- Looking back on Unibet’s huge year in online poker through an editor’s choice of 20 stories published on Poker Industry PRO.
Unibet Online Series Set to Return In February (January 2020)
Top line: “The Unibet Online Series (UOS) will be returning for its seventh outing in early February, as revealed by information found by PRO on the Unibet website. It will be the first time the UOS has run in February since its very first outing in 2018.”
Key takeaways:
- The Unibet Online Series (UOS) will be returning for its seventh outing in early February,.
- This has become a standard offer from Unibet, having spread the same number of tournaments and guarantees twice before.
- Despite having run each year since 2018, the months in which the UOS appears changes on a regular basis.
Chess World Champion Magnus Carlsen Joins Unibet (February 2020)
Top line: “Chess world champion and Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has inked a deal with Unibet, The Kindred Group’s global sports betting brand, as a Global Ambassador.”
Key takeaways:
- In a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden, Carlsen and Kindred CCO Rhodri Darch made the announcement.
- Unibet has hopes that the signing of Carlsen helps them tap into the 600 million chess fans around the world.
- In 2018, Unibet become the official betting partner for FIDE in the World Championship match between Fabiano Caruana and Carlsen.
- “Unibet [has] a highly professional and at the same time creative and playful approach to precise execution, which is something I can associate with.”
Unibet Poker Celebrates Six Years With Prize Drop Promotion (February 2020)
Top line: “Unibet has launched an Anniversary Prize Drop promotion to celebrate six years operating as an independent online poker room. €90,000 will be given away via prizes dropped randomly at the tables over the next six weeks.”
Key takeaways:
- Anniversary Prize Drop celebrates six years as an independent online poker room.
- Prizes will be given away at random, with 73 prize drops slated each day for the upcoming six weeks.
- All players at a randomly chosen table will receive the prize.
“Biggest Platform Release in Two Years”: Unibet to Upgrade Client, Speed Up Time to Act, Tweak Rake (March 2020)
Top line: “In what Unibet has called its largest platform upgrade in more than two years, the growing independent online poker operator has scheduled to update its client next week with a slate of changes impacting various facets of the poker experience.”
Key takeaways:
- Time to Act and timebanks will change in both cash games and tournaments to speed up the action.
- Visually, there will be few noticeable changes—the only front-facing updates will be four new avatars.
- “We believe that the rake at NL4 is almost too good today, in the sense that it gives little incentive to move up in stakes.”
Unibet Open Tallinn Moves Online (March 2020)
Top line: “As the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) takes hold across the world, Unibet has announced that its forthcoming live stop in Estonia will now take place entirely online.”
Key takeaways:
- “We’ve taken a bold step in deciding to host Unibet Open online and we are expecting a huge number of players to take part.”
- Players who have already qualified for Unibet Open Tallinn can play online or enter another Unibet live event later in the year.
Unibet Poker Adapts to Demand with New Daily Guaranteed Tournaments (March 2020)
Top line: “Unibet has expanded their weekly tournament schedule with three new daily rebuy tournaments each with a guarantee of €10,000.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet has increased their slate of events by adding in three new daily rebuy tournaments.
- Each has a guarantee of €10,000 and runs at 6pm, 8pm and 9pm.
- “Unibet Poker’s guarantees have been getting smashed for weeks now so it’s great to see us make a substantial increase.”
Unibet Schedules its Largest Ever Online Poker Tournament Series (April 2020)
Top line: “Unibet has revealed that the Unibet Online Series (UOS) VIII will be the biggest in the online poker operator’s history, over double the size of previous outings.”
Key takeaways:
- The Unibet Online Series (UOS) VIII will be the biggest in the online poker operators history.
- Qualifiers to the series got underway on April 17 and the Series itself will start on May 1.
- The Main Event has been doubled to a €200,000 guarantee.
Online Poker “Almost Back to Glory Days”: Unibet Poker Enjoys Record Start to 2020 (May 2020)
Top line: “Kindred Group’s independent online poker room Unibet Poker is well-placed to benefit from the current boom in the industry, with Q1 results its highest in recent history, the group recently reported.”
Key takeaways:
- Attention is on online poker, which has enjoyed an explosion of interest in the last month.
- “Poker [stands] to benefit really strongly from the COVID-19 situation.”
- In Q1 2020, it reported £7.5 million of online poker revenue—almost exactly an entire year’s revenue back in 2015.
- Poker is still a tiny part of the group’s portfolio, but in Q1 2020 it also crossed another milestone.
- With its unique product, Unibet Poker is very well positioned to benefit.
Veteran Online Poker Room 32Red Poker Confirms Pending Closure (May 2020)
Top line: “Distinguished online poker room 32Red will close its doors tomorrow, May 19, when its network MPN goes offline.”
Key takeaways:
- The distinguished online poker room 32Red will close its doors tomorrow, May 19.
- PRO first revealed 32Red’s intention in an article last week, along with the plans of almost all other skins on the network.
- 32Red has a long history in the online poker industry, so its demise was far from assured.
- Maintaining this distinct brand would seem like a valuable asset, particularly given today’s climate.
- It will be for something of an unceremonious closure to a 17-year old veteran of the online poker industry.
Unibet Launches Faster Format Lottery Sit and Go, HexaPro Banzai (June 2020)
Top line: “Following in the footsteps of Winamax, PokerStars and partypoker, Unibet has launched its own faster version of its lottery sit and go (LSNG) product HexaPro.”
