Party Poker Owner

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For the Love of Poker: Dusk Till Dawn Founder Rob Yong Over a decade has passed since Rob Yong and his mate Nick Whiten were turned away from their local card room for running late. It resulted in Whiten flippantly remarking, 'Why don't we build our own?' Partypoker review in 2020. Partypoker was launched in 2001 and became one of the first industry poker rooms. Since then, more than 30 000 000 users have registered in it and now this project is a leader at the poker market.

With tournaments firming up their schedules and live poker offerings for 2020, poker players are keeping an eye out for anything new and exciting that might make its way onto their own poker calendars for the year ahead.

partypoker has been improving its tournament offering for the past few years, from three MILLIONS events in both 2017 to five in 2019 and the 2020 MILLIONS UK held at Dusk Till Dawn this January has a $5,000,000 guaranteed prize pool.

Meanwhile, their online tournaments have been a mixed bag, with their biggest success coming when Benjamin 'frenchsniperrr' Chalot took home $2,259,113 after winning the partypoker MILLIONS Online. However, the return of the $1M Gtd partypoker MILLION hit by cancellation back in November.

Rob Yong Asks the Audience

One person seemingly aiming to improving and diversifying partypoker's tournament offering is Dusk Till Dawn owner and partypoker partner Rob Yong.

Since the beginning of December, Yong has posted a total of 13 questions on a wide range of topics including their preferred tournament length (four days), blind levels (60 minutes), re-entry policy (freezeout) and what live poker streams they prefer to watch (high stakes cash games).

Additionally, Yong has suggested ideas for three new tournament formats - both live and online - to his 23,500 Twitter followers that may or may not come to fruition in the coming months.

partypoker MILLIONS Limited Edition

Poker

Dubbed a 'MILLIONS for amateurs' it's clear that the format would suit those unable to commit a great deal of time to a live event.

With both Day 1 and 2 online, all players would be in the money - assured a $10,000 min-cash - and Yong says a 'super structure' would be in place ahead of a Live Day 3 where the blinds would be rolled back.

VoteResults
Like85.8%
Don't Like14.2%

2,974 votes

MILLIONS Pro-Am

Yong didn't just limit his ideas to the partypoker LIVE scene, but also floated the idea for a special MILLIONS online involving both professional and amateur players.

With a buy-in of $5,000, professionals and amateurs would play separately on Day 1, similar to the Triton Million in 2019.

An equal number of professionals and amateurs would then make it to Day 2. Yong didn't poll whether players liked this idea, like he did with the previous event, but how many professionals people thought would make the final table of nine.

2,318 votes

partypoker MILLIONS Invitational

The latest proposed event by Yong is for a 'MILLIONS Invitational' to take place before the Triton Poker series in London in August 2020.

With a £5,300 buy-in, the tournament would be restricted to qualifiers only with no direct buy-in and no late registration. Played with an eight-max format, each table would have seven qualifiers as well as one invited amateur VIP guest.

VoteResults
Like this idea87.4%
Don't like it12.6%

2,295 votes

partypoker MILLIONS Cyprus

FYI: New stop for MILLIONS Cyprus May 2020 - Main Event $5K $5M + $1K $1M Finale. Full schedule on ⁦@partypoker⁩ ⁦… https://t.co/2Qyb9IubZg

— Rob Yong (@rob_yong_)

One event that appears to be real is the partypoker MILLIONS Cyprus, that Yong announced on his Twitter. Although no official date has been confirmed, he said that it would take place in May 2020 with a $5,000 buy-in $5,000,000 guaranteed Main Event as well as a $1,000 buy-in $1,000,000 guaranteed Finale.

According to Yong, the full schedule will be available on the partypoker LIVE website soon.

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Coordinates: 36°08′33″N5°21′31″W / 36.142633°N 5.358695°W

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment
Subsidiary
ISIN
IndustryOnline gaming
PredecessorBwin
PartyGaming
SuccessorGVC Holdings
Founded2011
HeadquartersSuite 711, Europort, Gibraltar
Revenue€611.9 million (2014)[1]
€(97.9) million (2014)[1]
€(94.3) million (2014)[1]
Websitewww.bwinparty.com

bwin.party Digital Entertainment was an online gambling company, formed by the March 2011 merger of PartyGaming plc and bwin Interactive Entertainment AG. Formerly the world's largest publicly traded online gambling firm,[2] it was best known for its online poker room PartyPoker, World Poker Tour and its sports betting brand bwin (officially styled bwin).

The company was headquartered in Gibraltar and quoted on the London Stock Exchange. PartyGaming Plc was founded in 1997 with the launch of Starluck Casino. Prior to passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 by the U.S. Congress, the firm was the world's largest online poker brand, based on cash game revenue and number of players. Its market share has fallen since then, but it remains the third largest online poker room in the world, behind PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.[3]

Poker

The new company became the world's largest publicly traded online gaming firm in 2010, 48.4% owned by existing PartyGaming shareholders and 51.6% by bwin shareholders. The merged company was listed on the London Stock Exchange, with joint CEOs Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan.[4]

Following a protracted bidding process between 888 Holdings and GVC Holdings, Bwin.Party confirmed on 4 September 2015 that it had accepted GVC's bid for £1.1 billion. The transaction was completed on 1 February 2016.

