AskGamblers Awards - Behind the Scenes

This year's Best Casino Award goes to…

Players have spoken. The Player's Choice Award…

The most popular slot of the year is…

BELGRADE, Serbia, May 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Yes, this is it. The AskGamblers Awards. Each year, the best of the best gather in Belgrade, Serbia, to receive trophies in various categories. And each year, the event gets bigger.

For the people in the online gambling industry, this is a familiar event. Those who had the chance to be the guests and even win awards were amazed by the organisation and the attention to detail of the Awards and Charity Night.

And now, for the first time ever, they're taking you behind the scenes to show you what it takes to organise one of the biggest iGaming award ceremonies.

Before we walk behind the curtains, we must understand how AskGamblers Awards came to be and what their story is. Reviewing online casinos has always been one of the key parts of their business. Each year, they log into many casinos, test different functionalities, play games, check different payment methods, and talk to customer service.

After they gather all the information, they write a comprehensive review, so that you know whether to sign up to a casino at all and what to expect if you do. No fluff. No polishing. Just the truth.

Although there are some amazing online casinos, it's hard to determine where to play and which the best of the best. But at some point, they knew they wanted to reward the casinos that were the best. The main idea was to show the players:

"Hey, this is one of the best casinos you can play in."

So, it was all for the players from the very beginning.

In 2018, a part of the AskGamblers team warmed up for the idea of having some sort of awards in the iGaming industry that resemble Oscars. When they talked about it with the management, the team didn't receive the green light they'd hoped to get.

So, the team took initiative, despite the hesitance of the management, which didn't prevent them, but wasn't overly supportive either.

At the time, no such event existed among gambling affiliates. Even though nowadays, there are multiple award shows organised by different affiliate websites, AskGamblers Awards was the first of its kind.

The first AskGamblers Awards was organised with just a few thousand euros, which went into renting a green-screen studio and paying the host.

Did you know that the first event was filmed with a web camera and that there were no nomination and voting stages? They were added with the second AskGamblers Awards to clarify the process fully and encourage player participation.

Despite the humble beginnings and the team improvising on the spot, the post-award excitement lasted for weeks. Everyone who participated in any shape or form was amazed, but most importantly, their team at AskGamblers knew that for the following year, we had to take the event to the next level. So, they formed a special team just a few weeks after the first AskGamblers Awards to start organising the following year's event.

Because the AskGamblers Awards took place in January and the lockdowns weren't in place, 2020 went smoothly. However, 2021 was the unicorn year, and everything participants were used to, and they were used to from the organisational standpoint, had changed.

At first, hoping the lockdown would end, they postponed the event, but at no point did they think about canceling it. They really wanted to hold the event in Belgrade, just like they've been used to doing it. Month after month and they reached June without the policies changing too much.

This is when they decided that it would be in everyone's best interest to hold the virtual event. And even though it was virtual, the show turned out to be spectacular:

They booked a studio, hired hosts to lead the show, and they had live streaming for everyone who wanted to tune in. Charity also took place with online casinos bidding for the positions on the website.

Once 2021 passed, things started to open up, and everything was much easier to organise. Each year, they've added new awards, or mixed things up a bit, followed new trends, but they stayed true to what AskGamblers was intentionally invented for - to show their players the best of the industry.

The AskGamblers Awards are divided into two main phases, which last until the Charity Night and the gala ceremony, taking place in June.

Each year, the AskGamblers Awards start with nominations, usually in February or March. Players with an account on their website can nominate their favourites in several different categories:

• Best Casino
• Best New Casino
• Best New Slot
• Best Sportsbook

The rules for nominations are fairly simple. For Best Casino and Best Sportsbook, players can nominate any active operator. As for Best New Casino and Best New Slot, players can nominate any casino or slot published on AskGamblers between March 1 of the previous year and the current year. Also, there aren't any restrictions on how many operators or games one player can nominate.

Their team tracks every nomination, and there are a few things they take into consideration. It's important for the people who nominate operators and games to have real AskGamblers accounts. Additionally, they're tracking bot traffic, and bot votes are cancelled. At the end of the nomination phase, they come up with the finalists in each respective category, and then the voting begins.

