Austrian online betting brand
bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, formerly known as
Betandwin, is an Austrian online betting brand acquired by Entain 🌝 PLC. The group
operated under international and regional licences in countries like Gibraltar, the
Amerindian reserve of Kahnawake (Canada), and 🌝 Belize; and Germany, Italy, Mexico,
Croatia, Austria, France,[2] and the United Kingdom in Europe. Bwin offered sports
betting, poker, casino 🌝 games, and soft and skill games, with most revenue coming from
poker and sports betting. bwin had over 20 million 🌝 registered customers in more than 25
core markets. Competence centres were located in Vienna, Stockholm, and
Gibraltar.[3]
The company provided services 🌝 for its subsidiaries such as marketing,
finance, and administration, corporate communications, controlling, and IT services.
All operational activities were managed 🌝 by licensed subsidiaries. It was listed on the
Vienna Stock Exchange from March 2000 until the company's merger with PartyGaming 🌝 plc
in March 2011, forming Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. That company was purchased by
GVC Holdings in February 2024; GVC continues 🌝 to use bwin as a brand.
History [ edit
]
Beginning with 12 employees in its founding in 1997, bwin was formerly 🌝 known as
"betandwin" until 2006. The company launched its first online gambling site in 1998,
focusing on the growing sports 🌝 betting market. One of the most important developments
in the company's history was the launch of its live betting product, 🌝 developed
in-house, allowing players to place bets on sporting events while the actual event was
taking place. The firm's initial 🌝 public offering at the Austrian Stock Exchange took
place in March 2000.
Betandwin acquired Simon Bold (Gibraltar) in June 2001 and 🌝 changed
its name to bwin International Ltd. This relocation to Gibraltar was done to keep up
with the company's main 🌝 competitors, who had already moved to the British Overseas
Territory.
By December 2001, betandwin was ready to step into the online 🌝 casino gaming
market and did so by launching its first casino platform. Two years later, in July
2003, betandwin introduced 🌝 and launched a soft games platform known as "Balls of
Fire".
In November 2004, betandwin launched multiplayer poker. In June 2005, 🌝 the group
acquired betoto, a company which offers a fixed-odds betting service to punters around
the globe, in an effort 🌝 to expand its presence in the Greek market.
In December 2005,
betandwin acquired Ongame e-Solutions AB, a move consistent with the 🌝 group's strategy
to expand into the poker market. After the takeover, Ongame e-Solutions changed its
name to bwin Games. In 🌝 2005, betandwin acquired global media rights outside of Germany
to the Germany Football League.
In August 2006, betandwin launched the new 🌝 bwin brand.
This was done after it was found that the betandwin brand, which was described as
"descriptive, high-grade and 🌝 functional", was not suited anymore for the wide
assortment of entertainment offerings covered by the company, including sports betting,
poker, 🌝 soft games, and casino games.
In 2007, bwin began to offer live streaming of
major sports events.
In September 2009, bwin announced 🌝 the acquisition of Italian poker
operator Gioco Digitale, marking the company's entry into the Italian online gambling
market.[4][5]
Bwin is often 🌝 confused with BetWinner, but they are different bookmakers,
with individual features and advantages.[6]
PartyGaming merger [ edit ]
On April 1,
2011, 🌝 bwin and British gaming firm PartyGaming announced their merger. The new company
bwin.party became the world's largest publicly traded online 🌝 gaming firm, 48.4% of
which was owned by existing PartyGaming shareholders and 51.6% by bwin shareholders.
The merged company was 🌝 listed on the London Stock Exchange, with joint CEO's Norbert
Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.[7] After a takeover of bwin.party by 🌝 British GVC Group, the
brand bwin continues to exist as customer brand in its portfolio.
Products [ edit ]
The
company's subsidiaries 🌝 and affiliated companies offer sports betting, poker, casino
games, and soft games, as well as audio and video streams on 🌝 sporting events, such as
the German Bundesliga. These are all provided via the Internet, and many are also
available via 🌝 other digital distribution channels, such as mobile phone.
Sports Betting
[ edit ]
Sports bets are the core business at bwin. Today, 🌝 the sports betting line-up
includes more than 90 different sports; the core area of customer interest is soccer.