History[edit]

Party Gaming and Bwin merged on 31 March 2011. The rumors of a planned Bwin and Party merger began in November 2009, but were not confirmed until a joint statement was issued 26 August 2010.[4] In December 2010 shareholders were sent a 478-page document with details and an outline of planned merger. On 28 Jan 2011 the merger was approved by shareholders and then completed on 31 March 2011.

In October 2012, bwin announced the sale of its leading online poker network, Ongame, to Amaya Gaming Group in a deal worth up to €25 million.[5]

In November 2013 it was announced that bwin.party had applied for an online gaming licence for the state of New Jersey in July, and on 8 November had been awarded a transactional waiver by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement allowing it to participate in the online gaming market in the state, prior to a full licence being granted. The group launched both poker and casino games under the land-based casino licence of its New Jersey partner, Borgata Casino, the launch included both Borgata's and its own brands, including partypoker.com.[6] By the end of December, the new partypoker site had acquired 50% of the cash game traffic in New Jersey.[7]

Following a protracted bidding process between 888 Holdings and GVC Holdings, Bwin.Party confirmed on 4 September 2015 that it had accepted GVC's bid for £1.1 billion.[8] The transaction was completed on 1 February 2016,[9] as indicated by cancellation of LSE traded shares on 2 February 2016.[10]

Products and services[edit]

Sports betting[edit]

Sports bets were the core business at bwin, with a sports betting lineup including more than 90 different sports; the principal customer interest is soccer. In order to boost bwin's presence in the UK football betting market, the company launched bwinbetting.com in 2011. Other sports included 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 were also included in the daily lineup. Customers could also find odds on a range of events outside of sports. These included bets on politics and entertainment such as the Oscars, talent shows, the Eurovision Song Contest and 'Miss' events.[11]

Poker[edit]

The following types of games were offered at bwin Poker: Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and Five-card draw, plus house variations like Double (three hole cards, choose two, halfway between Hold'em and Omaha). In terms of stakes, users could choose between Fixed Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit tables. A 'play money' version of the games was also available for users to try out for free. bwin offered poker tournaments, both Sit & Go and scheduled, and cash games (ring games). Sit & Go tournaments began as soon as the table was completely occupied. Scheduled tournaments began at a specified time and allowed for higher numbers of participants and the highest prize pools. In cash games the players could join and leave whenever they wanted. bwin Poker could be played using the Mac OS X Poker Client, the Windows Poker Client, the Java Poker Client or the Poker app for Android or the iPhone. The Mac and Windows version offered an extensive selection of features such as statistics and a mini-table function. The Java client was platform-independent as it was a browser-based solution. In January 2011, bwin launched a dedicated Poker app for the iPhone to allow real money poker. This was followed in July 2011 by a similar application for Android-based devices. The mobile client allowed customers to play cash games on their mobile phones. Both apps were restricted to limited territories as permitted by local laws.[12]

PokerRoom.com[edit]

Poker

PokerRoom.com 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 sponsoring for the selected region. After 10 years of operation, bwin announced the closure of PokerRoom.com on 14 April 2009.[13] It was relaunched in 2012 but shut down again on 19 February 2013.[14]

Bingo[edit]

Following the acquisition of Cashcade in 2009, bwin.party took control of a B2C portfolio of online bingo brands including Foxy Bingo, PartyBingo and Cheeky Bingo. Cashcade was the first company to promote online bingo to a mass market via television advertising and was first to develop the 'free bingo' concept to attract new customers. Bwin began offering bingo at the end of December 2009 when its Italian subsidiary, Gioco Digitale, launched bingo as the first authorised Italian private online gaming operator.[15]

Casino games[edit]

bwin offered more than 100 games, ranging from classics such as roulette or blackjack to slot machines and casino tournaments. The casino has a longstanding tradition at bwin: In 2001, it was introduced as a second product, after sports betting.[16] The biggest ever casino jackpot win happened in 2014 when an individual won a little over 6 million Euros.

Soft games[edit]

Party poker owner new

bwin offered more than 60 games divided into the categories of Fortune Games, Skill Games, Mini Games and 'ParaDice', as well as Backgammon. This was the product group with the biggest potential for innovation and expansion on the market.[17]

Legal Status[edit]

As the global legal framework for internet gambling is a complicated mix of laws and regulations, bwin's situation varied depending on the country concerned. Recently, Italy extended its online licences to include poker tournaments, and countries such as Denmark and Spain announced their intention to permit private operators access to their markets under stringent conditions and controls. On the other hand, other countries maintain a state monopoly on internet gaming, or ban it completely.

