Compliance Is No Longer the Operator's Job Alone: TonyBet's Head of Compliance on What Affiliates Must Own in 2026

Affiliates used to send traffic and leave the rules to the operator. That no longer works. In this episode, Oleg Samoilenko, Head of Compliance at TonyBet, explains why regulators now write rules aimed at affiliates themselves, and what operators look for in a partner as a result. Oleg has 12 years in gambling, 10 of them in compliance. He says compliance used to be a last resort, called in only after something went wrong. Now it's part of how TonyBet chooses its partners. The affiliates who come out ahead have done their homework before the first call. They know the rules of each market, keep geo-specific creatives and legal lines separate, and can answer compliance requests quickly. We also talk about whether AI gives smaller affiliates a real chance, or just makes it easier to put up a page that sounds compliant. We cover why avoiding paperwork is itself a red flag. And we look at why affiliates who reuse the same legal lines across Ontario and Alberta keep getting their creatives sent back. In this episode: Why affiliates can no longer treat regulation as the operator's problem What a "mature" affiliate partner looks like to an operator's compliance team Whether AI gives small affiliates a fighting chance, and where it falls short Contracts and paperwork: why avoiding them is a red flag The most common mistakes affiliates make entering Ontario and Alberta Where to start on Monday morning: build a market-by-market rule book of what's allowed, what needs operator approval and what's a grey area Chapters: 00:00 Meet Oleg Samoilenko, Head of Compliance at TonyBet 01:32 Why "compliance is the operator's job" no longer holds 07:14 Who gets squeezed as requirements tighten 09:02 Can AI level the field for smaller affiliates? 11:28 The paperwork problem 13:26 Standardized bonus and creative feeds: a single source of truth? 24:30 Common affiliate mistakes in Ontario and Alberta 32:20 The first operational change to make on Monday 35:00 Players are learning their rights, and looking for affiliate loopholes 36:00 What affiliates can expect from TonyBet