H2 has established itself in recent years as one of the main players in the online and
face-to-face poker segment. 🌝 Formerly known as H2 Club, the company has become one of
the most important business groups in the poker area, 🌝 with physical and online
operations, in addition to being part of a conglomerate also made up of Suprema Poker
and 🌝 the organization of the Brazilian Series of Poker, the biggest championship sport
in the world after the WSOP, which takes 🌝 place annually in Las Vegas.
To talk about the
transformation of the company into a group with various activities related to 🌝 poker and
other games, GMB One-On-One spoke with Ueltom Lima Gomes, CEO of the company. In
addition to dealing with 🌝 the growth of H2, Ueltom says that the group has just launched
other types of card games, such as ‘caxeta’, 🌝 one of the most popular in Brazil, the
brief launch of a fantasy games platform and the entry into the 🌝 world of sports
betting, with H2.Bet.
GMB – Grupo H2 has established itself over the last ten years as
a major 🌝 player in the Brazilian poker market. What accounts for such prominence in this
rapidly growing scenario?
Ueltom Lima Gomes – By 🌝 calling H2 a Group you already refer a
little to our history, as H2 has always been well known as 🌝 H2 Poker or H2 Club. It was
where everything was born and being a reference in Brazil and one of 🌝 the main ones in
the world represents a great trajectory. Our history as a business group is intertwined
with the 🌝 history of poker in the country. Unlike other places in the world, we had to
prove that poker is not 🌝 about gambling. Brazil had a very specific legislation and, in
our point of view, very backward. In other countries, this 🌝 did not happen, as it was
considered a game of skill and strategy. There has always been this confusion, as 🌝 many
people, when playing in other countries, are in a casino environment. There's a chip,
there's a table, there's a 🌝 deck of cards... And everyone confused the game as a casino
activity. As in Brazil you cannot have games of 🌝 chance, we needed to prove that poker
did not fall under this prohibited legislation. We had to seek a lot 🌝 of legal and
technical support to show that poker is a game of skill and that the luck factor was
🌝 not preponderant. This fight is over a decade old. This construction and legitimation
with society was victorious. Today no one 🌝 questions it and everyone plays and it is the
second hobby of many people, such as artists, Olympic champions and 🌝 football
players.
This community was greatly strengthened by the work we did. It was a struggle
to play the sport we 🌝 wanted most. Soon after, we realized that there was an opportunity
for business and not just practicing the sport. Because 🌝 of this history, we became a
great reference for the country. More than launching a new business, we were founding 🌝 a
new market. There are people who were fundamental for this and for me, Igor Federal, my
partner, is also 🌝 my mentor and a super important guy in this story. As well as André
Akkari, a great friend and world 🌝 poker champion, who is a business genius. For all
these reasons, we have consolidated a market and thus I summarize 🌝 the reasons for
making the H2 a reference.
And as you rightly said, a sport of the mind. Obviously
having the 🌝 organization of the Brazilian Series of Poker among H2's operations is a
huge responsibility, as it has become the biggest 🌝 poker championship in the Southern
Hemisphere. How do you evaluate the growth of the Brazilian championship?
The BSOP is
now the 🌝 largest poker tournament in the world by number of people outside of Las Vegas,
which is the mecca for major 🌝 tournaments. Today, the BSOP is in contention for first
place outside of the WSOP. We are one of the biggest 🌝 championships in the world in
awards and we are not the first only because of the Brazilian currency. But the 🌝 BSOP is
a great reference and we welcome the best players in the world and from countless
countries. One of 🌝 the main factors for success is the very size of the market in
Brazil, since there are no other championships 🌝 of this size. BSOP got a lot right with
the leadership of DC and Lara [Devanir Campos and Lara Bruno), 🌝 in addition to Igor
Federal, of course, who are responsible for the success of the Brazilian Series of
Poker. They 🌝 are very successful in their decision to have the best championship in the
world from a technical point of view. 🌝 The dealers, tournament directors, floors and the
technical structure of the BSOP make us recognized as the best in the 🌝 world, even by
the main players. It's almost a unanimous decision. When playing elsewhere, you don't
see the same technical 🌝 level as in the Brazilian championship in terms of organization.
This was a great success for BSOP, which made it 🌝 very important on the world stage.
By
the way, poker has been growing exponentially. Was this boom in Brazil due to 🌝 the
understanding that it is a sport and the dissemination of the WSOP?
There is an
interesting factor in the history 🌝 of poker. We call it the “MoneyMaker Factor”. He was
a recreational poker player who won his seat at the 🌝 world championship from a satellite
tournament. At the world championships, entry to the main tournament costs US$10,000,
so it's not 🌝 cheap, but it's possible to win a seat through satellites. And that's what
happened to him, through a very cheap 🌝 qualifier and he played in the tournament,
becoming world champion. At that moment, the euphoria was generated in the world 🌝 poker
community that an amateur player is also capable of winning a world title.
When you
think about the long term, 🌝 the best players will always be the victors. There is a
phrase in the poker world that says: “you are 🌝 not paid to always win, but you are paid
to make the best decisions”. So in the long run you 🌝 will be a profitable player. But
what is the great beauty of poker? If you play just one hand against 🌝 the best player in
the world, you have a chance to win, but if you play a hundred times, you 🌝 will lose.
This allows amateur players to sit at the tables of the best players in the world!
There is 🌝 the privilege of being able to sit down at the table once and win. This made
poker grow a lot 🌝 and started to be broadcast on ESPN in several countries around the
world. This made the modality grow even more.
