Bwin Takes Hit With Online Poker

The popular Austrian betting firm Bwin reports it witnessed a 17 percent drop in revenues from its online poker room (called Bwin Poker).  Bwin is part of the Ongame network, which itself has seen a slight decline in "real cash" players over the course of the last six months according to PokerSiteScout.com.

These numbers could have been far worse had Italian poker venture Gioco Digitale not "contributed to a reported poker GGR increase YoY of 22% (+1% QoQ)," according to a company financial statement.

The group achieved Q1 2010 YoY GGR growth of 13% (€133.2m vs €117.6m in Q1 2009) overall, with flat LFL growth excluding income from its Italian acquisition, Gioco Digitale, that was purchased in September 2009 and augmented Q1 GGR by €16.5m.

Overall, sports wagering was strong at +13% YoY, driven by both live betting (+19% YoY) and pre-match (+11%) volume growth, the company reported.

Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com