The Betsson Group, a Swedish iGaming company headquartered and licensed in Malta, has been providing a plethora of online gambling activities across the Nordic region since the turn of the millennium. Online poker players from the UK have been able to access the website for over a decade. However, according to an email recently issued by the operator, that’s about to change.
OnlinePokerRealMoney.co.uk tries to dispel some legal confusions stemming from passage of George Bush's UIGEA of 2006 . Federal status seems to depend on interpretation of the wire act and other laws which were crafted many years ago and which remained high level in nature. The United Kingdom has much clearer laws including their own real money gambling commission .
Betsson informed its UK members that, “Due to a new UK legislation, Betsson is closing all GB accounts as of 30th January 2015 17:00 CET.” All gaming activity from the region was officially blocked as of today, Jan 26, but access to accounts is still available for withdrawal purposes.
A lengthy FAQ page was set-up to detail the impending procedures for British account holders, with the foreshadowing title of, “This is not a goodbye!” And by that, Betsson meant that they’d really appreciate it if all of their UK online poker players make a hasty transition to Betsafe.
Betsafe Group is a subsidiary of Betsson AB, having acquired the company in 2011 for SEK 292 million (€60mm). And while Betsson chose not to pursue a license to operate its multitude of online gambling provisions in the UK (as per the “new UK legislation” referenced above), Betsafe did. Thus it would greatly benefit the overall business if the operator’s clients were to move over to the Betsafe online poker platform.
On the plus side, both Betsson and Betsafe online poker sites are powered the same dual networks, offering the Microgaming poker client (MPN), as well as the OnGame poker client. Thus the games and player bases would essentially provide the same experience for UK players. Regrettably, unlike many operators who’ve taken similar paths over the years, there is no option for automatic transitioning of accounts.
Bonuses, Loyalty Points and Long Term Bets
According to the Betsson FAQ page, UK online poker players who wish to move to Betsafe must first withdrawal their funds from Betsson, then open an account with Betsafe (or use an existing account) and make a deposit. Unfortunately, that also means that any active bonuses will be lost as of Jan 26. Loyalty Points can still be converted to cash and withdrawn from now until Jan 30.
As for Betsson’s sports bettors who have standing, long term bets (i.e. wagers on the 2015 Super Bowl, slated for Feb 1, 2015), they have two options. They can contact customer support and request cancelation and refund of the wager before Jan 30. Alternatively, they can wait for the event to take place and, if the bet is won, contact customer support afterwards to have the winnings immediately withdrawn.
What happens after Jan 30?
Members of Betsson who have funds in their account, but do not request a withdrawal by 17:00 CET on January 30, 2015, will be required to send an email to Betsson Customer Support, requesting the withdrawal be initiated. Should an account holder fail to email a withdrawal request within one year (January 30, 2016), a fee of €5.00 will be assessed to the account every month thereafter until the withdrawal is requested, or the funds are depleted.