When Canadian gambling giant Amaya Gaming took over the Rational Group in a multi-billion dollar transaction, everybody was baffled. Under the deal, both world renowned online poker brands, PokerStars and Full Tilt, as well as the European, Latin American and Asian Poker Tours and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure have changed hands. But Amaya was apparently not content with the potential of these brands on the poker market alone, and has decided to expand its brands beyond the world of the most popular card game.
The first step was the introduction of casino games into the Full Tilt lobby, followed by a similar move with PokerStars as well. While the game variety is not as huge as in case of a dedicated casino operation, like the Euro Palace Casino, which has over 600 games, it was still a major shift. The addition of live dealer casino games followed - and apparently these moves were appreciated by PokerStars and Full Tilt players.
But Amaya didn't stop here. The PokerStars brand was too well known, so the obvious decision was to build even more services on top of it. After expanding into the realm of casino games, Amaya has announced StarsDraft, a daily fantasy sports service aimed at the US market (which is now on hold until the legal status of DFS is clarified in the country), and BetStars, a new online sports betting brand, available to most players in Europe.
Last year the poker world has scrutinized Amaya for modifying the rewards system of PokerStars, shifting focus on chance, rather than skill. And this year Amaya has applied another layer of chance upon the sports betting arm of the business by introducing Spin & Bet.
The new feature is similar to the Spin & Go format found on PokerStars. When placing a bet, players can choose to enable the Spin & Bet feature, which will trigger a small reel spin to determine a multiplier applied to their odds. The result can be between 1x and 10x, and 10% of the stake goes toward a jackpot. With this new feature a $20 bet with a 3/1 stake can turn into 30/1, if the punter is lucky, and make a payout worth over $500. But this turns sports betting, which is generally considered a game of skill rather than a form of gambling, into a game with a strong element of chance.
"We’re convinced our customers will love the new product as it brings a new and exciting dimension to betting for sports fans around the world," PokerStars Director of Group Business Development and Strategy Guy Templer commented on the new feature. "This is only the first in a number of exciting, unique products that we expect to introduce in 2016 to distinguish the BetStars brand from its competitors." So, we can expect more similar spins on traditional play modes to emerge as time passes.
