188Bet Ceases All Irish and UK Operations Amid High Level of Competition Concerns

Citing exceedingly high levels of competition across markets of Ireland and United Kingdom, online gambling operator, 188Bet, has officially terminated all services in these countries on Tuesday, March 26th.

This corporate decision concerns all of their customers in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Gibraltar and Republic of Ireland.

The brand’s parent company, Annatar Limited, explained that this decision is primarily commercially-driven and that 188Bet will continue operating as normal in other markets.

Leaving Isles

The company’s official statement reads as follows:

“Annatar Limited is solvent and fully able to meet all its financial obligations which includes its customer funds that remain ring-fenced and safe. 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.”

188Bet wishes to be clear that it is not accepting any new customers nor taking any new bets in said markets. They will honor all pending bets for events occurring up to midnight on June 30th…

…with a reminder that all single bets placed on events after this date and time will be voided and players’ stakes returned within 2 days at most.

Players Can Withdraw Their Funds Until End of August

As far as multiple bets are concerned…

…those with events up to June 30th will be “settled as normal,” although multiple selection bets as of the cut-off time and specific selections after this date that are unsettled will also be voided. The bet stakes will be returned to players in 48 hours’ time at most.

Probably the most important thing to note is that all ed players will have until August 30th to withdraw any outstanding funds in their balance!

Premier League’s Reliable Partner

Launched in 2006, this UK brand had a taste of what it’s like being on top through numerous partnerships with teams from Premiere League – England’s prime football (soccer) league.

They were shirt sponsors of teams such as Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic (now playing in lower divisions) and also have ongoing deals with some top-tier clubs such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Great Britain Faces More Toughness:

Not only is competition tough in the UK – the country’s gambling regulatory body, The Gambling Commission, has announced that much sterner ID checks will have to be introduced by licensed operators, as per new requirements.

The policy goes in full effect on May 7th …

…and it will prompt operators to player’s name, address and date of birth before allowing them to proceed with making a deposit.

Source:

“188Bet withdraws from UK and Irish markets”, igamingbusiness.com, March 26, 2019.