No Plan B: The SiGMA Story and Where iGaming is Heading [Interview with Eman Pulis]
Did you know that Eman Pulis, founder of SiGMA, had no idea the gaming industry even existed? His niche was mainstream entertainment: parties and concerts for up to 10,000 people across Malta. But one detail made him wonder if it was time to change everything he was doing.
Curious what it was? Then watch our full interview with Eman Pulis!
SiGMA (Summit of iGaming Malta) is the world’s leading iGaming event brand, founded in Malta. What started as a single gaming summit has grown into an ecosystem of four interconnected conferences spanning related verticals:
- SiGMA – iGaming
- Affiliate Grand Slam – mainstream affiliates
- FX Summit / FX World – Forex
- AIBC – fintech, blockchain, crypto, big data, AI
On SiGMA’s Origins: From Nightlife to Niche
The gaming industry was thriving in Malta at that time, and Eman noticed that people who were spending the most money at his parties were exactly that very gaming crowd. This is where the idea of SiGMA came from:
So I said, ‘Let me stop doing parties for 10,000 people, and just focus on that small crowd. I didn’t have any plan B: I stuck to what I do best, which is events, and SiGMA took off like wildfire. I think what made SiGMA so unique is also the experiences that I’ve learnt in the festival industry: 10,000 people following the music, the artist in unison, and having that party vibe. I try to transmit that in conferences as well.’
On Merging iGaming and Affiliate Worlds
12 years ago, iGaming events and affiliate or B2B events barely overlapped: they were separate worlds. Eman broke that pattern and decided to gather people from these seemingly unrelated verticals in one place.
‘People called me mad 12 years ago. But today, you see, all events are bringing all verticals under one roof. Twelve years later, that same pattern is repeating on a much bigger scale: Forex, gaming, prediction markets, and mainstream affiliates are all blurring into each other.’
Now, SiGMA has scaled from a single event into four parallel conferences: SiGMA, Affiliate Grand Slam, FX Summit, and AIBC – held simultaneously in one location, so exhibitors can cover every adjacent vertical in a single trip. This year’s Rome edition brings nine exhibition pavilions, up from six for gaming alone last year. As Eman calls it, ‘it’s a new recipe, a new cocktail’ that exhibitors will either love or reject.
On the Speaker Selection Process
With a 500-person team, SiGMA stays very selective about who gets stage time:
Everyone wants to be a speaker; everyone wants to shove their product down our throats. So we are very meticulous about who we let on stage.
The bar is simple: real people who’ve actually built businesses and understand compliance, not ‘preachers’ who just talk about it, but people who’ve actually done it.
On iGaming Regulation as a Feature
Today, SiGMA has gone global, but instead of staying safely in Europe and North America, it has expanded into markets like São Paulo, Cape Town, Colombo, and Mexico City.
It came with bigger risks: cancelled flights, political instability, etc. But the payoff is worth it: exclusive local content and speakers you can’t find anywhere else. Besides, it gives a head start in markets before regulation catches up, as it did with Sri Lanka’s new iGaming law.
This comfort with regulation goes beyond just good timing. Many in the industry try to avoid scrutiny, but SiGMA does the opposite. The company has a full-time compliance team, including the former CEO of the Malta Gaming Authority, and believes regulation done right is the only way to go. Eman insists that even if regulation goes too far, in his opinion, transparency should always come first.
On Where the iGaming Goes
When we asked Eman about what’s next for the industry, he pointed to 3 things:
- Prediction markets. A hot trend, but harder to keep clean from abuse and match-fixing than regular gaming.
- AI. Already changing how content gets made, personalizing everything from the minute you enter a site.
- Compliance tools. A growing business of its own, as regulation tightens almost everywhere. As Eman puts it, ‘whoever comes with a cross-border compliance tool is on a winning horse’.
Eman is careful not to make bold predictions, though, and brings up Zuckerberg’s metaverse ambitions as an example: proof that even a team of very smart people can make a wrong bet.
On SiGMA iGaming Academy and SiGMA Foundation
Eman doesn’t only organize industry events, but takes it a step further. As a trained teacher himself, he believes education is the missing piece the industry desperately needs. In Eman’s words, the industry is growing so fast that there aren’t enough trained people to keep up with it, and it requires a more trained workforce.
This belief became the SiGMA iGaming Academy – the largest vocational training school for the industry worldwide. It’s tied to real business needs, like helping companies keep their licenses.
Beyond the Academy, SiGMA also runs its own nonprofit, building schools and clinics in underserved parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, and offering free courses in iGaming and payments to locals there:
Believe it or not, we believe a lot in giving back. If someone in a favela in Brazil wants to have an opportunity to take a few courses, we provide the training for those people as well.
Watch the full interview to hear Eman’s complete story – from his early days in events to building one of iGaming’s biggest global brands, and where he thinks the industry is headed next.
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