about nigel hall

best-gambling-expert-in-the-uk

Hi, and welcome to DemoSlot. My name is Nigel Hall, and I'm here to help and guide you on your journey through the world of online slots.

With 23 years of experience in the gambling industry and a thirst for learning more information each day, my overall goal is for this website to be your go-to place for reliable slot demos and information you can trust.

Since starting as a webmaster in 2018, I've been on an amazing learning curve, but my passion for online slots and further enhancing my knowledge of them continues to grow. I hope you'll join me and become a part of the ongoing project here at DemoSlot.


my work story

Work History of Nigel Hall

In 1998, my educational studies ended, and I was looking to start my journey into employment. Being young, I didn't really know what I wanted to do and, by chance, stumbled across a vacancy in an amusement arcade. At the time, the coastal towns in the UK were thriving, and this was an extremely busy industry to work in and a fun one, come to think of it.

Whilst working in this environment, with all the machines and bright lights on offer, I was always drawn in by the slot machines. Some of them did ( and still do ) require a little bit of skill to play, and I was fascinated by how these machines worked and how quickly they were developing within the industry.

Over the next ten years, I built an extensive knowledge of how all machines in the industry worked whilst also keeping a close eye on the development of slot machines and their progression in stake, prize, and technology. Through hard work and determination, I started as a member of staff who would retrieve prizes for customers and partake in general daily duties, to managing one of the largest holiday park amusement arcades in the UK.

Work Story of Nigel Hall

Whilst working in that managerial role, the company I was employed by ( Leisure Link - Playnation ) put me through an NVQ level 3 management course, which helped me develop other skills in both my working role and as a person.

By the time I had been managing the arcades for a few years, the online slot industry was absolutely flying. This was an area of slot machines that I had been following closely, and I always enjoyed a flutter on these games as I felt they offered players more entertainment and a better chance of winning. When comparing these points against land-based games, the industry had progressed through stakes and prizes far too quickly, leading to a stale atmosphere and some fairly substandard and boring slots to play.

After several successful years managing at the holiday park, I headed to new pastures. I moved to another managerial position in an amusement arcade where I had a little more time to myself so that I could travel. Whilst having this additional time on my hands, I started to think about a project where I could potentially work for myself and draw from my industry experiences and what I knew about online slots.


my journey as a webmaster

DemoSlot is a website owned by Nigel Hall

At the time of trying to decide what area of online slots I would start a website on, the Australian game developer Big Time Gaming had released a series of new slots that had stirred excitement among old and new players online. Part of these new slots included a dynamic reel gaming mechanic named Megaways, which I believed pumped some new blood into the online industry and made other slot developers seriously up their game.

The result of these circumstances led to me creating the site Bigtimegamingfreeplay.com in August 2018. I wanted this site to be the go-to place for all Big Time Gaming and Megaways-related information. Through my extensive play on these games and knowledge of what makes a great slot, I felt I could write an informative review that would break down how each game worked while also offering my opinion on them. To top it all off, I even added the ability for users of the site to play these games for free so they could have their views on each game that gets released.

Fast forward to December 2021, and over the course of those three years, I started adding other game developers to the site so players could experience even more exciting slots. This, however, meant that the website's name was beginning to become less relevant to the content on it. After some thought, I decided to branch out further, and as the site now featured multiple providers and slots, it was time to start a new project and change the site's name. 

Therefore, at the end of 2021, I successfully changed the name of the website over to DemoSlot. This has allowed me free rein to add as many slots and game providers as I wish while keeping the site and overall brand relevant to its content. I'm now really excited for the future and to be able to keep adding both new and old slot titles to the site for people to enjoy. It's been a great ride since starting on this journey, and I can't wait to see where the next few years take both myself and this website.

After successfully building up and continuing to progress with Demoslot, an opportunity presented itself in 2024 to acquire a bookmaker and horse racing-themed site named safebookmakerssites.com that had been around for a while but was in desperate need of some TLC. I've often had a flutter on the horses and used the big bookmaker sites online, so this seemed like an interesting project to take on and something that I'll continue to work on in the coming years. 


why is demoslot different from other websites?

Like our thousands of visitors, we love slots, so we want to ensure that, along with the free demos we provide, we give a fair representation of the games we feature. At no point since the creation of this website or to the current date have we ever received any free merchandise or been given anything from any provider or casino to give away to our visitors.

This has put us in the position of being able to review every slot impartially rather than being seen as giving favour to any particular game provider or casino brand. I mean, if you're taking cash to incentivise your visitors, how can you claim to have given a fair review and score to the developer who provided you with the prizes? That's not a road we want to go down, so if we feel a slot or game is poor, we don't have to quietly please anybody in the background.


recognitIon of the website


testimonials for nigel hall

Testimonials for Nigel Hall

I connected with Nigel in 2019 and from day one it was clear how passionate Nigel is about this industry. As I had only been in the online gambling industry for a few months it was an absolute pleasure answering Nigel's questions relating to our latest Megaways™ game. Not only does Nigel hold great in-depth knowledge within the the world of online gaming, he is a genuine pleasure to work with. Nigel is always the first to test play any Megaways™ game that we are due to release, and I wouldn't have it any other way! On behalf of myself & Storm Games, we thank you Nigel.

