How to create a Telegram bot with BotFather and connect it to your tournament

What you need before you start

Every TopArab.casino tenant runs its own Telegram bot. The bot carries your brand, talks to your players and posts in your channels, so it has to be created from your own Telegram account, not ours. That takes about fifteen minutes and three things: the Telegram app on a phone or desktop, a name for your brand's blackjack bot, and access to your TopArab.casino dashboard. If you do not have an account yet, request a demo first; new accounts start after the demo.

You will end this guide with three pieces in place:

• A bot, created in BotFather, which deals the cards and runs the tournament.
• A public channel where players follow the leaderboard and your announcements.
• A private staff group where you and the sponsoring casino's team receive winner notifications and the winners' emails.

If you want to see the finished result first, open our own demo tenant: the bot @toparabcasino_bot and its public channel TopArab Blackjack. Your setup will look the same, under your brand.

Step 1: open the real @BotFather

BotFather is Telegram's own bot for creating and managing bots. Search for @BotFather in Telegram and open the result that shows the official verification checkmark next to its name. Telegram explains that only Telegram can assign that checkmark, and that it appears on the chat's info page, in chat lists and in search results (Telegram: verification). Copycats with similar names exist, so press Start only once you are sure.

Step 2: send /newbot and choose a name and username

Send /newbot. BotFather asks two questions, one after the other.

The display name

This is the name players see in their chat list and in the bot's contact details. Use your brand name followed by "Blackjack", in Arabic if your audience is Arabic-first. You can change it later with /setname.

The username

The username is the bot's address, the part after t.me/. Telegram's rules, as listed in the BotFather documentation:

• 5 to 32 characters long.
• Latin letters, numbers and underscores only.
• It must end in "bot", for example yourbrand_blackjack_bot or YourBrandBJBot.
• It cannot be changed later.

Because the username is permanent and will sit in every ad, post and link you publish, pick one that is short, easy to type on a phone and clearly yours.

Step 3: copy your first token

When the username is accepted, BotFather replies with a message that contains your bot's authentication token. It looks like a long string of numbers, a colon and letters, for example (this one is made up): 123456789:ABCdefGhIJKlmnOPQrstUVwxyZ-example. This token is what TopArab.casino uses to control your bot: to reply to players, post the leaderboard and send winner notifications.

Copy the whole token, with no spaces before or after it. You will paste it into the dashboard in the last step.

Step 4 (optional): description, about text and picture

Three BotFather commands make your bot look trustworthy before a new player presses Start:

• /setdescription: the text shown in an empty chat before the player starts the bot, up to 512 characters. Say what the bot is: a free blackjack tournament with a casino bonus prize, 21+ only.
• /setabouttext: the short line on the bot's profile page, up to 120 characters.
• /setuserpic: the profile picture. Use your logo or the sponsoring casino's logo, square and readable at small sizes.

Write the description in the main language of your players. Each player can still switch the bot's own messages to Arabic, English, Spanish, Portuguese or Dutch with /lang. Avoid wording that suggests players can win real money in the game: the chips are free and virtual, and the prize is a bonus balance at the sponsoring casino with 1x wagering.

Step 5: create the public channel for players

The leaderboard image, announcements and web table invitations are posted here. To create it, start a new message in Telegram and choose New Channel (on Android, tap the pencil icon first). Then:

1. Give it a name players will search for, usually the same brand as the bot.
2. Add a short description: what the tournament is, how often it runs, and a link to the bot.
3. Set it to Public and choose its link, for example t.me/YourBrandBlackjack.

Telegram's channel FAQ explains the difference: public channels have a username, so anyone can find them in Telegram search and join, while private channels need an invite (Telegram: Channels FAQ). Players need the public option.

Step 6: create the private staff group

The second space is closed. In the dashboard it is called the staff group. When a tournament ends, the bot posts each winner here, and when a winner replies with the email they registered with at the sponsoring casino, that email is posted here too. The casino's team reads it, credits the bonus balance, and the prize is marked credited in the dashboard.

You can use a private group or a private channel. A group is usually easier, because the casino's team can reply and discuss a payout in the same place. Create it with New Group, keep it private, and invite the people who credit prizes: Telegram lets you share an invite link from the group info under Add Member, then Invite to Group via Link (Telegram FAQ). Keep the member list short. Winners' emails are personal data, so only people who need them should be in this group.

Step 7: make the bot an administrator in both

A bot cannot post in a channel unless it is an administrator there. Telegram's Bot API lists a separate right, "can post messages in the channel", for channel administrators (Telegram Bot API). So for each of the two spaces:

1. Open the channel or group info and go to its Administrators list.
2. Add an administrator and search for your bot's username.
3. Make sure the right to post messages is switched on, then save.

Telegram sets rights per administrator; posting messages is the essential one for the bot. If you later see that the leaderboard does not appear in the channel, this right is the first thing to check.

Step 8: connect the bot, channel and staff group in TopArab.casino

Log in at blackjack.toparab.casino/login and open the Setup checklist. The items "Create your Telegram bot", "Connect your channel" and "Connect your staff group" follow the same order as this guide:

1. Paste the token from Step 3 into the bot item.
2. Connect the public channel.
3. Connect the staff group.

Then finish the rest of the checklist: tournament and leaderboard settings, terms and conditions, an optional promo schedule, a test post and go live. Our guide to setting up your TopArab.casino blackjack account walks through each item. To see how the whole system fits together, read how it works.

Common mistakes and quick fixes

• The token does not work. It was usually copied with a missing character or an extra space. Copy it again from the BotFather chat and paste it without spaces.
• The bot is in the channel but does not post. It was added as a member, not an administrator, or the post messages right is off.
• Players cannot find the channel. It was left private. Switch it to public and give it a t.me link.
• The casino team does not see winners. They are not in the staff group, or the bot is not an administrator there.
• A username you wanted is gone. Usernames are permanent and unique, so choose another variation rather than waiting.

Once the bot is live, you can drive players to it with paid Telegram traffic; see our article on PropellerAds Telegram ads, and our features overview for everything the bot does after setup.