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AI-powered creatives have become the standard in iGaming faster than anyone could blink. Yesterday, we were paying production companies thousands of dollars for a single video; today, we generate dozens of variations in five minutes. It’s no longer a “gimmick” or an “innovation”—it’s the basic infrastructure of performance.
But with this widespread adoption comes another reality: AI-powered videos don’t always deliver results. Many teams believe that writing a strong prompt is enough for the creative to “work” on its own. Mike Wiseman reveals a much harsher truth: a strong prompt is only 50% of success. The other 50% is in the details.
And that’s where things get interesting.
The prompt can be perfect: the style is cinematic, the lighting is dramatic, the emotions are vivid, the offer is powerful. But the video can still fail. Why?
All seven mistakes we’ll discuss in this article are practical failures that Mike Wiseman has observed in hundreds of iGaming teams. These mistakes cost a brand attention, traffic money, and creativity a chance to shine.
And if you want AI videos to finally deliver consistent performance, you’ll have to stop believing the “a strong prompt solves everything” myth and take a closer look at what truly matters.
In iGaming, attention is currency. And the first three seconds can determine whether you gain it or lose it. Mike Wiseman emphasizes this point categorically: if there’s no visual punch at the very beginning, the video is dead.
The viewer doesn’t even consider this. They scroll at the same speed as the slot reels spinning at maximum speed.
In the first split second, the user evaluates only one thing: “Is this interesting or not?” And if the opening scene is static, the hero is calm, and there’s no dynamism, he doesn’t stay even a second longer.
Weak start → zero attention → zero CTR.
The document clearly explains how it should be: a visual hook is needed that takes the viewer’s attention before the brain has time to make a decision.
This could be: an extreme close-up of the slot or interface, a bright flash of light, fast, almost aggressive editing, abrupt camera movement, a winning counter that shoots up, or the reels spinning at maximum speed.
This kind of start doesn’t give the viewer a chance to leave. They’re hooked on the visual impact, and you win that very second that leads them to the offer.
In reality, it’s simple: no hook → no views → no conversion.
Therefore, your goal isn’t to “start well,” but to catch the viewer’s eye so they don’t have time to scroll.
If you write “happy,” “excited,” or “shocked” in a prompt, you guarantee yourself one thing: a plastic face that no one will believe. Mike Wiseman’s paper explains this very clearly: AI doesn’t understand abstract emotions.
To a model, the word “happy” is something general, vague, and formless. It doesn’t know what kind of “happy” you’re looking for:
The result is always the same: fake, doll-like facial expressions. And when a face looks unrealistic, the viewer doesn’t believe the reaction. If they don’t believe it, they don’t click. The CTR plummets.
This is a fundamental problem: broad emotions → broad interpretation → poor results.
And here the document offers a golden solution: don’t describe emotions in words—describe micro-emotions.
AI works great when you translate emotions into specific physical movements:
This is no longer an abstraction. It’s code that the model understands. It’s precisely these detailed micro-movements that make a character come alive and the emotion genuine.
Real emotion → trust → engagement → higher CTR.
While some marketers churn out a “happy player,” smart ones create an emotion that the viewer believes. And it’s the latter that converts.
Most iGaming creatives fail not because they’re bad, but because they’re flat. Mike Wiseman emphasizes: if a video lacks “before → after” contrast, it doesn’t evoke emotion. And without emotion, there’s no conversion.
And here’s what many marketers do:
And they think it will work. But it won’t. Because such emotion isn’t perceived as genuine; it lacks context.
The human brain responds not to states, but to changes. Especially rapid and positive ones.
That’s why anything that creates a mini-story works in iGaming:
This transition, even if it’s only 1-2 seconds, is the most powerful emotional trigger.
Mike Wiseman suggests build a scene like a microplot:
Just 1-2 seconds and you create a path by which the viewer experiences the emotion along with the hero.
Contrast creates believability, and believability creates interest – this is the foundation of iGaming creatives.
If your video doesn’t tell at least the smallest story, it doesn’t live. And if it doesn’t live, it won’t convert.
One of the most destructive mistakes is showing everything: the ending, the outcome, and the spoiler. It seems logical: “Let the user immediately see how much they can win.”
But Mike Wiseman explains: as soon as you show the ending, you’ve killed the suspense.
And suspense is the driver of CTR.
Because the viewer isn’t expecting anything. There’s nothing to watch to the end. When the ending is known, the brain is uninterested. It doesn’t experience the dopamine anticipation. And most importantly, it doesn’t feel the internal push to take action.
It’s as if you’re telling it, “That’s all that happened. You can move on.” And they actually do move on.
The right iGaming creative should: start the emotion, build it up, and end it at the peak of tension.
Mike Wiseman demonstrates the ideal cliffhanger mechanic: the final reels haven’t stopped yet, the bet is about to be won, the hero is already reacting, but we don’t see the amount, the winning animation begins to accelerate, but the final number isn’t shown.
Most importantly, without a cliffhanger, you deprive the user of a sense of involvement. They don’t participate in the story, they just watch it to the end. The creative task is not to show the ending, but to make the viewer want to see it.