Bwin: Bookmaking is high-performance sport

by bwin

Vienna / Austria / 2010-02-10 (GlobalGamingPR) - In the course of one day, bwin offers up to 30,000 bets at one and the same time – in more than 90 sports.

"Working as a bookmaker is like doing high-performance sport. Odds frequently change within seconds during the course of a live event", says Mario Kristofic, Head bookmaker with bwin. At bwin, the world's leading listed online gaming provider, 30,000 bets are online at the same time. The betting line-up currently consists of more than 90 sports in 22 languages. More than 1 million bets are regularly placed with bwin per day. The company is consistently extending its pioneering efforts in live betting: at present, bets can be placed on up to 150 events a day.

bwin bookmakers compute the starting odds and then continuously react as the game progresses and along with the users' betting behaviour. "The odds are a bookmakers’ product, which are offered for sale to the customer. Our customers even get to place up to 200 bets for each event", explains Kristofic. "Bookmakers use their expert knowledge and experience to determine what is called odds keys. They use these keys to calculate the odds correctly", continues Kristofic.

Odds change by the second
Sports betting has been the bwin core business since 1998. bwin began to offer bets on sports events while the games were ongoing as early as 2002 – and pioneered live bets. Stefan Wukovitsch, Product Manager Betting, explained the difference between sports bets and live bets. "Live betting is entertainment. The odds that are calculated at the start change by the second, while they remain unchanged in classic sports betting," says Wukovitsch.

Early warning system uncovers manipulation
The security precautions were given special emphasis: bwin, together with other leading online providers, founded the European Sports Security Association (ESSA) as early as 2005 in order to identify any conspicuous betting activities and insider betting in various sports as early as possible. With the help of ESSA's early warning system, suspicious betting activities can be checked promptly by the ESSA and then referred to the responsible association when necessary.

About bwin
The bwin Group has over 20 million registered customers in more than 25 core markets and operates a number of platforms offering sports betting, poker, casino games, fortune and skill games as well as audio and video streams of top sporting events such as the German football Bundesliga. The parent company bwin Interactive Entertainment AG ("bwin") is listed in the blue chip ATX index on the Vienna Stock Exchange and provides its subsidiaries and associated companies with various services such as software development, marketing, communication, human resources and finance. The operational business of the bwin Group is conducted by subsidiaries and associated companies based on licenses (e.g. in Germany, Italy or Gibraltar). Further information about the Company can be found on its investor relations website at www.bwin.org. (ID code BWIN, Reuters ID code BWIN.VI)

Category: online gaming / Products