The VIP management specialist becomes the seventh industry voice added to the 2026 Contributors Program
Gamblers Connect has named Gali Hartuv as the seventh voice in its 2026 Contributors Program, adding a specialist in VIP management, retention and player segmentation to its B2B iGaming editorial platform.
Hartuv is Strategic Advisor at The Playa and brings more than 15 years of hands-on experience in VIP operations. His work covers the design, launch and optimisation of VIP programmes across more than 50 operator brands.
The appointment fits the structure of the Gamblers Connect Contributors Program, which introduces one senior industry voice per month across the year. The programme is built around named practitioners with direct operational experience, publishing under the Gamblers Connect Contributor Editorial Code.
For Gamblers Connect, the addition strengthens a vertical focused on practical insight rather than broad opinion. For operators, it brings attention to an area that often has a direct impact on player value, retention and team efficiency.
Hartuv’s experience also extends beyond operator-side programme development. He has trained hundreds of professionals now running VIP desks across the iGaming industry, giving his work relevance for the people managing high-value player relationships day to day.
Under the Contributors Program, Hartuv will write across four defined focus areas. These are building effective VIP programmes that drive long-term value, AI-powered VIP identification and player segmentation, hyper-personalisation and retention strategy, and scaling VIP operations across different markets and cultures.
His contributions will sit within the Gamblers Connect Contributors vertical and will also be cross-linked with the Latest News feed when published.
Hartuv’s first published contribution is the VIP Operations Survey 2026. The anonymous industry survey is designed to create a shared benchmark for how VIP teams inside iGaming operators actually work.
The survey covers areas such as portfolio sizing, tooling, qualification thresholds, workflow standards and the parts of the working week that consume the most time for VIP teams.
For the sector, that type of benchmark is useful because VIP operations can vary widely between brands, markets and regulatory environments. Some teams rely heavily on manual relationship management. Others are already using segmentation, automation and AI tools to identify player value and improve retention.
Luka Dimitrijevic, Partnerships and Operations Lead at Gamblers Connect
“VIP management is where a great deal of an operator’s value is won or lost, and very few people can speak to it with Gali’s depth. He has spent his career turning high value player relationships into a discipline rather than guesswork, and he is refreshingly candid about what works and what does not.
“Through the Contributors Program he will share practical insight on VIP strategy, retention, and the smart use of AI, with content grounded in real results rather than recycled best practices.”
The appointment comes as iGaming operators place more emphasis on retention, safer player engagement and personalised lifecycle management. Acquisition costs remain high in many regulated markets, making the quality of VIP operations more commercially important.
At the same time, VIP teams face growing pressure to balance player value with compliance, affordability checks, responsible gambling controls and internal governance.
That makes Hartuv’s focus areas timely. AI-powered identification, segmentation and hyper-personalisation can support more accurate VIP management, but only when paired with clear standards and responsible operating controls.
For Gamblers Connect, the programme also supports its positioning as an independent B2B media platform built around practitioner-led content. By adding voices with direct field experience, it can give readers more specific guidance on how teams, tools and strategies work inside the industry.
With Hartuv joining as the seventh contributor of 2026, Gamblers Connect is now more than halfway through its 12-voice programme for the year.
