Responsible Gambling, DashTickets and iGaming Technology: Mark Dash’s Interview to RichAds

Mark Dash has started his media career in the late 2000’s, being a Bachelor of Communications graduate of Massey University in 2004, as well as obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism (PGDipJ) in 2015. Before he transitioned to journalism, Mark was a professional poker player between 2007 and 2011. Now he is a leading a Kiwi Casino related project as Chief Editor at DashTickets.

Mark Dash

Happy to be here speaking with you! So, yeah – you’d be surprised I think at how many there are! Storytelling is the main one, I think. So, whether I’m analyzing a poker hand or a quarterly revenue call, I’m building a narrative out of numbers. 

Journalism taught me to verify every claim; poker taught me to question every motive. And those ethos’ – combined – is what helps me to shape my editorial direction.

Mark Dash

Well, from day one, we’ve built ourselves around a player-first mantra. There’s a number of differences between us and most of our competitors – and firstly, we simply cannot be “bribed” by money. So, if a casino came along and said “we’ll pay you $X to write a positive review for us” – we’d send them packing.

Secondly, each casino we review is actually tested by one of the DashTickets team members. We join all casinos we review, make real deposits, play games – and try to withdraw. This is virtually unheard of in the industry.

Thirdly, we regularly update our reviews. Just because a casino scored highly one month, doesn’t mean it stays there indefinitely. Our team is always checking what real players are saying and adjusting our ratings accordingly.

Mark Dash

Absolutely. I maintain a small live bankroll (as do all of the DashTickets staff members) that we use to make deposits at casinos we’re reviewing and check out new games. 

In my opinion, this is the only way you can write honest, accurate reviews. If you’re not playing with your own money – how can readers know what to expect when they do?

Mark Dash

Besides DashTickets, there’s my personal blog which you can access here. I also wrote a recent piece for The Enterprise World on selecting the safest casinos in NZ, which I definitely recommend to anyone thinking about playing from NZ.

Mark Dash

Yeah, so here at DashTickets, we believe in three core pillars that every online casino should offer:

1. Transparency: this means a clear display of RTPs, volatility – and licensing information.
2. Control: We believe sites should offer deposit limits, session timers, and reality checks – as standard.
3. Education: We always try to provide as much information as possible about variance, house edge – we offer responsible gambling self-assessment tools – things like that.

Mark Dash

For me, it’s provably fair algorithms – on‑chain. Blockchain can publish every shuffle hash in real time, letting players verify outcomes instantly. It’s early days, but I’m super excited to see where the technology goes – and personally, I hope it ends up being adopted by a lot of the mainstream brands.

Mark Dash

I think we’ll see hybrid entertainment models: live‑dealer tables streamed from Auckland studios with metaverse‑style social layers. Regulation will tighten, as we’re already seeing with New Zealand’s proposed new gambling laws – but this shouldn’t be an issue for mainstream, reputable operators.

Mark Dash

Ignore headline numbers and read the fine print. A 400 % match sounds great until you hit a 70× wagering clause on both deposit and bonus. If you can’t clear it with your average stake size inside 30 days, walk away.