188Bet withdraws from UK and Irish markets
Online gambling operator 188Bet has ceased all operations in the UK and Ireland, citing a high level of competition across both markets.
Effective from today (March 26), the decision applies to all customers based in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, as well as the Republic of Ireland.
Annatar Limited, 188Bet’s parent company, said that the move is a “commercial decision in a very competitive marketplace”. Annatar reiterated that the 188Bet brand continues to operate in other jurisdictions as normal.
“Annatar Limited is solvent and fully able to meet all its financial obligations which includes its customer funds that remain ring-fenced and safe,” Annatar said in a statement.
“We have provided advance notice of this to our regulators and we will manage the closure of our Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, Gibraltar and Ireland business and return customer funds in an orderly manner.”
188Bet is no longer accepting new customers in any of the affected markets, nor is it taking any new bets.
The operator has said that it will honour all ante post or pending bets for events occurring up to 23:59 hrs (GMT+1) on June 30, 2019, but single bets for events after this deadline will be voided and the stake returned within 48 hours.
Multiple bets with selections for events up to this date will be settled as normal, but bets with multiple selections as of the cut-off time and remaining unsettled specific selections for events after this date will see those selections voided and the bet settled within 48 hours.
Customers with any funds left in their accounts have until midnight on August 30 to login and withdraw their outstanding balance.
188Bet launched in the UK back in 2006 and went on to strike a number of high-profile sports partnerships in a bid to promote its services. These included front-of-shirt sponsorship deals with then-Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic.
The operator also, at one time, had lower-tier partnerships in place with Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as a shirt deal with English Super League rugby league club Wigan Warriors.
Image: Dan Farrimond