Online betting operator Sportingbet has teamed up with social betting operator Wikibetting to offer peer-to-peer play-money wagering on Facebook. Sportingbet, which is owned by GVC Holdings, says the new Sportingbet Play product will allow them to tap into a whole new demographic of players. Despite mounting evidence that says social gamers and real-money gamblers are two distinct tribes with little crossover appeal, Sportingbet believes it can convince social bettors to try their hand at the real-money thing by schooling them in a risk-free environment.
Online gambling technology supplier EveryMatrix is also dipping its toe into the social betting waters via a new partnership with Australian social gamers Favourit. The deal will see the EveryMatrix platform incorporate Favourit’s social sports betting offering, which features 10k pre-match and 5k live-betting opportunities each month via web, tablet and HTML5 and iOS mobile products.
Social Bet Inc., the folks responsible for social betting app Youbetme, announced last week that they’d raised an additional $2.7m in capital. The California-based company plans to use the extra scratch to boost its payroll in order to maintain its current growth. Youbetme allows users to challenge friends via bets on ‘anything and everything’ for stakes that can also be anything and everything. Social Bet CEO Jason Neubauer told CalvinAyre.com that 87% of wagers are the non-cash variety.
BUX is a new Netherlands-based app that applies virtual betting to the stock market. The app, which is currently limited to the Netherlands and the UK, provides new users with instructions on the nuances of stock trading. Using the FunBUX virtual currency, players can compete against their friends in timed contests called ‘Bux battles’ to see who’s the real Jordan Belfort. Once players get the hang of trading, they have the option of upgrading to SeriousBUX, which allows them to trade with real money. BUX Founder Nick Bortot told StartupJuncture.com that around 5% of users have so far made the transition to SeriousBUX.
The hubbub surrounding social games has convinced Russia to host its second conference focused on the sector. The next Social & Mobile Gambling Conference will take place in Moscow on March 19, 2015. The 2014 event featured speakers from Dohapoker, PokerMoscow, Kama Games and Infinity 2 Global.
