Top Gambling Operators Roundup – April Edition

With generous new bonus opportunities, new deposit methods, and pandemic-induced permanent closures, April has been quite an eventful month for the casino world. Let’s dive into the monthly highlights.

Unibet Launches a Rewards Program For Losing Players

Most online gambling destinations provide lucrative bonus offers to newly registered gamblers. They also often grant free spins to new players and gambling veterans alike. But, how many of these venues reward losing players? Not that many – aside from Unibet. The independent poker room has recently launched Replay Rewards, a fresh program for players suffering a weekly downswing.

According to the operator’s terms and conditions, every week, a new algorithm will target players who were unlucky in the previous week. Those eligible will need to complete missions to unlock the rewards and snag a piece of the €15,000 bonus cake. This unique promotion is slated to run until the end of the year.

To prevent promotion abuse, no further details on the exact mechanics of the algorithm have been made available. However, Unibet has revealed that certain metrics, such as the game format, stakes, volume, a player’s activity in the community, and the time of playing, will be used to determine an unfortunate poker enthusiast’s eligibility for the promotion.

888poker Introduces the Blast Leaderboards Promotion

If you’re an avid poker player, get ready to be excited: 888poker has added a new ongoing leaderboards promotion for its popular lottery Sit and Go format, Blast, with $5,000 up for grabs every day.

The concept is simple – the higher you climb on the ladder, the larger your prize. Players need to opt in by navigating to the Blast arena and selecting the contest they’d like to join. The leaderboards are updated in real time and players can take part in all available leaderboards every day.

This boost for 888poker’s Sit and Go variant came only a few days after the million-dollar $100 Blast SNG prize pool was hit. The seven-figure prize was divided among two Canadian players and one British user.

Paddy Power Now Accepts PayPoint Deposits

Making the list of supported payment methods as long and diverse as possible has become imperative for online gambling destinations in the US and everywhere else in the world. Paddy Power has partnered up with select PayPoint outlets to increase the convenience and speed of topping up its players’ online gambling accounts. Using their Play Cards, PaddyPower’s players can now make deposits at more than 9,000 PayPoint locations across the US.

All users have to do is link their online account with their Play Card, bring the card along to the nearest participating PayPoint location, hand it over with the amount of cash they wish to deposit, and wait a few minutes for their account balance to increase. The minimum amount players can deposit is $10, and the per-transaction maximum is $399. There’s also a daily maximum of €2,500 or $2,500. Withdrawals aren’t allowed at PayPoint outlets.

Mecca Bingo Southport Venue Shuts Down Permanently

The COVID-19 pandemic has proven difficult for the gambling industry. Many operators have been struggling for over a year to replace their income with online gambling revenue. Mecca Bingo has recently become one of those who were forced to close some brick-and-mortar locations permanently.

The news about Mecca Bingo leaving Garrick Theatre, one of Southport’s most iconic venues, was greeted with shock and sadness by many of the town’s residents. Despite its longstanding popularity, the bingo hall couldn’t survive the global health crisis and cannot afford to wait for the restrictions to be lifted later this year.

The historic Garrick Theatre building has been used as a bingo hall since 1963 and played a special part in Southport’s community for almost 60 years.

Ulrik Bengtsson Nominated as the New Chairman of Raketech

Quickly after announcing that its current chairman of the board of directors, Christian Lundberg, refused to be reelected, Raketech Group Holding proposed William Hill’s CEO Ulrik Bengtsson for the position.

Lundberg stated that the time has come for him to hand the company over to someone else who could take Raketech to the next level.

Bengtsson joined William Hill in April 2018 as its chief digital officer, helped it through its $240 million acquisition of Mr Green, and became the casino giant’s CEO in September 2019. Before that, he was president and chairman of Betsson Group, a Swedish gambling company, and the CEO of Modern Times Group and Viasat Broadcasting, a Stockholm-based digital entertainment firm.

Tobias Persson Rosenqvist, the chairman of the Raketech nomination committee, said that Bengtsson’s first-hand experience, profound knowledge, and connections in the iGaming industry would prove invaluable for accelerating the provider’s growth.

The Malta-based gaming performance marketing company should officially confirm this decision at its annual general meeting scheduled for May 17, 2021.