Svilena Valcheva received her Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree in 2024 from AUBG. A top student in her class, she is a senior manager with the global betting and gaming firm Entain.
By now she is accustomed to raised eyebrows. Gambling? To those with an outdated image of the industry, pursuing a career in the sector may seem at first glance a curious decision.
In popular culture, the character Danny in the film Oceans 11 says: “Because the house always wins. Play long enough, you never change the stakes, the house takes you.” And from the 1942 film Casablanca, police captain Renault says in Rick’s Café after pocketing his winnings: “I’m shocked — shocked — to find that gambling is going on in here!”
In what may seem like hypocrisy, gambling does go on “in here” and is enjoyed by millions of adults around the globe as part of their entertainment experience. Worldwide online gambling revenue is projected to reach nearly $100 billion in 2024, $133 billion by 2029. Even those eye-watering figures seem like peanuts compared to the nearly $120 billion Americans wagered just on sports betting in 2023, according to the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. The U.S. is the biggest gambling nation by far with 64 percent of adults reporting gambling activity in 2023. That means lots of room for growth everywhere else.
But the U.S. isn’t finished growing. A number of states have recently legalized betting on college games. Legalizing means regulation and regulation means it is a ‘win-win’ providing a new source of tax revenue for governments and the benefits of responsible gambling programmes for customers. State governments generated $2.5 billion from taxes on gambling in 2023, a 35 percent increase over the previous year. Some states have mandated that a portion of the gaming tax revenue go to increase spending on public education. Even Uncle Sam is in on the game by allowing gamblers to deduct their losses from their federal income taxes while happily taxing net winnings.
There are so many billions generated that it’s hard to get an accurate count on the kinds of betting including casinos, scratch cards, online, state lotteries, sports. And don’t forget schools auctions, church bingo, office jackpots, and all kinds of other games that don’t get counted in official stats.
Svilena was asked, “Do you gamble?” She replied: “I learned to play poker but never play games digitally.” But she knows a lot about games and the gaming business in her role as Head of Customer Protection Operations and Regulatory & Legal Support for Entain, which trades on the London Stock Exchange and had revenue of $6 billion in 2023. In recent years the company has acquired brands in Australia, Canada, Netherlands and entered into a successful joint venture with MGM Resorts in the US.
“Most people don’t know that the gaming industry is heavily regulated. We ensure we are in strict compliance in every market where we do business – ensuring our customers can play with us safely is at the heart of everything we do” she said. Responsible gambling as a concept has been getting a lot of attention from various regulatory bodies and more and more requirements are being published internationally in the past years in aim to protect the customers. Some countries are less and others more mature in their safer gambling requirements for operators, and best practices are usually shared across borders.
The journey
How did this AUBG graduate with an Executive MBA end up with Entain which was her first major job out of college 16 years ago? The story begins when she was a teenager in Bulgaria.
“My mom moved the family to Sofia when I was 16. I was able to get into First English language high school, one of the best public schools in Bulgaria at the time, and still is. It’s normally almost impossible to get accepted. But I was.”
There was no gambling involved.
English, a lot of hard work and determination opened doors and one of them belonged to AUBG. When it came to advancing her career, the best option was clear.
“I always knew it would be AUBG. My employer Entain paid the tuition in full. Together, we recognized the importance of having a career path.”
She said timing of the EMBA is important. To get the most out of it, you need enough experience managing processes and people. She had plenty. “I setup a team in 2016 consisting of three people, now it’s up to 120. I never thought I would make a career out of my first job in Customer services.”
“As the team was expanding and the organizational structure was changing to accommodate the growth, I was being promoted almost every year. I wanted to grab all the opportunities. I was taught that I can achieve anything if I put enough effort in it. The drive came from my own ambition. I’m competitive. I have a positive attitude. I want to do a good job and be recognized for it.”
She emphasizes that as opportunities grew for her, her team also benefited. “The growth of my team provides opportunities for everyone that’s part of it, not only me.” She advises her team members:
“Ask and you shall be given. You have to ask for opportunities to grow and not expect other people to automatically recognize your abilities. You have to sell it. Everything I’ve achieved and received, I’ve asked for it.”
A Bulgarian thing?
When asked about special challenges for women in the industry, she said: “Most of my direct reports are women, so I don’t see much sex discrimination. Maybe it’s a Bulgarian thing.”
When it comes to the industry she and her company are in, her job is not to burnish reputations but to make sure her company complies with the responsible gambling laws which in the case of Europe involve stringent layers of regulation. The company uses algorithms to track customer behavior which creates a risk score with attendant red flags indicating potential problem behavior. In reality, the number of addicted gamblers is a very small percentage of the total customer base, she says, and “our focus is to prevent this from happening by interacting and intervening at an early stage.”
When the risk score reaches a certain level, the account is reviewed, and the customer might be contacted. The player is then offered coaching based on their record and the company’s experience with the behavior. Resources are offered and in extreme cases the customer’s account is suspended. Not all gambling regulators internationally require this type of identification and interaction, though a lot of them have started tightening their responsible gaming requirements and making changes in that direction.
Hard lessons
Her EMBA is applied on a regular basis but acquiring it marked the most challenging time of her life. “The year and a half in the program were very difficult for me. I had the responsibilities of my job, and the course work is pretty intense. I was pregnant as well.”
There are life events that nothing can prepare you for.
“Our baby died during childbirth at the hospital. It was so tough to cope. So cruel. I wouldn’t have managed without the support of my husband.”
Then the tears came as they sometimes do when she recalls the unimaginable loss.
“I had some time off from work, my manager was very supportive. Going back to work after what happened, and while devoting time to the EMBA, was really difficult. I finished and I’m still here.”
Not only did she finish what she started, she was recognized by the EMBA faculty as one of the two exceptional students from the class for consistently delivering thoughtful and thorough assignments, adeptly assuming a leadership position within the cohort, actively engaging with fellow EMBA peers, and demonstrating conscientiousness and effectiveness in guiding them.
Her friends, colleagues and faculty members at AUBG are glad she is “still here” and they’re ready to support the next chapter of her life story.
