At a time when online casino and sports betting is growing at unprecedented rates, there will eventually be casualties among online gambling operators that can’t bare the competition. Such is the case for the sports betting site 188Bet. Citing the influx of competition and dwindling profit margins from UK operations, ownership of the 188Bet brand has announced it will withdraw its betting operations in the UK and Ireland effective March 26, 2019.
While understandable, the announcement still comes as a surprise given the current state of expansion in the online gambling industry throughout Europe. In the current environment, online providers have been waging war with bonuses promotions and player perks. Clearly, some providers are unable to participate and compete at this level. Anyone who is interested in knowing more about the aforementioned bonuses can click here for casino bonuses that are currently being offered throughout the UK.
While the 188Bet brand will continue to operate in other jurisdictions, the decision regarding UK operations applies to all customers based in the following areas: Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, as well as the Republic of Ireland.
Annatar Limited, 188Bet’s parent company, wants to assure its customers in other jurisdictions that the company is doing well, and this latest decision was made to strengthen the company’s overall financial position.
According to a press release issued by Annatar Limited representative, “Annatar Limited is solvent and fully able to meet all its financial obligations which includes its customer funds that remain ring-fenced and safe.”
Then adding, “We have provided advance notice of this to our regulators and we will manage the closure of our Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, Gibraltar and Ireland business and return customer funds in an orderly manner.”
The process for closing down accounts and closing out open bets with UK customers will proceed as follows:
No more bets are being accepted from bettors in these regions.
The operator will honor all ante post or pending bets that include events occurring up to 23:59 hrs (GMT+1) on June 30, 2019.
All single bets for events occurring after this deadline will be voided and the stake will be returned to the customer within 48 hours.
Multiple bets and accumulators with selections for events up to this date will be settled as normal.
Multiple selections and accumulators as of the cut-off time that include remaining unsettled specific selections for events occurring after this date will be voided and the bet amounts settled within 48 hours.
Customers will have until have until August 30, 2019 to login into their accounts and withdraw any remaining funds.
Going forward, gamblers can expect to see other casualties. When an industry reaches temporary saturation, there’s a purging of the companies that are struggling to compete. Such is apparently the case with 188Bet. That’s not really a reflection of the company and its management, but more likely a reflection of just how competitive the online gambling industry has become. That’s why it’s never a bad idea for an online gambler to establish relationships with at least two online operators.