Jelena Isakov of Fruity Affiliates interview

Frequently we interview people that are involved in the online casino industry. This could be people working at online casinos or people playing at online casinos or people owning an online casino. But it could also be persons who talk and write about everything according to the online casino industry. In this May 2016 interview we have questioned Jelena Isakov. Jelena Isakov is a well-known girl in the online casino business. She worked as an affiliate at Askgamblers and now she is working at Fruity Affiliates that ownes he casino brand FruityCasa

Name: Jelena Isakov
Age: 32
Company you are working at: Fruity Affiliates
Function:  Affiliate and PR Manager
Your casino brands: FruityCasa
Living in:  Belgrade, Serbia
Favourite Spot on the world: Malta
Must see movie: GIA

The interview with Jelena Isakov

BBCasinos: Please tell us a little bit about yourself Jelena Isakov! How did you enter the gambling industry? What did you do before entering the industry? What is your favourite thing to do in your free time?
Hi there, thanks for this great interview opportunity! I’ve been around in the industry for four and a half years, but before my first opportunity to enter it, I was still a law student. That year, 2011th was one of the nicest years of my life, because I felt like I had everything I needed, including a decent money from a funny job I was doing – collecting emails and domain addresses for a company who was selling some software product. After a while, things with this product turned out to be unprofitable, since it wasn’t selling well, so I needed to find another job. I asked my very good friend, an owner of big affiliate website at that time, for a job and he gave me that chance. I had no idea what is it all about, but it sounded so exciting! At first, I was posting new bonuses every day and writing on the forum. I needed a couple of weeks to figure out how things are working, what’s what and who’s who. As the time was passing, I was getting more and new duties – support, complaints, speaking with affiliate managers, conferences.. I was so passionate about everything! I remember staying awake till the noon next day, reading about forum improvements, discussing what else we can do for the site.. I’m still loving this industry very much.

In free time, I like to go somewhere nice, to spend time with the people I love, to watch a movie, to go out.. just usual relaxing and joyful things.

Or just simply to turn on the volume, play my favourite music and dance around on my own!

BBCasinos: Why do you like your work so much Jelena Isakov?
Oh, I’m so glad if it’s obvious that I like my job very much! I really found myself in this industry and I think I’m good in it, so these are probably the main reasons I enjoy it. Most of the people that I’m working with are kind and easy going, so it’s always a real pleasure working and communicating with them. Also, I’m surrounded by casino games and all of that casino, gambling world, which has always and still seems unusual, different and extraordinary for me, comparing to everything else. I also like reading gambling forums and interacting with players there. They are great places to learn a lot about gambling and players’ preferences and also to read interesting things and thoughts. All in all, I like my work because it’s not stressful at all, because I enjoy every single thing I’m doing related to it, because it includes traveling, because it has international character and because I get to know so many awesome people.

BBCasinos: Why should our visitors choose the brands of Jelena Isakov? Why should they play at your online casino?
It’s not easy to praise your brand if you don’t truly believe in it. Fortunately, I really believe in Fruity Casa and I’m proud of all the things it achieved for a relatively short period of time. I’m happy to say that Fruity Casa offers a lot to it’s players – wide choice of games, softwares, banking methods and languages, together with kind and helpful support, which is in the process of expanding at the moment.

Players can choose games from NetEnt, BetSoft, Thunderkick, NextGen, Amaya, Aristocrat, Elk Studios, Leander Games, Quickspin, Ezugi, slot games, table games, virtual games, scratch games, bingo games, Live casino, Mobile casino, in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Polish, Spanish and Portuguese. Our site is easy to navigate through and our terms are clean and transparent. We have great welcome bonus of 150% up to €250 + 10 Free Spins on Gonzo’s Quest, together with reload, daily and weekend bonuses and massive special promotions on big events and holidays.

BBCasinos: As a casino representative you will have a lot of contact with your players. What is the most asked question or problem coming in at your support desk?
Convincingly and definitely it’s about how they can activate their account, because often the activation mail ends up in spam – if we’re speaking about the questions received in our support department. As casino representative I don’t have that much contact with players as support agents do, but players contact me on forums or via private messages about casino, games or how they can get some free spins.

BBCasinos: And how does your casino handle questions and problems from our visitors?
Simply via live chat or email support, depending on the way players contacted us… Our support is very well trained and the issues they’re facing are usual ones, so they know what to advise and give immediate assistance.