Other sports 🌝 include all popular ball-related sports, US sports, as well as all major
winter sports and motorsports ranging from Formula 1 🌝 to MotoGP. "Exotic" sports such as
Roller Hockey, Futsal, and Darts are also included in the daily line-up. Customers can
🌝 also find odds on a range of events outside the area of sports. These include bets on
politics and entertainment, 🌝 such as the Oscars, Talent Shows, the Eurovision Song
Contest, and "Miss" events.[8]
Poker [ edit ]
The following types of games 🌝 are offered
at bwin Poker: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud
Hi/Lo, and Five-card draw. 🌝 In terms of stakes, users can choose between Fixed Limit,
Pot Limit, or No Limit tables. A "play money" version 🌝 of the games is also available
for users to try for free. bwin offers poker tournaments, including Sit & Go,
🌝 scheduled, and cash games (ring games). Sit & Go tournaments begin as soon as the table
is completely occupied. Scheduled 🌝 tournaments begin at a specified time and allow for a
higher numbers of participants and the highest prize pools. In 🌝 cash games the players
can join and leave at-will. bwin Poker can be played using the Mac OS X Poker 🌝 Client,
the Windows Poker Client, the Java Poker Client, or the Mobile Poker Client. The Mac
and Windows versions offer 🌝 an extensive selection of features such as statistics and a
mini-table function. The Java client is platform-agnostic and browser-based. The 🌝 mobile
client allows customers to play cash games on their mobile phones.[9]
Casino Games [
edit ]
bwin offers more than 1000+ 🌝 games, ranging from classics such as roulette or
blackjack to slot machines and casino tournaments. The casino has a longstanding
🌝 tradition at bwin, but in 2001, it was introduced as a second product, in addition to
sports betting.[10]
Soft Games [ 🌝 edit ]
bwin offers more than 60 games divided into the
categories of Fortune Games, Skill Games, Mini Games and "ParaDice", 🌝 as well as
Backgammon. This is the product group with the biggest potential for innovation and
expansion in the market.[11]
bwin 🌝 Games AB [ edit ]
bwin Games AB – founded in 1999 and
formerly known as Ongame e-solutions AB – became 🌝 part of the bwin Group following its
acquisition, in March 2006, by bwin Interactive Entertainment AG.
Within the bwin
Group, bwin 🌝 Games AB acts as the competence centre for poker and casino games,
developing products via digital distribution channels for bwin 🌝 proprietarily owned
brands, such as PokerRoom, HoldemPoker, eCardroom, PokerGaming, Europoker, and the
Ongame Network partners.
PokerRoom was an online poker cardroom 🌝 founded in 1999.
Licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, PokerRoom offered both play and real money
formats. Tournaments and ring 🌝 games were available in both web-browser and download
client platforms, with support for both Macintosh and Linux. PokerRoom was one 🌝 of the
first online poker sites to provide multi-language support, and catered to Danish,
German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, and 🌝 Swedish speakers. These languages were
accessed via "regional sites", many of them showing local sponsorships for the selected
region.
Legal Issues 🌝 [ edit ]
PokerRoom also maintains a play money only site,
PokerRoom.tv, that is advertised in Canada on the boards of 🌝 National Hockey League
rinks, as well as on U.S. television networks like ABC.
Awards [ edit ]
PokerRoom has
won industry awards, 🌝 such as "Poker Site of the Year" from the UK Gambling Awards in
2006 and "Top Poker Software" from the 🌝 Online Gambling Magazine Awards in
2005.
Shutdown [ edit ]
After 10 years of operation, bwin announced the closure of
PokerRoom on 🌝 April 14, 2009. Players with money still left in their accounts were
encouraged to transfer their balance and play at 🌝 bwin.[12] However, PokerRoom players
with large "play money" accounts had to abandon those accounts when transferring to
bwin.
Legal Status [ 🌝 edit ]
As the global legal framework for Internet gambling is a
complicated mix of laws and regulations, bwin's situation varies 🌝 depending on the
country concerned. For several years now, the United Kingdom and Italy have been
examples of countries that 🌝 have regulated their online gaming markets to the advantage
of all stakeholders. Just recently, Italy extended its online licenses to 🌝 include poker
tournaments, and countries like France, Spain, and Denmark announced their intention to
permit private operators access to their 🌝 markets under stringent conditions and
controls. Other countries, on the other hand, are still pursuing a policy of
maintaining a 🌝 state monopoly of internet gaming, or even a complete ban.
On 15
September 2006, Norbert Teufelberger and Manfred Bodner were arrested[13] 🌝 at a press
conference in La Turbie, France, due to offenses against the French gambling laws.
After an investigation the 🌝 judge released them on the evening of September 18,
2006.
Due to the enactment of the Safe Port Act, bwin stopped 🌝 taking bets from United
States-based players in October 2006.[14] The offerings became available again upon
regulation of the markets. In 🌝 the States where regulation is in place, the same product
line offered through bwin is available through BetMGM, the joint 🌝 venture of bwin's
parent company Entain PLC's with MGM Resorts International.
