To capitalise on the recent surge in popularity for online gambling, the company created Total Gambler alongside another magazine, The Sportsman, which was scheduled to launch in early 2006.
Dennis Publishing, which also owns a magazine for expert gamblers called Inside Poker, created the magazine after it was convinced that there is still significant advertising potential from online gambling companies.
The goal of Total Gambler is to provide an introduction to gambling for 18- to 40-year-old men.
"[2] Before the magazine's launch, Charlie Methven, the former Daily Telegraph journalist who later edited The Sportsman, argued that "Dennis has enjoyed success with its existing stand-alone gambling magazine, Inside Edge, launched in April 2004, but that the new title is simply an attempt to exploit this success and get extra advertising revenues".
Calling Total Gambler "Dennis's ghastly low-rent bandwagon", Methven commented, "Inside Edge is a high-quality gambling publication.