BBCasinos: As a casino representative you have probably visit multiple conferences and shows. If you have to name the top 3 you have visited. Which ones are these and why? And would it be interesting for our visitors to visit any of them?
Yes I did, that’s definitely my favourite part of this job and industry! They are mostly iGB ones, organised 3 times a year. It’s hard to name the best ones, since they are very similar and already repeating in the same cities, but okay – I’d definitely choose my very first one in Dublin 2012th, because it was first and exciting, I hardly knew anyone, so I finally personally met all the people I was speaking  to through emails and Skype. Then Barcelona one in the same year, Amsterdam 2014th and Berlin 2015th. These are definitely dearest conferences I attended so far. I’d also add SiGma, last November, because of the great venues, organisation and because it was in my favourite country Malta.

I’m not sure if your visitors and players would be interested in attending such events, because it’s mostly about meetings, marketing and business, except if they plan to start their own.

BBCasinos: What is, in your opinion, the most annoying thing in the online casino industry for casino players?
According to the things I was reading on various gambling forums, most annoying things are surely related to the money won – casinos that are not paying, delays, complicated identity check procedures, long pending periods, hidden catches from the T&C, slow and uninformed support..

From my personal experience as an occasional player, things that annoy me the most are: confusing bonuses, pop-ups in the middle of my live chat or play, but above all when I spend some time opening an account and then suddenly it’s automatically closed due to the country restrictions, while my country wasn’t on the restricted list at first.

BBCasinos: Something totally different. If you could choose a country and place to live in. What would be your choice?
Malta – that’s my favourite country at the moment. It’s gorgeous, casual, surrounded with the sea, related to gambling industry, sunny, full of parties and fireworks and people are great!

Beside it, the best cities I visited are Barcelona and Athens, because they have everything – perfect climate, beaches, great clubs and nightlife, lively temperament, friendly people. I also adore Rome and the whole Italy as a country!

BBCasinos: If you could meet up with one person tomorrow you never met before. Who would that be if you could choose everybody on this world? And why this person?
Santiago Canizares, former goalkeeper of FC Valencia! I used to think that he’s the most beautiful man and I used to watch and follow up Valencia’s matches, ’cause of him. It was my favourite football team, just because of him haha! At that time, I used to even make tickets and bet!

BBCasinos: Back to business. If you could change anything in the casino industry what makes things better for players. What would that be?
I’d get rid of all rogue casinos and affiliates that promote such casinos. I’d also remove country restrictions, but stricter the process of opening account and making a first deposit – I’d include same verification process as the one predicted for withdrawals. It would, first of all, prevent people younger than 18 to open accounts and gamble. And of course everything stated above, in my answer on 7th question, about annoying things.

BBCasinos: What advise would you give our visitors according to playing at online casinos?
Play responsible and according to your money possibilities. Do not spend any of your budget needed for living costs or any of your savings (except if you’re saving some extra money for fun and play in online casinos)! Try out new casinos first by playing in free play mode, by checking their support (staff can say a lot about casino) and by reading other players’ comments and reviews on trustful gambling sites and forums. Don’t get blinded by unusually big bonuses – there’s always a catch!

I know it’s long and boring, but be sure to completely read T&C of casino, especially terms related to a certain bonus or promotion. If you’re having unlucky session, quit and come back to continue another time. Don’t play drunk, high (or both) or angry.

Before you click Spin button, make sure to set up your bet and coin size – sometimes it’s automatically set up to the max bet. Have your identifying documents always ready, this way you can speed up withdrawal procedure. Don’t use fake or someone else’s personal details.

If you’re gambling regularly, make a monthly or weekly plan of your money spending in casino(s) and don’t go above it!

BBCasinos: And finally. Now it is your chance to promote your online casino brands. What would you like to say or offer our visitors?
I’d like to say that Fruity Casa team embraces all suggestions and every feedback from the players, because we respect and listen to their wishes and work hard on their implementation into casino. Of course, I am the happiest when I read or hear that Fruity Casa is someone’s favourite casino or that someone had great experience and winnings in our casino, but the best way to improve your brand is to carefully listen to the critics, no matter how cruel they might sound. Players can always contact even me directly to jelena@fruitycasa.com, with any question, issue or suggestion.

Regarding actual promotions, beside 150% up to €250 + 10 Free Spins on Gonzo, Welcome Bonus, there is 10% Reload Ongoing bonus every day, 25% Monday Bonus, Mystery Bonus on Tuesdays, 20%, 25% and 30% match bonuses on Wednesdays and sweet weekend bonuses, which are always different and surprising!

EURO 2016 is getting close and we’re preparing big promotion, so stay tuned!

Thanks for the short interview. I hope our partnership will be a long one with some great results in the near future.