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Christian Bogstrand got his start in the online casino industry in the most humbling way possible.
He was a customer support representative — one of those people who answers your questions about bonuses and whether games are fair. That was him.
“I started answering customer chats, customer emails and — you know — if you can answer all those questions, you better have your knowledge straight, so I learned pretty fast,” Bogstrand said.
“That was a great way to segue into the business, and from there I got an opportunity to work in product and marketing management with poker and casino. And 20-something years later, here I am.”
From support chats to leading DraftKings’ online gaming
After working for Lucky 7 Ventures in London and serving as CEO and head of gaming for bet365, Bogstrand is now the executive vice president and general manager of iGaming for DraftKings.
It’s a massive undertaking. Bogstrand — “Chab” to everyone, we will explain — oversees DraftKings Online Casino and all other online offerings while working from his London office.
That means it’s his job to keep DraftKings at the front of the real-money online gambling industry, grow its footprint in America where possible, and make sure it’s giving players what they want, when they want it.
“I’m still in the space,” Bogstrand said, smiling. “I’m still enjoying it very much. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the amazing journey in Europe, and now part of the amazing journey in the American market.”
Standing out in a crowded online casino market
It can be hard to differentiate yourself as an online casino product. All of the top sites — we rank the top 10 online casinos each week — look the same. There’s an account link at the top with a button to make a deposit, a row of links to game types, a list of available promos, and a catalog of games that stretches seemingly into infinity.
Veteran players recognize that they can play Lightning Link slots or blackjack hands at multiple sites, so how does DraftKings separate itself?
“We have some outright innovations. I believe we were the first to bring out an in-house jackpot technology that impacts almost all our games in our portfolio,” Bogstrand said. “This year, I’m very happy to see the team bring out Flex Spins. It’s quite amazing.”
Flex Spins innovation sets DraftKings apart from rivals
Flex Spins has been one of the biggest ideas to come out of the online casino space in 2026 and is a DraftKings and Golden Nugget Online Casino exclusive.
In a nutshell, when players qualify for a bonus, or sign up for a deposit match or bet-and-get reward, they aren’t locked into playing one or two particular games. They can be flexible with the spins they earn and use them across a smaller catalog of roughly 50 or 60 games. (The last time I earned Flex Spins, the catalog offered more than 70 games.)
“We think that’s a good thing, and our customers have responded very well. The app we have seems to come out ranked very highly, consistently, and we get great customer feedback,” Bogstrand said. “We are always trying to have an engaging platform, and we think we continue to deliver arguably the best app experience in the market.”
Social gaming as the next frontier for online casinos
There’s always a desire to innovate further. Bogstrand agrees that it’s been incredible to watch the games evolve. Sure, there’s still a place for the traditional stepper with 7s, bars and cherries, but today’s slot catalog is bursting with games that come with special animations, bonus-buy options, fortune-bet options and unique storylines.
What’s next? Bogstand is a player just like the rest of us, albeit one who is extremely plugged in, and he can’t wait to see.
“I think we’ve seen an intermix of a social aspect coming to a number of games,” said Bogstrand. “I think that’s going to continue to develop. It’s hard to see exactly where it’s going to go. If any of us had a silver bullet, we would have deployed it by now.
We continue to see it evolve; we continue to see the social dynamic play in — the next change I’m not entirely sure of —but the games continue to become better entertainment options.”
That blend of storytelling and social competition has already played out at DraftKings. The operator’s Slots Cup pitted games against each other in a bracket-style, head-to-head format: players opted in, and every dollar wagered on a given title counted toward that game’s total in its matchup.
The tournament wrapped up in July with a championship round between Cleopatra and Cash Eruption, turning individual slot play into something closer to a shared tournament, with the winning game’s players earning Flex-Spin rewards. It’s a small preview of the kind of social framing Bogstrand describes: less about a single spin, more about being part of something larger.
Bogstrand stresses that playing at DraftKings’ online casino, or in its new DraftKings Predictions or fantasy space, should be seen as entertainment, and believes every player, new or old, should be aware of the responsible gaming tools available and use them.
“As we say, it’s more fun when it’s for fun,” Bogstrand said smiling.
Christian on paper, “Chab” everywhere else
Bogstrand does appear to enjoy his role. Based in London, he’s ahead of the clock and able to check out his competitors’ offerings before various meetings and go over development ideas each day. He also spends a lot of time in America.
Wherever he goes, he’s just “Chab,” which brings us to the nickname. It’s a holdover from his days working for a Scandinavian firm in Malta, where it seemed everyone in the office was also named Christian.
“We said, ‘Oh man, we can’t work like this; we need to give nicknames.’ Somebody saw my initials and said, ‘Chab,’ and it stuck,” Bogstrand said.
“I haven’t been able to get rid of it since. It’s fun when you start at a new place and people go, ‘So your passport says Chab?’ I say no, but everyone in this industry knows me as Chab, so go with it.”
DraftKings bets on innovation to win US players
And Chab believes DraftKings is poised to grow even further in the American market.
“I think the American market is a great market. I think operators are going into the market very responsibly, with great offerings.
“It would be fantastic if we could offer a regulated social response to more states and more customers. I’d hope for that to happen. That said, it’s great to be live where we are. It’s an exciting and dynamic market to work in.”
