Bwin Saw It Coming and Kept Its Eyes on A Turkish License

A Bwin spokesman said in a statement: "On one hand, the new law prohibits online games of chance. However, on the other hand, it provides for the possibility of acquiring a license at a later date."

He went on to say that approximately 6 percent of the Bwin gross gaming revenues are generated in Turkey, which means that closing down its business in Turkey could slash gross gaming revenues by €15-20 million ($26.3 million) per year.

Bwin said it would aim to acquire a license if Turkish authorities chose to issue any, adding that it was unclear when this could be the case. “Our lawyers are investigating. We don't really have much information on this," said spokeswoman Karin Klein.

The Reuters report states that last year, Bwin wrote off most of the value of its U.S. poker website, which it acquired for more than €500 million earlier in 2006, after the United States effectively outlawed Internet gambling by legislating against the transfer of funds to and from online gambling companies.
In the US and Europe, Online gambling companies are facing increasingly stringent regulation, with governments curbing Internet gambling to protect state-run lotteries and customers.

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