Casino.org – Bwin – the world’s largest online publicly traded betting site – says it expects to return to a period of sustainable growth following a difficult year, which saw revenue across all gambling operations tumble 19 percent to €652.4m ($908,623,000). The company blamed several factors for the slump, such as ISP blocking in Greece, the decline of the poker market in France and Italy, and the migration of players to its new technology platform in December 2012.
Poker, in fact, was a significant disappointment. Despite the launch of its new poker site with Atlantic City land-based casino Borgata and their subsequent market-leading operation in New Jersey, revenue from poker fell 35 percent to €114.6m ($159,605,000), and now accounts for less than 18 percent of the company’s total revenue. Daily average players dropped 39 percent to 47,400 during the year, while new player sign-ups dropped 55 percent to 177,300. The loss of the Greek market in 2012 resulted in 3,326 fewer players per day.
