About Independent Betting: Meet our team of betting experts

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About Us

The editorial team behind The Independent’s betting section has over 60 years combined experience in the gambling industry across sportsbooks, casinos, poker and more.

Between us, we’ve reviewed hundreds of operators and picked many winners along the way, but our primary mission is to keep you as the punter informed, helping you make a confident decision when signing up to place a bet.

Our experts have responsible gambling at the forefront of their thoughts, with only fully licensed operators considered for review.

Learn more about how The Independent betting team rates and reviews the best betting sites and online casinos with rigorous editorial standards:

Meet The Team

Managing Editor

Jamie Casey

Managing Editor Jamie Casey is a former sports journalist who has also worked for online bookmakers Sky Bet and Unibet. He specialises in sports betting editorial and leads the team behind The Independent’s betting section.

His work has appeared across several major publications in the UK and Ireland such as Sky Sports, Sporting Life, The Irish Times and The Irish Post.

Sports Betting Editor

Chris Rivers

Having previously worked for the Racing Post for three years, Chris Rivers is a sports betting specialist with a keen eye for rugby betting tips.

By no means limited to rugby union, Chris can also be found handing out betting advice on NFL, football and boxing. His varied career in sports has also taken in spells as a broadcaster having been a football commentator and a video journalist in former roles.

Sports Betting Writers

Simon Sinclair

Having previously been a reporter for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Simon Sinclair knows a thing or two about cricket. He has also produced an abundance of content for bookies such as Betway and 888sport, making him well-placed to play a leading role in our betting output.

Having also worked as a sports writer for Goal.com and Yahoo Sports, Simon is proficient in NFL, NBA and football betting coverage.

James Boyle

James Boyle is our resident racing tipster having previously provided his services for the likes of the Racing Post and RacingFM.

His horse racing tips can be found on The Independent six days a week throughout the Flat and National Hunt seasons and his betting advice caters to those who prefer a long shot rather than a short-priced favourite.

Casino Writers

Kevin Taylor

Kevin Taylor is a Content Strategist with a background in journalism having previously been an online reporter for The Irish Mirror and The Herald.

He now provides casino and sports betting expertise for The Independent, from guides such as how to place a Trixie bet to analysis of the best betting and gaming sign-up offers.

Erica Schembri

Erica Schembri is a content strategist who specialises in online casinos. Whether it’s scrutinising the latest slot sites or reviewing the best online casino, Erica keeps potential gamers informed with the latest developments in this competitive field.

Betting Experts

Dean Ryan

Dean has been working in the gambling industry for well over a decade, providing his services to sports broadcasters RTE Racing, RacingFM and Sunshine Radio, as well as gambling operators Tote, 888, BetBright, BoyleSports and BetVictor.

With an extensive background in customer management, betting and casino product development, strategy and business trends, Dean is approaching veteran status in the gambling industry.

Michael Butlin

Michael boasts over two decades of experience in the gambling industry. During this time he has held various product development, commercial and marketing positions at innovative online bookmakers, including Blue Square and Unibet.

Additionally, he successfully managed several sports betting and information websites, operated an online poker site and provided consultancy services to a diverse range of gambling operators, including sportsbook and lottery product providers.

Ana Dimitrijevic

Ana has dedicated over eight years to the European gambling industry, collaborating with an established affiliate brand that boasts a legacy of over 15 years.

She is also highly proficient in SEO, site management, content promotion, link-building as well as having experience in sales and customer management.

Gary Connelly

Gary has over 10 years working in the betting industry. A former finance and credit card analyst at the Bank of Ireland, he then joined the Irish Greyhound Board to tackle integrity and payment management.

His talents were then concentrated on Customer Engagement with Betdaq and with the semi state authority at Horse Racing Ireland.

Wouter Schuubiers

Wouter Schuurbiers is a former Belgian Omaha Poker Championship winner with an extensive background in sports betting and the poker industry.

He has almost 10 years in the iGaming industry working across Customer Support and Social Media for various online betting and casino companies.

Contributors

Andrew Beasley

Andrew Beasley is a widely published football writer and voluntary numbers enthusiast. His love of stats provides him with a wealth of insight which can be applied to betting. He provides football betting tips for The Independent.

Matthew Glazier

Matthew Glazier is a seasoned veteran of the online betting industry, having cut his teeth at Sporting Index before a spell at Betfair.

