bwin.party

History

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment was created on 31 March 2011 through the merger of two significant online gambling predecessors: Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG (founded in 1997 as Betandwin by Manfred Bodner in Vienna, Austria) and PartyGaming Plc (founded in 1997 by Ruth Parasol, Anurag Dikshit, and others). The merger was structured as a share swap, with Bwin shareholders owning 51.6% and PartyGaming shareholders owning 48.4%. The combined company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in Gibraltar, with joint CEOs Norbert Teufelberger and Jim Ryan. At launch, bwin.party claimed the title of the world’s largest publicly traded online gambling company.

Products and Brands

The company’s product offering spanned four core verticals: sports betting, poker, casino, and bingo. The bwin sportsbook offered betting on over 90 sports, with a strong focus on European football, serving regulated markets across Europe including Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. PartyPoker remained one of the top three online poker rooms globally, and the company owned the World Poker Tour brand, used to drive live and online tournament traffic. Other brands included PartyCasino, PartyBingo, Foxy Bingo, PokerRoom.com, and Gamebookers. In 2012, bwin.party sold its Ongame poker network to Amaya Gaming Group for up to €25 million, streamlining its poker operations onto a single platform. The company also offered soft games such as backgammon, sudoku, and other skill-based games.

Market Position and U.S. Entry

A key strategic initiative was entry into the regulated U.S. online gaming market. In November 2013, bwin.party was granted a transactional waiver by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, allowing it to launch both poker and casino games in partnership with Borgata Casino. PartyPoker.com for New Jersey players quickly captured 50% of the state’s online poker cash game traffic by December 2013. However, the company faced ongoing challenges: declining poker revenues, intense competition from rivals like PokerStars and 888 Holdings, and the need to invest heavily in mobile and social gaming platforms. In 2014, the company reported a net loss of €94.3 million on revenue of €611.9 million, partly due to impairment charges and restructuring costs.

Acquisition and Dissolution

In mid-2015, bwin.party became the target of a bidding war between 888 Holdings and GVC Holdings. On 17 July 2015, 888 announced a recommended offer valuing bwin.party at approximately $1.4 billion. GVC subsequently made a higher rival bid, and on 4 September 2015, bwin.party’s board accepted GVC’s offer of £1.1 billion (approximately $1.6 billion). The deal closed on 1 February 2016, and the company was fully absorbed into GVC Holdings (renamed Entain in 2020). The bwin.party corporate entity ceased to exist; its brands and operations were integrated into GVC’s multi-brand portfolio. The legacy of bwin.party continues through the bwin and PartyPoker brands, which remain active under Entain’s ownership.