On 6 March 2007, the
European Court of Justice struck 🌝 down Italian national gambling restrictions in the
Placanica case.[15]
The EFTA Court held hearings in January 2007 to decide on the
🌝 admissibility of a state monopoly for betting and gaming according to European Law. The
decision of the EFTA Court will 🌝 be made on 14 March 2007.[citation needed]
In February
2024, bwin ended its operations in Russia. An agreement was made with 🌝 Parimatch
enabling customers to transfer platforms along with their funds.[16]
bwin sponsored
football giant Real Madrid from 2007 to 2013 and 🌝 they were also a premium partner of FC
Bayern Munich. In October 2010, bwin announced a sponsorship for the upcoming 🌝 three
football seasons in which they would be the title sponsor of the Portuguese League Cup
(renamed the "bwin Cup").[17] 🌝 In July 2010, bwin signed a two-year sponsorship deal
with Italy's second tier, Serie B. Additionally, bwin cooperates with the 🌝 International
Basketball Association (FIBA) and has been sponsoring the European and World Basketball
Championships since 2006. In the area of 🌝 motorsport, the company is one of the main
sponsors of the MotoGP series. In 2010, bwin became the title sponsor 🌝 of the races in
Jerez and Estoril and official partner of the GP in Brno, Misano, Mugello. In the past,
🌝 many other popular events across international and local sports were supported by bwin.
bwin also lent its name to the 🌝 Primeira Liga (bwinLIGA), sponsored Italian football
club Milan from 2006 to 2010, and has also been a partner to popular 🌝 football clubs,
such as Real Madrid, Juventus and Werder Bremen.[18]
In addition, bwin organised
numerous online and offline poker events. One 🌝 of the biggest regular online poker
tournaments was the ChampionChip. Special poker tournaments, like the Weekly Country
Showdown or the 🌝 bwin Dailies, offered a huge range of tournaments adjusted to specific
country regulations and buy-in levels. Periodically new types and 🌝 variations of Sit &
Go tournaments were launched. Through several online qualifying events, a bwin user
could qualify for offline 🌝 events like the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Aussie
Millions, and events on the World Poker Tour. For "poker 🌝 newbies", bwin offered a
special route - the Rookie Challenge, where a new poker player had the chance to climb
🌝 up several stages for free to earn real money tickets.
In 2008, bwin provided the
luxury villa on bwin PokerIsland[19] as 🌝 filming location for the music video of Lady
Gaga's hit Poker Face. The video featured bwin branded poker equipment through 🌝 a
product placement campaign.[20]
The company faced some opposition in Europe over its
sponsorship of sports, especially football. In 2006, Bremen 🌝 banned its top football
team, Sportverein Werder Bremen, from carrying the bwin logo on its shirts.[21] In
November 2009, the 🌝 city acted further by moving against sport stores which sold shirts
from other teams, such as Milan and Real Madrid.[citation 🌝 needed]
In 2024, bwin signed
a three-year partnership with Italian football club Inter Milan becoming its first
official betting partner.[22]
In 2024, 🌝 bwin became Valencia CF's main global sponsor.
The three-year agreement was made official in July 2024.[23] As of 2024 the 🌝 agreement
is in jeopardy with the Spanish government informing all La Liga clubs that betting
sponsors will be banned from 🌝 the start of the 2024-22 season.[24]
In 2024, bwin
announced a three-year partnership with the Belgian Pro League becoming the official
🌝 sports betting partner of Belgium's top tier football division.[25] The deal will also
cover the Belgian First Division B and 🌝 Belgian Super Cup. bwin is able to broadcast
live coverage of football matches to customers using both online and mobile 🌝 platforms
as part of the agreement.
In April 2024, bwin signed a five-year partnership with Liga
Portugal. As part of the 🌝 deal, the Primeira Liga, Portugal's top football division,
will be called Liga Portugal Bwin from July 2024 onward.[26]
In August 2024, 🌝 bwin
signed extended deals with German Bundesliga football clubs Borussia Dortmund, Union
Berlin, and FC Köln, as well as 2. 🌝 Bundesliga clubs FC St. Pauli and Dynamo
Dresden.[27] As part of the deal, bwin will serve as the exclusive sports 🌝 betting
provider for each team. Each of the agreements will run from the 2024-22 season until
the end of the 🌝 2024-24 season.
In September 2024, bwin signed a partnership with UEFA
to become an Official Partner of the UEFA Europa League 🌝 and the UEFA Europa Conference
League for the 2024–24 seasons.[28]
Responsible Gaming [ edit ]
A dedicated Corporate
Social Responsibility department of 🌝 the company was in charge of social responsibility.
Protection of minors, protection against manipulation of bets, and the prevention of
🌝 gaming addiction were key aspects of the bwin CSRphilosophy. bwin supported research in
this field in a joint project with 🌝 Harvard Medical School. bwin is a co-founder of the
EGBA (European Gaming and Betting Association), where it lobbied for fair 🌝 competition
within a regulated online gaming market. As founder and member of the ESSA (European
Sports Security Association), bwin campaigned 🌝 against manipulation and fraud in the
fields of sports and betting.[29]
Awards [ edit ]
At the annual EGR Awards organised by
🌝 eGaming Review magazine, bwin won the "Operator of the Year 2009" award.[30]
