Playtech to close Winner UK brand next month

Playtech is to shut down its Winner brand in the UK at the end of this month, marking the closure of its last UK-facing sports-led brand.

An email sent to customers last week said sports bets would no longer be accepted, with casino, bingo and poker remaining open until 1 June.

Winner said any open bets would be honoured through to the end of 2019. The likes of 188BET had previously been criticised for only honouring open bets for three months after its closure.

The email said: “We are writing to inform you that Winner.co.uk is closing its doors! We are no longer accepting new sports bets, though you can still log in and enjoy our casino, bingo and poker games until 1 June.

“Please use or withdraw your funds before this date – but don’t worry, customer services will still be available after this date if you have any problems.

“We will continue to settle all existing open sports bets until the end of 2019. Customers that have open bets beyond this point will be contacted by our customer service team.”

The closure means Playtech no longer operates any B2C sports-led brands in the UK after it closed Titanbet down towards the end of 2018 and migrated customers to Winner.

Customers attempting to sign up to Winner are now being diverted to The Sun Vegas, a new site launched following the restructuring of the provider’s white label deal with News UK.

Playtech declined to comment when approached by EGR about the reasons for the Winner closure.

The provider’s 2019 report noted: “Playtech will continue to focus on selected B2C opportunities globally, while maintaining a strong focus on Snaitech and its business in Italy.”

The Winner brand was initially launched in the UK 2014, supported by a partnership with West Ham. However the brand run into trouble in recent times, facing scrutiny from the CMA for what the consumer watchdog claimed were “unfair” practices and potential breaches in consumer law.