Poland-based affiliate iGamingNuts might be a strong contender for having the best brand name in the industry. With projects across the globe, it has recently entered the UK market. In this exclusive interview, Adam Bielinski shares his journey from architect to iGamingNuts CEO, the brand’s expansion and future growth plans.
An architect at heart, iGamingNuts CEO Adam Bielinski started his career in this seemingly unrelated profession 20 years ago, having earned a master's degree and served as chairman of the architecture student council. He managed multiple construction projects in Poland, including a five-star spa hotel with a budget of over €40 million, but his proudest accomplishment might be building his family home from scratch in the woods.
Now working as an igaming affiliate, Bielinski admits he still misses his old days as an architect at times, but says the two professions are similar in nature. His favourite buildings aren't grand mansions or city icons, but public amenities like airports and shopping centres – those that are "connected to people and designed for people”, just like igaming review sites where players visit every day.
As an architect, you need to think like a visitor entering the building. It's the same with online websites
"As an architect, you need to think like a visitor entering the building. It's the same with online websites. You need to imagine how the visitor feels when they come to the site and what they want to do," he explains. "Another thing I learnt is the focus on small details, and that helps with building websites too, as I can identify the needs of specific user groups."
From Better Collective to iGamingNuts
Introduced by a friend who’s also a co-founder of iGamingNuts, Bielinski entered the igaming industry in 2009 as managing director for Better Collective’s Polish subsidiary, later progressing to head of products and markets. Recounting the experience, Bielinski says the super affiliate’s Danish culture felt "a bit isolated”, but it is still "one of the best companies" he has worked for.
"Some decisions don’t make sense until you’re the one making them, so I learnt a lot about management style and its attitude toward coworkers," he recalls. "I’m still in touch with a few people from the core team, which is very nice."
IGamingNuts means being crazy about igaming and knowing a lot about it – that’s what we try to do and show on our website
Bielinski left Better Collective in 2018 to pursue his own affiliate venture. The timing also coincided with the implementation of stricter licensing laws in Poland, when many players were looking for legitimate operators. Seizing the opportunity, Bielinski and his team launched their first site, Legalni Bukmacherzy (Legal Bookmakers). The bold company name iGamingNuts, on the other hand, was made up "just for fun" at the beginning. Bielinski is pleasantly surprised to find that many people like it.
"It’s not fully professional, so if we ever want to go public, it might be a problem. But for players, I think it fits our attitude. iGamingNuts means being crazy about igaming and knowing a lot about it – that’s what we try to do and show on our website," he explains.
Though Bielinski says he usually prefers running his own business for the adrenaline and motivation, there are still days when he "just wants to leave everything behind and be employed again." Being a CEO and scaling up the company haven't been easy, but managing employees remains the biggest challenge he’s faced. As a small start-up, he hired many of his friends and family members, a decision that sometimes worked out and sometimes didn’t. His sister now runs the company’s Polish project and is "doing a fantastic job," but he has also lost two friends along the way.
"Now we are a medium-sized company, around 40 people. I know all of our employees. I know their problems, even things from their private lives, which can be good but stressful. You have to make decisions, and I’m quite empathetic, so it’s hard," he says.
It’s the natural life of a company – when you open new projects, some will work and some won’t. We’ve learnt our lesson
From Poland to worldwide
After finding success in Poland, iGamingNuts expanded into other markets, including Colombia, Mexico, Japan and Italy. According to Bielinski, the journey was full of trials and errors. Although the team entered Brazil early, before the market became fully regulated, the lack of local resources made it challenging for the affiliate to compete with bigger players.
Still, he has no regrets. "It was good to try. Even big companies like Better Collective or Alphabet have lots of projects that didn’t work. It’s the natural life of a company – when you open new projects, some will work and some won’t. We’ve learnt our lesson."
The affiliate’s recent launch in the UK marks its next chapter of growth. Unlike its earlier sites, which carried different names depending on the region, the UK site simply goes by the company name iGamingNuts, creating a united brand identity. Echoing Chris Russell from OneTwenty Group, Bielinski sees the UK as a high-growth market, noting that its dynamic igaming scene isn't dominated by just a handful of casinos, offering affiliates more opportunities to guide players toward new operators.
Following the recent Google ban on media partnerships, now there is more traffic going to pure affiliate sites like ours, so that works in our favour
He also points to another shift working in affiliates’ favour – Google's ban on media partnerships, which used to crowd the UK’s betting SERPs.
"Now there is more traffic going to pure affiliate sites like ours, so that works in our favour. Overall, the UK market has good potential for us," he says.
Growing the nuts
Bielinski stresses that the UK launch is just the first step in iGamingNuts’ next phase, with more developments to come this year. The brand’s long-term goal is "building a community of slot players" to de-risk from Google’s algorithm changes. One upcoming feature that sets iGamingNuts apart from other affiliate sites is its review tool, which allows players to rate slot games and offer advice to other players. It has also signed an agreement with a third-party company to manage its social channels and retain players, which will be launched in Q2 or Q3 this year.
Although the US was on Bielinski’s bucket list at the very beginning, other affiliates’ recent struggles have made him realise that the market isn’t the goldmine many thought it to be.
"Margins are going down in the US. And now, the big operators are actually the biggest competitors to affiliates. They have more money and are smart, which makes it a very difficult market," Bielinski explains. "We’d rather focus on markets we know better, where things are a bit easier and we can find our niche."
We’d rather focus on markets we know better, where things are a bit easier and we can find our niche
IGamingNuts’ ambition is to be across European markets. It is re-entering Italy in two months, and Bielinski is "80% sure" about launching in Spain this year. Learning from the Brazil mistake, he makes sure to hire a local team working remotely for each market, with the Polish headquarters handling only management processes. Having seen early results from the UK site, Bielinski says he’s "quite confident" the new brand strategies will succeed.
"We are getting traffic, attention and good positions on Google in the UK, so the idea is working well. Now we need to concentrate more on analysing the traffic – where it comes from, what keywords people use – and then apply the same strategy to new markets," he says.
With market expansion at the core, Bielinski is focused on leading his affiliate team while keeping his architect dream alive, carving out user-friendly sites and building a community for players who are "nuts" about igaming.