SABRINA ANTHI HOWELLS OPERATIONS MANAGER AT STORM GAMING TECHNOLOGY

Sabrina Anthi Howells - Operations Manager at Storm Gaming Technology 


Nigel and I both worked in the same region as an Amusement Centre Manager for Playnation LTD. During our working time together I found Nigel's knowledge of slots both insightful and extremely useful in my understanding of them. 

NIGEL PILSWORTH SENIOR GENERAL MANAGER AT PURE LEISURE GROUP LIMITED

Nigel Pilsworth - Head of Parks at Laver Leisure LTD


Working with Nigel and Bigtimegamingfreeplay has been a simple but efficient process. Whilst being passionate about the gambling industry, Nigel holds compliance and protecting those most at risk as a number one priority. I look forward to a long working relationship with both himself and the website.

MARTIN HODGES HEAD OF MARKETING AT AGECHECKED

Martin Hodges - Former Head of Marketing at AgeChecked


I employed Nigel in an Amusement Centre and his personality and willingness to learn made him an outstanding employee. He picked up the technical side quickly and his understanding of slots in particular was superb.

JAMES JASSIE SALES REPRESENTATIVE AT RUSSKO LTD

James Jassie - Sales Manager in the Food Industry


Nigel is at the forefront of compliance when it comes to the gambling industry, having taken active steps to integrate Age Verification to comply with UK regulations. With AgeChecked, Nigel led the way for gambling affiliates. Nigel has worked collaboratively with AgeChecked to ensure we collectively age verify players are over 18 for free play and demo games.

RACHEL BUTCHER HEAD OF SALES AT AGECHECKED

Rachel Butcher - Chief of Staff/Sales Director at AgeChecked


Whilst Nigel was working as an Amusement Centre Manager for Playnation, he was always super helpful to me and my team of directors.

RYAN COLLINGE DIRECTOR AT BLUEPRINT GAMING

Ryan Collinge - Senior Vice President Gaming Innovation Group


Nigel at BTGF, has a very extensive knowledge of casino games and the industry, which you can immediately tell from just speaking with him. The BTGF site offers very impartial and insightful reviews of the latest slot games coming out.

Philliip Douglas Director at Arcadem

Phillip Douglas- CPO & CO-Founder at Arcadem


Nigel was a joy to work with. Very inquisitive to fully understand all aspects of amusement machine setup and merchandising. A team player who worked with me to deliver machine testing and monitoring of new products as well as performing his demanding daily operational duties. A pleasure to work with. A great eye for fact and detail.

RYAN COLLINGE DIRECTOR AT BLUEPRINT GAMING

Tony Markou - Product Manager at Playnation


Nigel is very passionate about the gambling industry and has always shown a willing to learn more and further improve his knowledge. He tested a number of machines for our company and delivered us with a detailed analysis of their performance, which we found extremely insightful.  

RYAN COLLINGE DIRECTOR AT BLUEPRINT GAMING

Ian Eason - Managing Director Instance Automatics


compliance to the uk market

Demo Slot is fully compliant to the latest gambling laws from the UKGC

On the 12th of July 2019, age identification checks were successfully implemented on the site to comply with the latest legislation from the UK Gambling Commission. In doing so, this made me the first website that offers free play slots to fall in line with this latest change to the law, and with having first-hand experience with responsible gambling through my job, I'm fully aware of the importance of keeping compliant and protecting those most at risk. 

Out of all the websites offering free play slots, DemoSlot is undoubtedly one of the newest kids on the block and most definitely one of the smallest. But to be the first to fall in line with regulation shows how seriously we take the rules set out by the UKGC. 

Upon completing the installation of Age Verification technology on the website, I spoke with the gambling industry magazine Coinslot. You can read the article at Coinslot about my website here.

* Update: For complete transparency, it was decided that from July 2023, Demoslot would begin to remove the age-gating of slots for UK visitors. Whilst we may have been the first site to add this feature, in the first four years that have passed, the UKGC has failed to enforce the rule, with several sites still providing games without any age verification in place. We will take measures to remove all licensed UK brands from the site.


my personal story

ARTHURS PASS ON MY FIRST TRIP TO NEW ZEALANDARTHURS PASS ON MY FIRST TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND

Having been raised in a small seaside town in Lincolnshire in the UK, I always wanted to travel and see more of the world. Luckily, due to the nature of my profession, the working season was generally from March until November, leaving plenty of time for me to follow my dreams. 

The first trip I ever embarked on was a year working holiday visa to New Zealand, and this is still up there as one of my all-time favourite trips. The scenery was breathtaking; the Kiwis are still among the nicest people I have ever met, and I remain friends with several people I met on that trip to this day.

Having gained a taste for more travel since that trip, I have had further adventures, including trips to the USA, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Japan, Spain, France, Germany, and Portugal. There are still plenty more places that I would like to visit, with Egypt being near the top of this list as I am fascinated with the history and the pharaohs.

I love to try and better myself in life and learn things, and when I first decided to start this website, I didn't have a clue as to how I'd go about building it or how to structure an article that could have a chance of ranking in a search engine, let alone somebody actually reading it. But with a lot of hard work, many ups and downs, and hours of watching YouTube videos, I've created a place people enjoy visiting, and I've had positive feedback since. This inspires me to work even harder every day and make it better for both regular users of the site and the ones who have yet to discover it.

Nigel Hall


Follow Nigel on LinkedIn - Nigel

Contact me - Nigelhall@demoslot.com