com bwin-rapant-mcelroy.com

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]

vocational rehabilitation success stories.