Unibet Poker has split into two parts, effective today, in its ongoing efforts to supply regulated online poker to as many countries and online players as possible and to maintain competitive balance on its platform.
On Monday, Stubbe Buchwald, senior poker product manager for Kindred Group, Unibet's corporate owner, disclosed via the Unibet Poker Blog that most nationalities previously able to access Unibet Poker from around the globe have, as of today, moved to a previously dormant brand also owned by Kindred, BoaBet.
The new BoaBet Poker platform will use the same software as Unibet Poker but will be separated from Unibet's core customer base of certain locally regulated EU countries. According to Stubbe, Unibet Poker will now serve the United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Estonia, Malta, Finland, and France. France, though, continues to be operated as a standalone Unibet network.
Browser-only access for BoaBet players
Dozens of other countries formerly allowed to play on Unibet have been moved to BoaBet, which will operate as a Unibet skin. The shifted players will still have access to the same games, but there's more to the split. For the players and countries moved to BoaBet, they'll no longer have access to Unibet's downloadable client or smart-device app and will instead be able to play only via browser.
The shift to browser-only access means that all the BoaBet players will be able to play on no more than four tables at once, rather than the ten-table max that will remain on Unibet.
According to Stubbe, this will make the games softer for everyone, whether playing via the Unibet or BoaBet hookup. "The drop in traffic will be noticeable for certain games and stakes, but the games will also become considerably softer," he wrote, "as (1) the winning regulars are almost exclusively playing on the Windows and Mac apps, and (2) it’s predominantly winning markets that are impacted," meaning several winning markets are among those shifted to Unibet.
Split targets some high-volume grinders
Though other regulatory concerns are also a factor in Kindred's decision, the chance to cap some profitable online grinders is a big part of the split. As Stubbe explained in a Unibet Poker forum thread about the shift, "[C]hurn is expected among the highest volume players, as some will simply opt to play elsewhere when they are limited to four tables. We already have considerable web client traffic, and the web traffic is much, much more casual (lower skill level) than the traffic from desktop apps.
"Therefore, I don't expect much of a decline in traffic from the worse players, but there will be a significant decrease in traffic from the better players. I am willing to promise games will become softer - they already did a bit, with the complete poker exit from Poland."
It's also unclear whether BoaBet will continue to operate as a Unibet skin in the long term, meaning it could be spun off as a separate entity or sold. In a short FAQ Stubbe included in his announcement, he wrote, "At this stage, I can’t say how long BoaBet will remain a part of the Unibet poker network."
