Company Overview
888 Holdings is a publicly listed company that trades on the London Stock Exchange and is licensed and regulated by the government of Gibraltar. 888 Holdings is one of the world’s most trusted and reliable online casino companies and offers a wide selection of gambling products, such as skill games (including several forms of poker), regular online casino games and even a third-party betting exchange.
888 Holdings PLC is one of the oldest companies in the gambling market and was founded in 1997 as Virtual Holdings Limited in the British Virgin Islands. In the same year, it launched its first product, Casino-on-Net. Five years later, 888 Holdings launched its second proprietary product, Reef Club Casino and a multi player online poker room. In 2003, after obtaining a gaming license from Gibraltar, 888 Holdings moved its entire operations from Antigua to Gibraltar and launched its seventh version of its highly popular Casino-on-Net.
In September 2005, 888 Holdings PLC was admitted onto the London Stock Exchange. This was an important step in the company’s mission to retain its place in the forefront of the gambling industry, all the while striving for safe, respectable and fair play for its gamblers and affiliates. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, passed by the United States in 2006, affected the company’s share prices – as it did the rest of the industry – however, the company is weathering the storm and continues to provide top products to the online gambling world. In a successful marketing move, the 888 Holdings moved its focus away from the U.S. market and focused on alternative shores instead. The company reported a record turnover in January 2007 for its non-U.S. poker and casino businesses and a steady increase in new memberships. Its net revenue for the whole of 2006 was up 7% from 2005, to $290-million.
888 Holdings PLC Products
888 Holdings PLC has made a notable mark in the online gaming industry: casinos, poker and more. Their flagship site is Casino On Net is one of the most familiar brand names in the world of online casinos.
Casino On Net / 888 Casino
First launched in 1997, Casino-on-Net is a truly global product, being offered in at least 11 different languages. In fact, 888 Holdings claims that more than 25 million people from all over the world have enjoyed this brand in the past decade. Two platforms are available for gamblers’ convenience – download or no download versions. While the download version provides players with an all-inclusive gaming experience, the no download version offers players the advantage of easy access and circumvents the need to download software onto their PCs. Players can also choose to go straight for the action and play for real money, or they can choose the practice mode and get familiar with the games and software before betting their first dollar.
Casino-on-Net is a truly comprehensive software package, offering players the opportunity to try virtually every game in the online casino world through one site. The product allows players to try their luck at traditional games such as craps, roulette, keno, baccarat and blackjack. The latter is also available in multiplayer versions and features a silent dealer to make game playing a real pleasure. There is also a time limit for each player to stick to, in order to keep the games rolling and the pace of the black jack game steady. The payout rate is a great 98.19%, which makes this a popular choice for blackjack lovers.
The craps game has several appealing features such as a dealer who announces the nickname of each roll and intuitive playing prompts. Its payout rate is a great 97.76%.
Out of Casino-on-Net’s 15 exciting slot machines, 5 of them offer players the chance to try their luck with the progressive jackpot features. The brand also offers six video poker machines, including one with a progressive jackpot. 888 Holding’s video slots feature several old favorites, as well as newer brands such as Wild Spider and Ole Glory. The pace of the video slots are considered fast and exciting and feature excellent interfaces and a variety of interesting choices.
Casino-on-Net prides itself on the wide variety of poker options available to the player, including Pai-Gow Poker, Power Poker and Caribbean Poker. In all these poker variations, 888 Holdings acts as the house.
Gamblers are drawn to 888’s Casino-on-Net for its wide variety of playing options, including the possibility to play at different tables. These include VIP tables for high rollers, private tables for those who want to play among their own exclusive group, and multi-member tables, which allows for a more buoyant social scene while playing. Minimum bets can start as low as 25c and can reach as high as $1000 – allowing for a healthy range of gambling options suitable for just about any pocket. Click for Casino On Net or 888 Casino review.
Reef Club Casino
Similar to Casino-on-Net in terms of products, Reef Club Casino was launched in 2003 by 888 Holdings to provide players with additional gambling options through this new brand. Reef Club is more limited than Casino-on-Net in that it is only available in English. It is available in downloadable and no download versions for the players’ convenience. Click for Reef Club Casino review.
Pacific Poker
Any time, day or night, thousands of enthusiastic poker fans can be found playing through 888 Holding’s top brand Pacific Poker. This multi player online poker room was launched in 2002 and is the fastest growing online poker brand in the gambling industry today. Players register to become members of this poker room and are able to then access a multitude of playing options, comprising a wide variety of games, platforms and versions.
