Bwin is one the largest gaming companies in the world. They have business interests in both regulated and unregulated markets and offer players online sports betting, poker, and casino gambling all from the same account.
Bwin Interactive Entertainment, formerly betandwin.com, was established in 1999 out of Austria. It operated in over two dozen markets and had over 20 million registered users.Bwin merged with PartyGaming plc in March 2011.
PartyGaming has a long history in online gambling pre-merger. The company was founded in 1997 with the launch of an online casino, the Starluck Casino. They are most famous for their online poker platform, PartyPoker, which was a pioneer in online poker markets, and still operates today. After the merger had been completed, it was opened to the public. 48.4% of the stock was owned by existing PartyGaming shareholders while the other 51.6% by former Bwin shareholders.
In September, 888 Holdings and GVC Holdings, two gaming companies got into a bidding war to acquire Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. The company confirmed that they accepted the winning bid of £1.1 billion on September 4th, 2015. The transaction was completed on February 1st, 2016.
GVC Holdings plc is headquartered in the Isle of Man. It was initially founded in Luxembourg in 2004 as Gaming VC Holdings. They are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol, GVC. In addition to acquiring Bwin.Party, they purchased long time British bookmaker, Sportingbet. The Government of Gibraltar licenses Bwin and they regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commission. They are also licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission.
Bwin and Party continue to operate as separate brands. Neither .com site currently accepts American residents. However, Party Poker through a partnership with the Borgata casino is licensed by the New Jersey Division of Gaming to offer online poker and casino games to New Jersey citizens.
A Personal Opinion On Bwin Sportsbook
WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT BWIN
Although their reputation isn’t squeaky clean like some online bookmakers that have been around since the turn of the century or longer, they are still one of the safest bets to be paid in online betting markets.
Bwin’s betting options are nearly limitless. They rival (or exceed) some of the UK’s largest bookmakers when it comes to number of markets and sports offered. Pre-match and in-play betting options are both plentiful, but the company seems to be heavily focused on live betting.
Although they have pulled out of several grey markets, Bwin might be the most international bookmaker around. Their web page is fantastically designed, and better yet, it’s translated in over 23 different languages.
WHAT WE DON’T LIKE ABOUT BWIN
The biggest complaint we seem to come across online with Bwin is their support. They are much too large of a bookmaker to have shotty support. Instances like this one, should not be happening with a bookmaker that is a top rated shop at some sportsbooks. We’re not saying they’re a bookmaker that you should avoid because of this issue. It’s just something that bettors need to be aware of before deposit. Their service staff, on the whole, still seems above average.
Strangely, they don’t have 24-hour support for any of their mediums. That seems like an oversight on their part considering their size. They have to be the largest gambling site online by a large margin without around the clock support.
They have a few offers, similar to Paddy Power’s ‘Money Back Specials’ but they don’t appear to pack quite the punch that the Irish bookmaker brings with their promotions. There is doesn’t appear to be any VIP program or point redemption program for sports betting, but there is one for casinos and poker.
Their odds are just so-so. In this market, that can be killer. There are a lot of sites to visit before you head over to Bwin. Their markets aren’t necessarily sharp, but their over-round is higher than most bookmakers. Although, their in-play odds do seem to be a lot more competitive.
Nevertheless, there must be some inefficient markets worth attacking because Bwin has a reputation of cutting the betting limits of winners rather quickly. There are countless threads online about Bwin limits players to a maximum of £50 or their currency equivalent. They also have a rather low maximum winning amount, especially consider the size of scope of their operations.