iGaming is the business of playing games of chance or skill for real money over the internet. When people in the industry say iGaming they mean the whole sector: the online casino and sportsbook operators, the platform and game suppliers behind them, the payment providers that move the money, and the affiliates that send the traffic. It is short for "interactive gaming", and the one thing that defines it is the real-money wager — which is what separates iGaming from video gaming, where no money is at stake. I work in this industry as an independent iGaming consultant, and this is the explainer I wish more newcomers read first.
What does iGaming mean?
The term covers any form of gambling delivered online rather than in a physical venue. That includes a player spinning a slot on their phone, placing an in-play football bet, joining an online poker table, buying a lottery line, or playing in a US-style sweepstakes social casino. "iGaming" and "online gambling" describe the same activity; the difference is mostly who is using the word. Players and the general press say online gambling. Operators, suppliers and regulators say iGaming, and they tend to mean the whole commercial ecosystem, not just the act of betting.
The main iGaming verticals
Online casino — slots and table games (roulette, blackjack, live dealer). The largest and most profitable vertical for most operators. Sportsbook — betting on sporting events, pre-match and in-play; lower margin and operationally heavier than casino. Poker — peer-to-peer card play where the operator takes rake rather than holding risk. Bingo and lottery — high-frequency, community-driven products with their own economics. Around these sit newer models: Telegram casinos and crypto-native brands, and the US sweepstakes social casino model. Casino and sportsbook dominate the revenue.
How iGaming differs from online gambling — and from gaming
Against "online gambling", the distinction is mostly terminology: iGaming is the industry label for the same activity, with a connotation of the whole supply chain. Against "gaming" in the video-game sense, the distinction is fundamental — iGaming always involves a real-money wager and an outcome with monetary value, which is why it is regulated as gambling. That is also why the vocabulary trips people up: "RNG", "RTP" and similar terms appear in both video games and casinos but mean different, regulated things in iGaming. See what RNG means in gaming.
The iGaming ecosystem
iGaming is not one type of company. Operators hold the licence and own the player relationship. Platform providers supply the core software an operator runs on. Game studios and aggregators supply the slots and table games. Payment providers handle deposits and withdrawals. Affiliates market the operator for a share of revenue or a fee. Regulators license and supervise the operators. Understanding which seat a company occupies is the first thing that makes the industry legible, and it is the lens behind the whole consultant guide library.
How the money works
The economics run on a handful of metrics every operator lives by. GGR (gross gaming revenue) is total wagers minus winnings; NGR (net gaming revenue) is what is left after bonuses, taxes and fees — the two are explained in full in GGR vs NGR. Operators spend to acquire players (CAC), then earn back that cost over the player's lifetime through retention. The whole business is the gap between what it costs to acquire and keep a player and what that player is worth.
Is iGaming legal?
Legality is a per-market question, never a global one. Many jurisdictions license and regulate online gambling — the UK, Malta, most of the EU, Ontario, a growing list of US states, and Brazil from 2025 — while others prohibit or simply do not regulate it. An operator must hold a valid licence for each market it serves and geo-block the markets it does not. Choosing the right licence and market sequence is one of the central decisions in the business; the markets view and the licence guides set out the landscape, and the how to start an online casino pillar walks through the full launch.
Who works in iGaming
The people behind an iGaming operator span acquisition, CRM and retention, product, payments, compliance and risk, and commercial leadership. When an operator needs senior operator-side judgement on the decisions that cut across all of those — which market, which licence, how to fix unit economics, how to scale — that is the work of an iGaming consultant. If you are new to the industry and want the honest version of how a consultant fits, start with what does an iGaming consultant do.