Fat Panda

What is Fat Panda?

SmartSoft has joined the African iGaming Alliance (AiA) as a Gold Supplier Member in a strategic partnership focused on its continued development of African gambling.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the parties said the agreement was “focused on supporting the continued development of sustainable, responsible and commercially viable regulated gambling markets across Africa”.

SmartSoft maintains an established and growing presence in Africa, having also co-hosted the iGB L!VE Africa Summit in July.

How to play Fat Panda

Notably for highly engaging verticals light online slots, if players are receiving a smaller-than-expected RTP (return to player), or bonuses have been restricted, they could again transition to an illegal offering where there are no such restrictions.

As has been flagged in previous reports, Regulus highlighted that the top 1% of active customers accounts for almost 50% of black market revenue across Europe. This follows a similar trend across licensed gambling as the report highlights “online gambling is a consumer discretionary expenditure item. This means a large proportion of expenditure is concentrated into a relatively small number of players.”

In its market-specific breakdown, the report noted a “rapid reduction in channelling” in the UK, following the increased use of affordability checks.

About Fat Panda

Conducted in 2026, it surveyed 70 professionals actively engaged in VIP management, including VIP account managers, heads of VIP and consultants, with 64% employed directly by gambling operators. 

The report sought to understand how VIP portfolios are managed daily, how the tools are utilised and other key operational challenges.

Although three-quarters of respondents rated their VIP data as good or very good, 71% reported data spread across multiple systems. Half admitted sometimes making decisions with incomplete or outdated information.