On 15 September 2006, Norbert Teufelberger and Manfred Bodner were arrested at a press conference in La Turbie, France, for allegedly breaking French gambling laws.[18] After an investigation, a judge released them three days later. When France opened their market for private online gaming in June 2010, bwin became the first operator there.

In February 2013, the Australian Communications and Media Authority referred the Bwin arm of bwin.party to the Australian Federal Police for contraventions of the Interactive Gambling Act. The Act prohibits gambling companies from providing 'interactive' gambling services to those in Australia. Penalties for each breach, which can be for each day, are $220,000 for individuals and $1.1 million for corporations.

Sponsorship[edit]

Bwin recently sponsored football giants Real Madrid, A.C. Milan and Bayern Munich and more recently Olympique de Marseille.[19] In October 2010, Bwin announced a sponsorship for the upcoming three football seasons in which it would be the title sponsor of the Taça de Portugal, named the 'Bwin Cup'.[20] Italy's second tier, Serie B, has already been re-branded 'Serie bwin' after a two-year sponsorship deal was signed in July 2010.

On 16 August 2012, bwin announced it was entering into a digital partnership with Manchester United to become the club's official online gaming and betting partner.

In the past, many other top events in the international and local sports world were supported by the corporation. Bwin also sponsored the Portuguese first football league (bwinLIGA) and has been partner to clubs such as Juventus and Werder Bremen.[21]

Bwin cooperated with the International Basketball Association (FIBA) and has sponsored the European and World Basketball Championships since 2006. A second basketball sponsorship is Euroleague Basketball. Bwin's marketing and media rights agreement for Euroleague events expired in June 2014.

Party Poker Download Not Working

In the area of motorsport, the company was one of the main sponsors of the MotoGP series. In 2012, it was the title sponsor of the races in Jerez and GP in Brno and official partner of the Misano, Mugello and Silverstone. In December 2011, bwin announced it would be extending its Moto GP sponsorships through 2013.

In addition, Bwin organised numerous poker events both online and offline. One of the biggest regular online tournaments was the ChampionChip. Special poker tournaments like the Weekly Country Showdown or the Bwin Dailies offered a range of tournaments adjusted to country specifics and buy-in levels. Periodically, there were launched new types and variations of Sit & Go's. Also, several online qualifiers the 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 the Rookie Challenge where a new poker player had the chance to climb up several stages for free to earn real money tickets.

The company faced some opposition in Europe over sponsorship of sports, especially football. In 2006, the German city of Bremen banned its top football club, Werder Bremen, from carrying the Bwin logo on its shirts.[22]

In January 2014, the company announced major sponsorship deals with the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers. The combined deals included major advertising to the fans of both teams and the creation of the Dream Seat Series, which was a series of online poker tournaments offering ticket packages to winners and other prizes to runners-up before every home game.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ abc'Preliminary Results 2014'. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  2. ^Blitz, Roger (31 March 2011). 'Gaming merger aims to outplay US rivals'. Financial Times. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  3. ^Poker Scout Online poker traffic rankings
  4. ^ ab'Gambling firms Partygaming and Bwin reveal merger plan'. BBC News. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  5. ^4-traders (1 October 2012). 'Bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plc : Sale of Ongame to Amaya Gaming Group Inc'. 4-traders.
  6. ^Sandle, Paul and Goodman, David ( 8 Nov 2013) Gaming group bwin.party granted New Jersey online licence reuters.com
  7. ^Jones, Nick (20 December 2013) PartyPoker Claims 50% of New Jersey Market pokerfuse.com
  8. ^'Online betting company Bwin accepts GVC takeover bid'. BBC News. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  9. ^Cook, David (5 January 2016). 'It's a date: BwinParty confirms the day GVC will take the reins'. Gambling Insider. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  10. ^'LSE Share cancellation announcement'. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  11. ^Factsheet: bwin Sport BetsArchived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
  12. ^Factsheet: bwin PokerArchived 21 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
  13. ^bwin Announces PokerRoom.com Shutdown, 4flush.com, 15 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  14. ^'Pokerroom Closes'. Recentpoker.com. 20 February 2013. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  15. ^'Bingo'. bwinparty.com. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  16. ^Factsheet: bwin CasinoArchived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
  17. ^Factsheet: bwin GamesArchived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 9 April 2010
  18. ^David Gow. 'Online gambling bosses arrested in France'. The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  19. ^Bwin new sponsor of the Olympique de Marseille. Site de paris sportifs.
  20. ^Bwin seal sponsorship of Portuguese Liga Cup. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  21. ^Factsheet: bwin Sport MarketingArchived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  22. ^'Werder Bremen to Appeal Betting Firm Sponsor Ban in Court'. DW.DE. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  23. ^'Devils, 76ers strike sponsorship deal with gaming website partypoker.com'. NJ.com. Retrieved 25 March 2015.

External links[edit]

Party Poker Owner
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