From Poker Raids to iGaming Leadership | The Next Story

Pierre Lindh's journey into iGaming didn’t start with conferences or podcasts. It started running underground poker tournaments where people from different walks of life came together. There was no alcohol, no chaos, just cards on a table, a code of ethics, and a strange kind of innocence that showed Pierre how real communities form.That early lesson stuck.In this episode of Under Pressure, Alex sits down with Pierre, co-founder of  @nextdotio  to trace his full path: from running illegal poker clubs in Sweden during the poker boom, to joining the Swedish Poker Federation, moving into professional iGaming, launching iGaming IDOL, and eventually co-founding Next.After years of helping build other people’s visions, Pierre decided he didn't want to keep executing someone else’s dream; he wanted to build his own. That decision would shape not just his career, but one of the industry’s most influential media platforms.In this episode, they dive into:- Why poker rooms became real communities across age, class, and background- The sacred part of the game and what poker teaches about human behavior- Why iGaming IDOL faced resistance from within the industry- How fast money and poor hiring habits shaped early iGaming culture- Why Next flipped the conference model and put content at the center- How COVID forced Next to rethink everything after losing 100% of its revenue- Why community and ecosystem thinking matter more than events or exposureThis is an honest conversation about risk, identity, and building something meaningful, and why, in iGaming and beyond, content and community are the foundations that last when everything else disappears.