market size, betting volume, and number of players. Brazil alone represents the sum of all other Latin American countries in the poker industry's revenue. This demonstrates the differentiated work that was done here to develop this activity.
In the world, Brazil is in the top 10, ranging from 6th to 8th in the world.
In terms of Championship, the BSOP is the biggest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere and is the Biggest National Series of Poker in the World, way ahead of the runner-up.
Brazil is extremely respected worldwide for the stage of development that poker has here.
Even though it is recognized as a game of skill, many people confuse poker with games of chance. How to give a new “face” to poker?
Poker in Brazil already has this face. We are an exciting, passionate, competitive, intelligent, mathematical, strategic skill game that generates enormous engagement, fun, socializing and with MILLIONS of fans.
We don't want a new face. We are in love with exactly the face we have. We are what we are; and we are very proud of what we are. We have already won more than 100 lawsuits on this issue, we have a consolidated activity and a very solid jurisprudence in this regard.
The fact that some people still confuse is "kind of" normal. There are people who still confuse the right of black people, the right of women, the right to religious freedom, the equality of races. There are people who confuse or don't conform with so much.
That's not the point. It is not who confuses or who does not confuse. It's not who accepts or who doesn't. The point is different. It is our unequivocal right to exist as a game of skill. And this is already unquestionable at this point in the evolution of Brazilian society and the Democratic State of Law in which we live in our country.
How do you analyze the discussions on the regulatory framework for gaming in the country and the approval of the urgent request for discussion of the topic? Why were skill games not included in the final report by Deputy Felipe Carreras?
Discussions are at a great level and timing. Due to the expressive vote in the approval of the urgent request at the end of the year (293 votes in favor x 138 against), it seems that this time the legalization of gambling / fortune / chance will finally be approved in Brazil.
Skill Games were not included in the Final Report due to a request from our category, via executive, promptly answered by the Rapporteur. So much so that in the penultimate report, text from 24 hours before the last version, there was still a mention of Skill Games. But the definition and terms of operation did not meet the expectations of our category (eSport + Fantasy Games + Mind Games + Poker + other Skill Games), so the excerpt was removed and I already spoke personally with Felipe Carreras who promptly took over the commitment to work together with our category to include a text that suits us.
Felipe is doing a fantastic job, dialoguing with all segments in a democratic and republican way; and he is brilliantly managing to get massive support for the text he proposes.
In February, the deputies will discuss the regulatory framework again. What contributions can the poker industry make to congressmen to move the project forward?
Skill Games will be decisive for the approval of the Gambling Law in Brazil, as the gambling lobby has financial resources, potential to bring investment, job creation, political force, traffic etc etc etc, that is, it has a lot of important stuff, but it doesn't have popular support.
In the past, the legalization of gaming was popularly frowned upon. Today there is no more. But not having society's disapproval anymore is very different from having society's support for it to exist. No significant part of Brazilian society had taken to the field socially fighting for the legalization of gaming as a cause of its life. Will not happen.
Who has massive social support, from tens of millions of people is the skill games. And these, if they are met in the way they intend, will become the only social and popular driving force of this process, capable of generating the population support necessary to socially legitimize this legislative process.
Source: Exclusive GMB
