iGaming investment glossary

DeckCount · 13 November 2026

This iGaming investment glossary covers the terms that come up most often in betting and gaming decks and in the diligence that follows. Definitions are general. The precise meaning of a term can vary from one market to another.

Affiliate

A business that sends players to an operator in return for a fee, a share of revenue, or both. Affiliates own traffic, not players.

AML

Anti-money laundering. The checks and monitoring an operator must carry out to prevent its accounts being used to move criminal money.

B2B supplier

A business that sells to operators rather than to players: platforms, games, data, payments and other services.

B2C operator

A business that takes bets or stakes from players under its own brand.

Bonus

Credit or free play given to a player as an incentive. How bonuses are accounted for affects every revenue figure in a deck.

Chargeback

A card payment reversed at the request of the cardholder. A high rate puts payment relationships at risk.

Cost per acquisition

What it costs, in marketing, to gain one depositing player. Usually shortened to CPA.

Deal stopper

Something stated or evident in a deck that would typically stop a deal until it is resolved, such as trading in a market without the licence that market requires.

Exit cap

Something lawful today that limits what a business can be sold for, because the likely buyers would discount or exclude it. Grey-market revenue is the common example.

GGR

Gross gaming revenue. Stakes minus winnings paid out, before bonuses, taxes and costs.

Grey-market exposure

Revenue from markets with no local licensing regime, or where the business holds no local licence. Not necessarily unlawful, but a risk to revenue and to exit value.

Information gap

Something a deck does not say that a reviewer would ask about. A gap is not a fault in the business. It is a question waiting for the first meeting.

KYC

Know your customer. Verifying who a player is, and often their age and address, before or shortly after they deposit.

Lifetime value

The net revenue a player is expected to generate over the time they stay. Compared with cost per acquisition to judge whether marketing pays.

Master licence

A licence granted by a regulator directly to the business that holds it.

NGR

Net gaming revenue. Gross gaming revenue after bonuses and, depending on the definition used, taxes and certain fees. Always ask which definition a deck uses.

PAM

Player account management system. The core platform holding accounts, wallets, limits, bonuses and regulatory records.

Proprietary platform

Technology the business built and owns, as opposed to technology it licenses or rents.

PSP

Payment service provider. The company that processes deposits and withdrawals. Losing one can stop deposits.

Regulated market

A market with a local licensing regime, where an operator needs a local licence to take bets from players there.

RG

Responsible gambling. The tools and processes that protect players from harm: limits, self-exclusion, monitoring and intervention.

Sub-licence

An arrangement under which a business operates under a licence held by another company. Availability and form vary by regime.

Turnover

The total amount staked by players. Much larger than revenue, and sometimes quoted in decks as if it were revenue.

Unit economics

The revenue and cost attached to a single player or a single bet. The test of whether growth makes money.

White label

A model in which a supplier provides the platform, and often the licence and payments, while the operator provides the brand and the marketing.

To see these terms applied to a real deck, score a deck on DeckCount. For how they shape an investor’s first reading, see how investors read an iGaming deck.