He was also Head of Marketing at bet365 for several years. Matthew provides betting and gaming advice for readers of The Independent.

Greg Lea

A London-based football specialist, Greg Lea has written for multiple top publications, including The Guardian, ESPN and the Sportsman, with coverage of the Premier League, Champions League and Fifa World Cup. He contributes Premier League betting tips to The Independent.

Graham Ruthven

Graham Ruthven is a football writer and podcaster who has worked for The Guardian, New York Times, Eurosport and many others.

He boasts an extensive knowledge of global football and has been a betting tipster for many years.

Paul Millward

Paul has been professionally involved with sports betting since joining the Racing Post in 1986.

Although greyhound racing was his first passion, he has also written multiple articles on a wide range of sports from a betting perspective.

Why you should trust us

Independent

We aim to offer every online gambler a safe and fair platform through unbiased, independent reviews of the UK’s best online gambling companies.

On each review, our experts conduct in-depth first-hand experience as a genuine user by signing up for each operator, depositing and withdrawing real money.

Our editorial independence is backed by the weight of one of the world's leading online gambling affiliates, Gambling.com Group.

Gambling.com Group have won several awards in the gambling affiliate industry for sports and casino, including EGR Global’s Affiliate of the Year, SBC Europe’s Casino Affiliate of the Year and SBC North America’s Sports and Casino Affiliate of the Year.

Neither Gambling.com Group nor any gambling operator determines if we cover, feature or review an operator in our betting guides.

Like our readers, we value honesty and integrity above any outside influence

All articles published on Independent Betting are reviewed by industry experts, as well as fact-checked and diligently sub-edited by The Independent editorial team.

Industry experts

Our team of expert reviewers consists of experienced gamblers who know precisely what to look for.

By signing up as a new user, each review is evaluated from a real user’s perspective.

Each one of our reviewers has multiple years of experience as either a respected journalist or product expert on the topic.

Take Dean, Micheal and Gary who have each been working in the gambling industry for well over 10 years with some of the top-tier gambling-related broadcasters and operators.

Or even Wouter, a former Belgian Omaha Championship winner. You can be confident that all our our reviews speak to both you as a user, but are also peer-reviewed and fact-checked by our gambling experts for accuracy.

Strict editorial review policy

One of our betting experts will conduct their own original research by signing up to either the betting site or casino as a new user using a new real account.
Our expert staff members will then vigorously rate the site or app through our rigorous testing criteria that focus on important decision-making factors.
Our experienced writers will then write up the review, comparing and contrasting the results as well as detailing the benefits and drawbacks of each operator.
Our managing editor, Jamie Casey, will then thoroughly edit to ensure a fair and unbiased review.
Karl Matchett, Assistant Sports Editor for The Independent, will then sub-edit each review before it gets published.

Security

Before even considering recommending a casino or betting site, we will confirm that the product is available to the UK public and the operator is licenced by the UKGC (The UK Gambling Commission)

Privacy

At The Independent, we take your privacy seriously, which is why we adhere to a strict privacy policy and cookie policy.

Similarly, when it comes to any bonus offers that gambling operators may run, there are a number of terms and conditions we abide by.

Affiliate Disclosure

We pride ourselves in the precision and honesty of our content to our readers.

We do not accept funds from betting or casino sites to be featured in our reviews.

All reviews are independently tested, reviewed and featured and adhere to our editorial code of conduct.

For operators featured in our reviews or betting tips, we use affiliate links to their websites, generally as a bonus or new user offer.

If you click on those links and sign up for the offer, we may receive compensation.

Independent Betting does not offer any gambling services itself and generates revenue by sending new depositing customers to regulated UK online casinos and bookmakers.

The revenue we make helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Our promise to you

We do not take payment for casino or betting reviews.
We select operators for review based on what we believe our readers want to know.
We'll tell you what we think and will give our view, not what advertisers want you to hear.
Our expert reviewers are gamblers and will give you their honest, unbiased opinion.
If a casino or betting site at any point, even after publishing, doesn't meet our high standards, we will remove them from our operator lists as well as remove them from our guides.
For every casino review, we will sign up as new users in real life, depositing, placing the bet as well and withdrawing our own money.
If you think we're not living up to our promise, please email the managing editor ([email protected]), and we'll endeavour to correct it.