Poker Sites
Regulation
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 BetandWin.com/bWin purchased Ongame eSolutions,
the Swedish owners of PokerRoom.com, in early 2006. Bet and Win is primarily a sports betting company (although they do
also offer bingo, lottery and casino games). BetandWin has been traded on the Wiener Börse (Vienna Stock Exchange) since 2000.
Founded in the year 1999 under the name of Simon Bold, bWin is licensed by Gibraltar and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
For the year 2000, gross gaming revenues came to €2 million with 35,493 active customers. For the year 2005, gross gaming revenues
were €144 million with 717,846. These numbers represent the reach of the company prior to acquiring Ongame/PokerRoom.
Interestingly, one of the cornerstones of bWin's corporate strategy has been in the building of a global brand. Their
betting exchange arm for example is called Betbull. The acquisition of Ongame, with its thoroughly different (and strong)
brands of PokerRoom.com and CasinoRoom.com seem to have taken the company away from their tried and true philosophy.
bWin's aggressive moves appear to be continuing as they will also be launching a targeted racebook.
Bet and Win's branding policies have led to it being very aggressive in terms of sponsoring sports with an international
popularity, such as soccer and tennis.
One thing that does clearly jibe is BetandWin's prior interest in mobile gaming. PokerRoom's mobile product was the first
in the online poker industry.
Unlike most other online gaming companies, bWin's geographic focus has been on Europe, including Eastern Europe, with an aim to
establish a dominant position there before competitors accelerate expansion and marketing efforts into the European market. To
this end, they offer a remarkable twenty language versions, including Russian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Slovenian and Croatian.
Prior to the passage of the
Safe Port Act, Europe represented 61% of the
company's gross gaming revenues, while North America accounted for 38%. bWin no longer takes customers from the United States.
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