Key takeaways:
- Games play just like the operator’s standard Hexapro except that starting stacks are 300 chips instead of the usual 500.
- Blinds go up every minute, regardless of multiplier.
- The regular Hexapro is offered up to €100; the Banzai edition is only available at €1, €2, €5 and €10.
- Winamax introduced its Nitro version in the summer of 2019; PokerStars and partypoker quickly followed suit.
Unibet Trials New PKO Structure with Protostar Bounty Tournament (July 2020)
Top line: “Independent online poker room Unibet is experimenting with a new structure for PKO tournaments with shallower stack sizes but slower blind levels.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet is experimenting with a new structure for PKO tournaments with shallower stack sizes but slower blind levels.
- Starting stacks are set at only 100 big blinds, but blind levels are slower than a normal turbo.
- The changes come amid during an ongoing period of discussion and experimentation in the industry to tournament structures.
Unibet Online Poker Revenue Doubled During Coronavirus Pandemic (July 2020)
Top line: “Kindred Group reported online poker revenue of almost £10 million during Q2 2020, by far its highest in more than five years and up more than double on the same quarter in 2019.”
Key takeaways:
- Financial results are the first to show the full impact of coronavirus on online poker for a single operator.
- It suggests it grabbed more than its fair share of latent increased interest levels during this period.
- Its Q2 2020 numbers are impressive given the intense competition among larger online poker rooms.
Unibet Readies Major Desktop Client Upgrade, Plans New Loyalty Program for Next Year (August 2020)
Top line: “Independent online poker room Unibet is preparing to launch a new desktop poker client in what will be the room’s biggest software upgrade in many years.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet is readying for a new poker client in what appears to be the room’s biggest software upgrade in many years.
- Version 3 is includes an all-new interface that with a new look lobby, revamped filtering options, and various improvements.
- It is currently in an internal testing phase and is slated to go live for the public with a target date set for September.
- A new loyalty program is also in the works, scheduled to go live on January 1, 2021.
Unibet Schedules €250,000 Summer Circuit Series (August 2020)
Top line: “Unibet has announced a new €250,000-guaranteed tournament series, dubbed Summer Circuit Series.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet has announced it will be running the €250,000-guaranteed Summer Circuit Series for the first time in late August.
- A €40,000 Main Event is the crown jewel of the series, and a €10,000 leaderboard race is also running.
- “We know it is a risk running a series with an ambitious guarantee right in the middle of summer, but sometimes you just have to take the flip.”
- Operators across the board have scheduled huge online tournament series this summer.
Unibet Online Series Returns This September With €1 Million Guarantee (September 2020)
Top line: “The Unibet Online Series (UOS) will return for the third time this year, the online poker operator has revealed. The flagship online tournament series will run September 18 to October 11.”
Key takeaways:
- The online poker operator has announced its flagship online tournament series will run September 18 to October 11.
- For the second time, UOS will have a guarantee of €1 million.
- “I’m nervous because we’ve given ourselves a sweat with that aggressive €1 million guarantee.”
- Unibet are running a special Supernova PKO tournament on Sunday, September 13.
Unibet To Host International Poker Open Online For The First Time (September 2020)
Top line: “Unibet has announced that it will play host to the International Poker Open (IPO), running online in October for the very first time.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet has announced that it will play host to the International Poker Open (IPO), running exclusively online.
- IPO, which usually takes place in Dublin, Ireland, guarantees €150,000 across 12 events.
- This marks the third consecutive year that Unibet has sponsored the IPO.
Unibet Drops Rake At Sit & Go Tables (October 2020)
Top line: “Unibet will reduce the rake at its five-handed Sit & Go tables across all buy-in levels. This will come in effect in November.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet has reduced the rake at its five-handed Sit & Go tables across all buy-in levels.
- To celebrate, Unibet are running Sit & Gos entirely rake free for October at buy-ins of €25, €50 and €100.
- A four-week long leaderboard promotion is also running as a companion, giving away €2,000 each week.
Unibet Online Series Will Return For Fourth Time This Year (November 2020)
Top line: “Unibet Online Series (UOS) will play out for the fourth time this year from November into December with €1 million once again guaranteed, PRO has learned.”
Key takeaways:
- The return of the UOS will be the 10th time the series has run on Unibet since its inception in 2018.
- The guarantee for UOS X remains the same as the previous two outings at €1 million.
- The Unibet Open will play out as part of the UOS at the end of the Series on December 13 and 14.
Unibet Poker Growth Continues for Twelfth Straight Quarter (November 2020)
Top line: “Online poker at European online gambling giant Kindred Group continues its upwards trajectory, posting yet another quarter of double-digit growth.”
Key takeaways:
- “As expected, poker activity has decreased during the quarter due to the remarkable performance achieved during COVID-19.”
- It is almost double the Q1-to-Q3 revenue posted in 2018 and is 4.5 times more than 2015.
- Unibet’s Q3 shows that its consistent growth pre-pandemic continues at least at the same pace as before.
- Looking forward, the operator is readying for its fourth UOS, scheduled for later this month.
Unibet To Run First Ever PKO Series (December 2020)
Top line: “Unibet has announced it will run its first ever series dedicated to progressive knockout events next month.”
Key takeaways:
- Unibet has announced it will run its first ever series dedicated to progressive knockout events next month.
- PKO Winter Series will guarantee €225,000 across 32 events.
- “You cannot ignore them anymore and the PKO Winter Series is a great way to start your journey.”