The voting phase is next in line, and players have a chance to vote for their favourite online casino, new online casino, new online slot, sportsbook, and software provider.

The Best Provider is the category that is available in the voting phase only and is based on the top 10 slots that make it to the finals. The rules during voting change slightly.

Each player can cast only one vote in each category. Additionally, the 20 finalists in the Best Casino and Best New Casino categories are up for the Player's Choice Award. As the name suggests, the winner is the casino that gets the most votes from players.

The winners in other categories are determined together by their AskGamblers team, players, and Forum members. How does this work, exactly? Who's the AskGamblers team?

AskGamblers employees from different departments create three random teams, which then organise meetings to decide how to split the votes. We take into consideration every aspect of each casino, new casino, sportsbook, and slot. Once each team has made the final decision, they share the information. Later, votes from the AskGamblers teams are grouped together with votes from the players and forum members.

Up until the 8th AskGamblers Awards, Forum members could only vote as players. Because they have a thriving community, they've decided to change things up and grant the most active members the right to vote as Forum representatives.

Keep in mind that there are some awards assigned by their AskGamblers team solely. These are the Best Crypto Casino, Best Partner, and Best Manager. In 2025, the Superstar Award winner will be announced for the first time ever. It is the casino that best represents the values of AskGamblers and it's also decided solely by their team.

Players can have a few months to nominate and vote for their favourites and the winners are announced at the gala ceremony in June.

AskGamblers Awards rules have always been straightforward and communicated clearly to their players and partners. But let's now dive deeper into the organisation of the two most important nights of the entire cycle.

First up: Charity Night!

Charity Night takes place the evening before the Awards. Each year, they carefully select the location for the Charity Night, which is usually somewhere along the Danube or Sava River overlooking Belgrade.

During the Charity Night, they're selling several positions on the website to online casinos and partners through a live auction. The total amount of money collected is announced as the night ends, while later on, it's party time.

Here are some interesting facts about Charity Night:

• Money is donated to organisations working with children (HISBAS, UNICEF, etc.).
• They do a background check before the donation is placed.
• They decide on an organisation based on their needs, not the location.

Every September is the charity month. Operators who paid for the positions are featured on the website throughout the entire month. This is also the month when they forward the money to the selected charity.

To participate in the AskGamblers Awards gala ceremony, you either have to work at AskGamblers or be one of the finalists. However,they've decided to do something special in 2025. In collaboration with Next.io, AskGamblers organised a raffle at one of the Next.io Summit events.

Anyone from the industry was able to apply, and two people were randomly selected to join us for the Awards ceremony in June, all expenses paid!

Although the ceremony is scheduled for June, the organisation begins in December. One of the biggest challenges each year is to find a venue suitable for a large number of people. They're looking at reputable venues in Belgrade, weighing the offers and settling for one space.

Once the finalists are confirmed, they're purchasing airplane tickets and booking hotels. Usually, they leave gifts to their guests in their hotel rooms, and the gifts for finalists are different each year. Even though the day before the gala ceremony is Charity Night, it's also one of the busiest days of the year for their team.

They visit the venue to check everything, from the seating area, lights, sounds, and music, etc. Every detail must work perfectly before the gala ceremony. During the AskGamblers Awards Night, the winners are announced in a show that lasts a few hours, interwoven with singing and dancing performances.

If there are three things you must know about AskGamblers Awards, they would be these:

• Nobody can buy awards (they declined all offers without a second thought)
• There are no sponsors (AskGamblers pays for everything)
• It's an exclusive event (only the finalists are invited)

As the lights die down and winners walk home with their well-earned trophies, they only have one thing left to do…

…and that's to start planning for the next year's Awards!

About AskGamblers
AskGamblers.com strives to provide current, objective, and accurate information and guide its users towards a safe gaming experience. The way we deliver our services, from the online casino, sportsbook, slot, and bonus reviews to our trusted Complaint Service, is best described by our motto: "Get the truth. Then play."

For more information about AskGamblers and AskGamblers Awards, please contact dijana.radunovic@g2m.com.

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