There 🌝 is a parenthesis here that is
always worth mentioning. It is a source of pride in Brazil that the cards 🌝 used in both
the Brazilian championship and the WSOP are from Copag, the century-old Brazilian deck
manufacturer!
Copag is a giant. 🌝 We have a solid and historic relationship. They have
always been supporters of our projects. It was very important in 🌝 our trajectory. It is
a Brazilian giant in the playing cards sector. They have numerous lines and have always
supported 🌝 our project.
How is the integration between online and face-to-face poker? Is
there a competition or do they complement each other?
They 🌝 complete. We were a little
afraid and it was a doubt. When the pandemic came, we had no option. For 🌝 many years the
group saw it as a tool or a means for other online operators who were always partners
🌝 and sponsored us. We operated physical units in clubs and in the Brazilian
championship, but when the pandemic hit, we 🌝 were unable to operate for a year. A lot of
people depended on the physical poker operation and we had 🌝 no options but to grow the
online platform and making it a big business was a matter of survival. It 🌝 ended up
becoming the biggest business and the main vertical we have in our business. But we
thought: “will this 🌝 boom subside at the end of the pandemic?” We realized that it
wasn't and that those who only played live 🌝 sporadically, started to play digitally as
well and didn't fail to return to the physical with the end of restrictions. 🌝 They
continued to play online even with the return of face-to-face activities. During the
pandemic, there was a growth in 🌝 the public looking for things to do, including
recreational games and poker. And they started to attend the physical units. 🌝 We arrived
at the phygital, which is the physical and the digital. We received visits from players
from all over 🌝 the world and they know the size of our operation and what we do. And
they are surprised when they 🌝 visit the H2 and see the hall full. They understand that
online is important for H2, they realize the strength 🌝 that digital has achieved.
H2 is
preparing for other card games. What's new in that sense?
Through the network we are
part 🌝 of, we have Suprema Poker. It's an own app that online clubs can connect to. This
greatly enhances the volume 🌝 of people playing at the same time. It is now the main
online poker platform in South America and one 🌝 of the largest in the world. And with
the growth, we started to discuss other games and the first one 🌝 we just launched is
‘caxeta’, very widespread in Brazil. We want to bring this audience into our digital
world. By 🌝 tradition in Brazil, I even believe that it is greater than the number of
poker players. Another modality that we 🌝 are about to launch is the fantasy game. We
have developed our own game and will soon launch it, as 🌝 well as talk about our betting
platform.
Speaking of news, we were going to get into that. H2 entered the world 🌝 of
sports betting with H2.Bet. What is the proposal of the new house?
We've spent over a
decade basically operating poker. 🌝 It was a decision we made in the past to operate only
as permitted by Brazilian law. We always look 🌝 at other games and are interested in
operating, but we depend on the Brazilian government to make the decision. We 🌝 are late
and Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that does not have specific
regulations for 🌝 casino and bingo games. It is a detriment to the country that prevents
serious businessmen from entering this market. We 🌝 are in this expectation and that
Brazil advances in this direction. Four years ago, the country legalized sports betting
and 🌝 for a long time we waited for regulation to enter the business. It took us a while
to move in 🌝 this segment, but recently we made the decision to participate. Following
the market and seeing that many world-class companies were 🌝 investing in this sector, we
launched H2.Bet. It is a phenomenon what is happening in this market. Brazilians are
very 🌝 passionate about games and sports and it is no different for us. We are very
satisfied and excited about the 🌝 future of this business.
Are you offering the main
sports?
All possible modalities and the main markets. As much as we are 🌝 an
international company, it bears a name that over the years we have fought hard to be
respected. When people 🌝 look at the H2 name, they see that respect and credibility. For
us, it has always been important to delimit 🌝 this. We operate with the best markets and
we are very concerned about the unbridled growth of operators that we 🌝 often don't even
hear about. We are talking about entertainment and it takes a lot of responsibility
when talking about 🌝 investment. It is a new modality and we are working with great
respect for the market.
The government should not waste 🌝 time and create specific rules
within the Brazilian market to give more and more credibility and security to those who
🌝 want to operate in the country, without having to act abroad.
What are H2's plans for
2024?
H2 is experiencing exponential growth 🌝 and we know that there is a very large
window of opportunity, especially in the betting and new games market. 🌝 I think our main
strategy is to cross-sell the games and make the community that already recognizes H2
as an 🌝 entertainment environment, that they come to try ‘caxeta’ with us, to the fantasy
game and those who are interested in 🌝 sports betting, may they be with us.
Our corporate
mantra is “Grow”. Within the leadership we have a joke when answering 🌝 when they ask us
how we are doing. Our answer is “we are growing”. This growth is based on cross-selling
🌝 and the support of what we already have with new games. We bet a lot on this and we are
🌝 keeping an eye on the regulation of betting and the legalization of games.
We
participate in all discussions in this regard 🌝 because we are very interested in
contributing to the development of the entertainment segment. We have to move forward
and 🌝 the time has passed when the State said who you can marry, how you can spend your
money and much 🌝 more. Gaming exists in the country and is just not legalized. This is
the most important point that the government 🌝 should understand. Many serious
businessmen are waiting for the State to legalize and regulate the modalities to
operate safely. It's 🌝 not about whether gaming exists or whether anyone likes it or
doesn't like it. Everyone can have that right, but 🌝 it's up to the government to offer
clear rules, collect and invest in important areas. It's about the government putting 🌝 a
hand in this business even to protect gamblers.
Source: Exclusive GMB
