- “The eight UK-facing brands under the returned licenses will be closed with effect from today.”
- Betsson plans to consolidate all UK activity under the Rizk brand, which does not offer online poker.
- The brand was obtained in February of this year through the acquisition of GiG’s consumer-facing operations.
- Thus, the business change last week effectively ended the company’s online poker presence in the UK market.
The online poker rooms of Betsson and Betsafe have closed to players in the UK following a company-wide policy of withdrawing all but one brand from the market.
Citing the UK regulatory framework undergoing “significant changes in the past few years,” requiring “extensive investments … in technology, regulatory compliance as well as marketing,” Swedish-based Betsson AB has decided to rescind three of its four UK licenses.
“The eight UK-facing brands under the returned licenses will be closed with effect from today with no further deposits or bets accepted,” Betsson announced last week. “The customers of these brands will be contacted accordingly, all deposits will be repaid, and all outstanding bets will be paid out as winning bets.”
For online poker, this means the closure of the UK Betsafe and Betsson online poker rooms. The pair migrated from MPN over to the iPoker network earlier this year.
