Malta-based online gambling operator Unibet has appointed poker biz-dev manager Andrew West as its interim head of poker. The position opened up after Martin Stairos departed to become chief operating officer of Estonia-based poker software outfit Relax Gaming. A permanent replacement is expected to be named in the coming months. West, a former Ladbrokes and PokerStars alum, is among those being considered for the permanent position.
In other Unibet news, the UK’s ad watchdog has spanked the company over its ‘risk free bet’ promotions on Facebook, Unibet’s website and a sponsored Google search result. The posts made a pitch to new customers who opened an account with Unibet that the company “will cover the risk of your first bet up to £20.”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received three complaints about the promotions, questioning (a) whether the term ‘risk free bet’ was misleading, (b) whether the ads made conditions attached to the offer sufficiently clear and (c) whether Unibet had made the necessary effort to make it clear that punters needed to place additional bets in order to withdraw winnings.
In its defense, Unibet said the term ‘risk free bet’ was common in the betting industry and that the bonus requirements were fully explained in their easily accessible terms and conditions. In this case, a punter whose first bet was a winner could withdraw his winnings immediately. Losing punters would receive their stake back as bonus funds for future wagers but a 6x rollover was required in order to withdraw the bonus funds and if a customer zeroed out his account before this requirement was met, the bonus offer was rescinded.
Unibet argued that the limited space in social media posts prevented them from listing the full T&Cs within these posts. But links in these posts connected customers with Unibet’s registration page, where the full T&Cs were easily accessible. In the case of the Google sponsored post, Unibet conceded that the link incorrectly directed customers to Unibet’s homepage rather than the registration page.
But the ASA upheld the complaints, saying the bonus terms “were likely to contradict consumers’ understanding of the term ‘risk free’ bet offer within the context of the ads.” The ASA also didn’t buy Unibet’s argument about the limitations of social media posts or Google ads, saying the omission of the “particularly significant” T&Cs – which were “more than one click away from the ads” – rendered the ad misleading.
The ASA ordered that the ads not reappear in their current form. Unibet was also told not to use the claim “risk free bet” to describe this bonus offer in future ads.
