Blue Square Poker Players Redirected to Betfair
This was published 04-04-2013Account holders at Blue Square Poker trying to access the domain this week will see that they are being automatically redirected to Betfair, the industry leading betting exchange and online gambling platform. “Blue Square is now a part of Betfair. Your new account is waiting for you,” players are being told, and are being presented with options to log in using their Blue Square Poker account, confirm their details and obtain a Betfair account.
The new reality for Blue Square players comes with the announcement the Betfair has acquired Blue Square from its former owners, Rank Group, paying GBP 5 million for the company which offers largely sports betting products but also an online poker room.
“Betfair Group plc today announces that it has acquired certain assets, including the customer database, of online bookmaker Blue Square Bet for STG5 million,” read a statement from Betfair. “From today, all Blue Square customers will be automatically redirected to Betfair where they can access a full suite of sports betting and gaming products and receive a promotional welcome offer. The acquisition is consistent with Betfair’s strategy of focusing on regulated markets and growing its sportsbook and gaming operations alongside the exchange.”
Players have been given the option to cash out the money in their Blue Square accounts or, if they opt to continue playing from their new Betfair accounts, to take advantage of a special welcome bonus.
Blue Square has not been doing particularly well in the past few years, and in the last six months recorded a GBP 4.8 million loss. Rank Group’s records show that Blue Square has a player base of 120,000 players. Rank Group bought Blue Square for a whopping GBP 65 million in 2003.
Yesterday it was announced that Betfair will be ending Blue Square’s six year sponsorship of the Football Conference, effective next month.
