- The operator has gone through eight years under French regulationm then two under shared liquidity.
- By early 2012, Winamax had become the leading online poker room in France.
- The operator upended the online poker industry in 2013 with the launch of Expresso.
- In June 2018, it launched in Spain and shared its liquidity with France.
- It took Winamax only a year to regain the top spot in this new shared liquidity market.
- Today, it is the fourth largest online poker room in the world.
French online poker room Winamax is reflecting on its ten-year history as a regulated online poker room in France with a highlights chronology.
On a special page on the Winamax site, the operator pulls out some highlights of its ten years of operation, from its July 1, 2010 launch in France through to the present day.
“It is said that the important thing is not the destination, but the journey,” the company stated. “Winamax celebrates its 10 years on the .fr. It is a hell of a long way to come as a company!”
The operator has been through two distinct eras: Eight years under French regulation; the last two under shared liquidity operating with a companion license in Spain. Under both conditions, the operator led the market in many areas of innovation and has reigned supreme in each market despite stiff and unrelenting competition.
Winamax as a company was actually founded some twenty years ago as a French fantasy football site. In the mid-2000s, it was acquired by a trio of investors, Alexandre Dreyfus, Alexandre Roos and Christophe Schaming. Dreyfus later went on to run Chilipoker and a media company that acquired the Global Poker Index, The Hendon Mob, GPL, and many other poker related projects.
The site obtained a sports betting license in the UK and positioned itself for regulated online poker. In June 2010, France became only the second country to pass such laws, and the first to allow cash games (Italy regulated online poker tournaments in 2007 but only permitted cash games from 2011). Winamax was among over a dozen successful licensees.
