Maxime Lebail - Brand Manager @ChampsBase

I'm Maxime Lebail, and I lead the ChampsBase brand for our English-speaking readers. My job isn't to tell you « I tested everything », that would be untrue, and nobody would seriously believe it. 

My job is to make sure that the people who actually test operators for you do it the right way, with their own money, on their own market, and that what you read on ChampsBase reflects what they really saw.

I write personally on the subjects I master from the inside: how a bonus mechanism actually works, how to read a licence, what separates a serious operator from a well-decorated storefront. For the rest, I step back and let the local contributors speak, the ones who live their markets day in, day out. Their experience is what makes this site valuable, not mine.

Maxime's ID Card

A quick rundown, before we get into the serious part.

Why I'm Qualified to Write About Gambling

I started in 2011 in Cambodia, as a Casino VIP Manager at AffCoins, taking care of high-value French-speaking players across three online casinos. That's where I saw, from the inside, how an operator looks at its customers, who's profitable, who's a problem, who's protected, and who isn't. That experience shaped me, and it feeds every review I validate today.

Then I switched to the affiliate side. Five years and eight months at Blue Window Ltd in Malta, first as SEO Manager (2013–2016), then as Head of SEO (2017–2019). Malta, back then, was the iGaming world capital under construction. I learnt what Google rewards, what it punishes, and, most importantly, what to do when the rules change overnight.

Next stop: Thailand. Head of Content iGaming at GreenTomatoMedia in Chiang Mai (2019–2021), running editorial teams in French, English, Finnish, German, Norwegian and Japanese. Six languages, six markets, six betting cultures. That's where I understood just how badly an article that works in France can land in Brazil or Nigeria.

Then Cyprus, as Head of Content at Tech4s (2021–2023), a detour through finance and crypto, useful for understanding the overlap between betting, markets and the psychology of risk. In parallel since 2019, I run Tori Media OÜ, my own SEO agency based in Estonia, which keeps my hands on the technical engine.

Since October 2025, I've been Brand Manager at ChampsBase. It is, without overselling, the role that brings together everything I've learnt so far: the brand, editorial, technical SEO, operator knowledge, regulated markets, and the conviction that iGaming affiliation can be done without lying to anyone.

How I Work With Our Local Partners

A ChampsBase operator review is never signed by an AI that paraphrased three competitor sites. It's signed by a real contributor who lives in the country covered, who bets or plays with their own money, and whose identity you can verify on their profile page. This is the foundation of our E-E-A-T approach, and it is not up for debate.

In concrete terms, I run three things: 

1. Recruitment: every candidate goes through an interview, a paid test on a real operator, and signs a contract that defines their editorial obligations.
2. Validation: no content goes live without being reviewed by the local tester in question, who confirms or corrects figures, operator names, payment methods, and tone.
3. Editorial coherence: I make sure the ChampsBase voice stays the same whether the article was written from Nairobi, Lagos, Accra or Dar es Salaam.

I write personally on the subjects where I can genuinely add value: editorial methodology, brand strategy, comparative market analysis, and the regulatory topics I lived through from the operator side. On local operators in a given country, I step aside for the people who actually test them.

What You'll Find Under My Byline

When you read an article signed Maxime Lebail on ChampsBase, you know what to expect: a direct tone, no marketing detours, verifiable information, and an honesty I take responsibility for, including when it means saying that a reputable operator has questionable withdrawal terms, or that an attractive bonus hides a rollover most players will never clear.

I'm fluent in French and English, and I can hold my own in Spanish and Portuguese, which means I supervise all five of our language editions by reading articles in the original, not through machine translation. That changes everything about the final quality.

On the English side, you'll find me especially on our sports betting hub, on our comparison of the best sports betting sites, and on the deeper analytical pieces where the operator-side experience makes a real difference.

Outside ChampsBase

I've lived in Kyoto with my family since March 2026, after fifteen years between Southeast Asia, Malta, Cyprus and Europe.

I've trained in Muay Thai since 2009. I had the chance to train for two years with André Zeitoun in Paris before leaving for Japan, one of the people I respect most in this sport. Today I train at the W-Beast Gym in Kyoto. Two amateur fights across the whole journey, one in Malta and one in the Netherlands. Not a career, just enough to understand what it really means to step into a ring.

The rest of the time, I follow PSG (always), watch Ligue 1 and the Champions League, and try not to let the supporter contaminate the Brand Manager of a betting site. Most of the time, it works.

Get in Touch

The fastest way to reach me on ChampsBase matters is by email at maxime@champsbase.com. For broader topics, partnerships, press, editorial projects, my LinkedIn profile is open.