Bwin launches first real-money iPhone poker app
Bwin initially focuses on UK and Austrian markets as it launches the industry's first real-money iPhone application.
Bwin has launched the first real-money poker app for the iPhone, following the launch of its mobile sportsbook app last year.
The Austrian company will begin by focusing primarily on its home market and the United Kingdom, but Berthold Kao, head of product management RNG & mobile, told eGaming Review the operator would examine regulated markets as this year progresses.
“At this stage we are just looking at making the best app we are capable of. We went for two legally safe markets [the United Kingdom and Austria] and it went through. Other operators have seen their apps dismissed in other markets but we do not know why,” he said.
While other operators have launched real-money poker apps on other devices, Bwin’s is the first available on the iPhone platform, and Kao revealed that the success of the company’s technology in helping launch the sportsbook was a contributing factor in allowing the poker app to take off.
Kao explained how last year’s trial of a ‘poker clock’ system convinced the company that there was sufficient demand to bring real-money play into their stable of mobile games.
“In Italy and France the plan was to come up with a play-for-fun poker clock to get an indication of whether there’s that big a hype about it,” said Kao.
“From the download figures there’s clearly a strong demand.”
Kao admitted there were a number of factors to consider before going ahead with the poker app, particularly considerations surrounding different network sizes made available by the respective iPhone and Android markets.
But he explained the strength of Bwin’s mobile technology and the simplicity of setting up on Apple’s device meant the journey from development to launch had been relatively straightforward.
“This does not mean we’re not focusing on Android, but there are a couple of reasons why iPhone seemed to be a more mature solution,” he said, paying particular attention to the ease with which customers can download app updates.
He also explained that “system software often differs from market to market but iPhone is same across different handsets on different networks, which makes it easier.”
While the lack of a multi-table option makes the mobile platform more appealing to the casual player than the professional players who contribute the bulk of the operator’s online poker traffic, Kao revealed that the mobile app is attracting interest from new and existing customers.
And with new customers being introduced to Bwin through the new app, he admits it might take a while to identify whether the core audience is casual players playing primarily on their smartphones or full-time players using the mobile platform as a diversion when away from their computers.
“We still need to give it a couple of months to see where more [mobile] revenue comes from: new or existing customers,” he said.”We are seen as extra entertainment for those who play poker on their laptops. With new customers we have to look at their patterns and they might in the future use the web apps, and this will take a while to gauge.”