Betfair launches Betfair Arcade

LONDON, England -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Betfair today launched the Betfair Arcade (www.betfairarcade.com) – the most innovative and engaging gambling offering on the net. It will open with over 60 games, including 17 large progressive jackpots. More titles will follow every month. Included are branded games such as 'Cleopatra™' - the world's most popular offline slot – along with Monopoly ™ and Cluedo™ products.

A new concept game called "Betfair Reactors™", that stars the creator of the Betfair betting exchange concept, Andrew "Bert" Black, is expected to be one of the most popular.

Betfair has always been at the forefront of gaming innovation. It was the first casino to come out with Zero house edge games in its casinos, more of which feature in the new Arcade. The company has a strong ethos of offering its customers 'real' deals that have genuine achievable benefits. One such offering available in Betfair Arcade is the new "VIP Bonus Bar", where a raffle ticket worth £60 is awarded when you fill the Bar upon meeting a certain turnover requirement. Customers have a '1 in 1,000' chance of instantly winning £25,000 and are guaranteed a prize of at least £20. This equates to a maximum return to the customer of over 25% of gross margins, under the terms of the promotion.

Betfair believes this is the most generous permanent promotion to have ever been offered to online games players, reinforcing the Company's commitment to delivering the best value to its customers.

The UK online casino industry is currently booming, according to Betfair's own estimates, published for the first time today. UK 'Gross Win' is expected to grow 15% from £317m in 2007 to £365m this year.

The company also estimates that 1m Britons will play online casinos in 2008, up from 885,000 in 2007.

Albert Tapper, Head of Games for Betfair said: "Betfair has dominated sports betting in the UK by offering innovation, integrity and value. The same ethos has driven our approach to Betfairarcade.com. Betfair is taking customer value to a new level, by offering new games with no margin for us, and bonus offerings that are truly rewarding."

He continued:

"For the first time online, Betfair has delivered a website that informs customers about the 'worst games' for Betfair – and how much money customers have won on each. Customers can see how many spins have been played on each and every game in the last 24hrs and rate each game individually. They can even see exactly how much money, in total, has been returned by Betfair to players in the last seven days. It is a completely new experience that breaks fresh ground in online gambling."