Friday night saw the online gambling industry gather at the Natural History Museum in London at the third annual eGaming Awards ran by eGaming Review Magazine.
A total of 16 awards were up for grabs at the glittering industry awards banquet.
The top prize, Operator of the Year went to Betfair. Poker Operator of the Year was won by Everest Poker, 888 took the Casino Operator of the Year award and Sportingbet won European Sportsbook of the Year.
Betfair’s award is likely to have been due to the company publishing its latest results shortly before the awards.
Its number of customers is now over a million, with active users standing at 443,000 to April, a rise of 57 percent on the previous year, the report said.
Overseas customers outside the UK now account for 38 percent of total revenues for Betfair, a rise of 32 percent in the last year. The company is also expanding into the Italian market to add to their British, German, Austrian, Maltese and Australian markets.
Betfair have been unaffected by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the USA as they didn’t break into the American market before the ban came into force. Therefore the company’s revenue hasn’t decreased as has been the case of its rivals PartyGaming and 888.com.
Meanwhile Mark Blandford, chairman of the judging panel was awarded the first Outstanding Contribution to online gaming award.
In Mark Blandford’s commendation eGaming Review said, “His knowledge of the industry, its workings, its personalities, and its potential is unrivalled. From a small online acorn to the gaming giant that it was before the US authorities intervened, he helped take Sportingbet to the very heights.”
Speaking about the awards Scott Longley Editor of eGaming Review said, “As with previous years, we think the quality of the candidates for the Awards on the short-lists points to the strength and depth of the industry as a whole.”
Here is the full list of winners:
Innovation of the Year: Sky Bet
Online marketing campaign of the Year: Gala Coral
Offline marketing campaign of the Year: Unibet
Affiliate Programme of the Year: Chipleader
New channels and Mobile Operator of the Year: Sporting Index
Bingo Operator of the Year: JackpotJoy
Start-up Operator of the Year: Racingworld Technology
Socially Responsible Operator of the Year: Svenska Spel
Green Operator of the Year: Sky Bet
Hotshot Operator of the Year: Everest Poker
Land-links Partnership of the Year: 888
European Sportsbook of the Year: Sportingbet
Casino Operator of the Year: 888
Poker Operator of the Year: Everest Poker
Outstanding contribution to online gaming: Mark Blandford
Operator of the Year: Betfair