Pacific Poker can be played using a download or no download version, depending on gamblers’ choice and their computer compatibilities. Players can choose to play for free using the practice mode. This enables them to perfect their skills and learn the various games through the poker school offered on the site, before choosing the second option – exciting real money gambling action.
Pacific Poker offers players a particularly large variety of poker game options, starting from fixed limit and no fixed limit versions of Texas Hold’em Poker, as well as other poker variations such as Omaha Hi/Lo, Omaha Hi, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo.
Poker tournaments, which were introduced onto the site in 2003, generate a huge amount of traffic to Pacific Poker’s site and provide enormous entertainment to members who are charged a buy-in fee – the amount depending on the kind of tournament being played. This fee goes towards paying Pacific Poker a host fee as well as contributing to the prize pool. Other types of tournaments include “free-roll” tournaments which offer exceptional prizes such as guaranteed seats to participate in exciting offline and online poker tournaments.
Most of Pacific Poker’s profits, however, come from ring games as the site charges a rake for every pot played. Rake amounts differ according to the number of players, the size of the pot and the specific table’s limits. The site will only levy on a rake in games that attain a flop, inspiring its no-flop-no-drop policy.
Pacific Poker offers live chat support, excellent bonuses for new and regular players as well as special features such as showing gamblers how many players are at present around poker tables on the site. It also offers a running Players Club news board that brings players up to date with the latest goings-on on the site, regarding upcoming tournaments and the like. This goes a long way in contributing to the creation of a successful online gambling community.
Click for Pacific Poker review.
Bet Mate
Bet Mate is a betting service that is a joint cooperation between 888 Holdings and Betdaq. While the latter deals with accounts, telephone betting services and other member services, 888 Holdings runs the promotion and marketing aspects of the site. Bet Mate is available to non-U.S. residents – mainly due to the legalities of the service – and offers betting options on sports and non-sports events. Online members can enjoy a host of special features, including tracking their betting history through listings of their previous deposits, wins, losses and withdrawals. Bet Mate members are also allowed to hold accounts in several different currencies. Players can make bets over the internet or by telephone and receive a weekly newsletter to keep them abreast of the latest news and special offers available through Bet Mate.
Special 888 Holdings Brand Features
888 Holdings special features include around-the-clock customer service, strict independant reviews, several deposit methods, live chat to talk with other players and much more.
Customer Service
Part of 888’s success in the industry is that it takes great pride in its customer services. 888 believes that all its players are their ambassadors to the world and therefore they aim to provide top support through its 24/7 staffed communication lines. The payouts are prompt and fast and the support team is always friendly and willing to answer any question or query.
Responsible Gambling
Most of 888 Holding’s brand sites and software are subject to strict independent reviews and comply with the recommendations of the watchdog gambling group, eCOGRA, in order to ensure that players are guaranteed fair play, protection and responsible gambling conduct. The company is one of the few gambling sites on the internet that seriously addresses problem gambling. All its brand sites come with enforcement features such as self-exclusion policies, limiting the amount of money that a gambler can deposit within a certain amount of time and trained customer support staff that can identify problem gamblers. 888 is also an active participant in the Interactive Gaming Council (ICG) and follows the council’s Code of Conduct.
Deposit Methods
888 Holdings aim to simplify the lives of their gamblers as much as possible. As such, the company offers players the opportunity to make deposits using several popular payment methods including debit cards, credit cards, e-wallets, e-checks, online and offline bank wire transfers and pre-paid cards.
Social Features
One of 888 Holding’s aims is to create a virtual gambling community where everyone can find their place in the world of online wagering. As such, the company’s brand sites include a range of features, which encourage players to connect with one another. Besides the fact that players can choose from a number of table options (private or public), the tables are also clearly marked so that friends are able to move over to your table and share a hand of poker, for instance. Players are free to speak to friends and strangers using the easy-to-work chat features.
Conclusion
888 Holdings PLC is a company that is dedicated to fair gambling, excellent product quality and satisfied customers. As a public company, 888 needs to maintain a squeaky clean image and has managed to do so extremely successfully thus far. The company’s products are top of the range and are considered to be one of the most popular brands in the gambling industry. The commitment of 888 to provide friendly, professional and prompt customer service has certainly paid off by the number of rave reviews to be found on the internet by happy clients. Simple and enjoyable entertainment options in a wide variety of choices go a long way to ensure that 888 Holdings remains a firm favorite in the gambling world today.
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