Share 
The online casino gaming landscape is evolving rapidly, and the latest entrant is Horseplay. With a unique twist on horse betting that makes online casino-style games available in states such as California and Florida, Horseplay aims to establish itself as a top platform for parimutuel gaming.
All Horseplay games are based on real-time outcomes of live horse races. This means the results of a slot pull or arcade-style game rely on actual racing data. When a player purchases casino credits, a wager is placed on a horse that determines the payout. In short: the game reveals the winner; it does not create them.
Gaming Today sat down with Horseplay co-founder and President Russell Fine to discuss what separates the brand from other outlets, the player experience, and his goals for 2026.
Beyond the ‘traditional gambler’: Building a real-money library for everyone
1. What is the primary “player promise” Horseplay delivers?
Fine: The primary promise is games you like, powered by the excitement of playing for real money. People love games. When we’re young, we play for fun; as we get older, we want to play for money. Poker is fun for “peanuts,” but it’s more fun as an adult when stakes are involved.
We also offer accessibility. We are available in many more states because we’ve blended a unique capability that allows horse racing to operate across various jurisdictions. This allows access to new genres of real-money games. It’s accessibility and excitement—but make no mistake, this is real-money gambling.
2. What problem does Horseplay solve better than competitors?
Fine: It depends on how you define competitors. Compared to traditional casino gaming—like RNGs (random number generators) in New Jersey—Horseplay has more accessibility.
Unlike a standard casino game, Horseplay is parimutuel. You aren’t playing against the house; it is player-versus-player. The house doesn’t take your money if you lose. Someone is going to win; the only question is whether it’s you. If I have a choice between playing a house that pays the dealer or playing against another person, I’ll take the player every time.
3. Are you building for traditional gamblers, casual gamers, or a hybrid?
Fine: I’m not sure who the “traditional gambler” is. Roughly 70% of Americans gamble in some capacity every year—lottery, slots, sports betting, poker, or bingo.
The person watching Monday Night Football with a few bucks on the game is a gambler, and so is the person buying a scratch-off at the market. Our ideal user is someone who likes our specific games, but that library is growing. Whether you want a “scratcher” experience or a “silly” mobile social game, we have those. If you want to infuse entertainment with a little money, you’re a potential player.
4. How are you balancing monetization with user engagement?
Fine: If we lean into engagement and entertainment—providing a good product with better features and higher bonuses—we will do better as a business. We are playing the long game. We aren’t trying to offer a low-paying game that just takes money.
We want a high-paying return so people have a good time and keep coming back. We’d rather provide a better experience and make less per player than the other way around.
5. Did you notice friction from players early on regarding regulatory framing?
Fine: There’s always hesitation with a new brand. People see ads for “real money” games that turn out to be offshore, illegal, or sweepstakes casinos. Consumers are rightly suspicious.
Our hurdle isn’t really “compliance”—it’s trust. People want to know: Are we honest? Will they get their money back? Once they see we are U.S.-domiciled, 100% regulated, and multi-state licensed, they stay. Early on, users would deposit and immediately withdraw just to see if the system worked. Once they saw the payout was reliable, they started playing.
6. What measures ensure security and responsible gambling?
Fine: I invite anyone to use our “Be Safe” tools to set limits. We don’t want anyone using our products to hurt themselves.
Regarding fair play, we have no stake in the outcome. We don’t do better if a player loses. We take a small commission for facilitating the game between players. Like the lottery or poker, the fairness is baked into the parimutuel definition.
7. What new games are coming in the next 12 months?
Fine: We are seeing a lot of demand for casino-style games. I’d like to see “aviator-style” games soon, and we hope to introduce social mobile games. We are going to keep experimenting. If there is a category people want, we want to hear about it.
8. Are you prioritizing specific genres like skill-based or crypto?
Fine: We don’t do skill-based gaming today. You will see more tournaments and casual games. We’re even looking at whether people want to play games like Sudoku for money. We’re going to try some new genres and see what catches.
9. What major feature upgrades are in development?
Fine: I can’t give away too much to the competition, but you can expect higher jackpots this year. As we grow, we can run larger prize pools. Down the road, we’re looking at synthetic progressive jackpots and other first-to-market features.
10. Will Horseplay integrate blockchain or AI?
Fine: People often equate blockchain with public crypto, which regulators don’t currently permit for various reasons. However, our internal systems have used private blockchain technology for security since before “crypto” was a buzzword. We won’t enter the public crypto world until regulators are comfortable.
As for AI, yes. We are working on AI-driven personalization to improve the player experience and enhance responsible gaming tools.
11. How are you improving onboarding?
Fine: Right now, onboarding is informative but not necessarily “fun.” We want to make it more engaging. We want to be “horse racing forward” so players understand the mechanics, but we want the process of joining to feel like part of the entertainment.
12. What 2026 milestone excites you most?
Fine: We are starting to work with the industry’s larger players. We are about to launch an entire game catalog from a major provider within the next 60 days. Seeing “Class A” games on our platform is a huge win. We also have brand partners looking to market with us this year.
Getting the product to a point where major partners say, “Wow, this is fun,” is the ultimate goal.
The future of real money play
With its distinctive platform based on parimutuel horse racing, Horseplay appears poised to make noise in a crowded marketplace.
Horseplay is currently available for iOS users in the following states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
