Greek police arrested two OPAP betting agents thought to have played a key role in running an illegal betting network including more than 100 betting agencies and with an annual turnover in excess of EUR 1 billion, more than OPAP’s Pame Stihima, the country’s most popular sports betting game.
“When an agent takes a bet for several thousand euros, he sends part of the money to the foreign company and plays the rest on a legal bet,” a police officer told Greek newspaper Kathimerini.
The newspaper also interviewed an employee of an unnamed Scandinavian betting site, who said most foreign bookmakers were trying to secure the collaboration of OPAP\’s agency owners.
In separate news, Greek newspaper To Vima said OPAP\’s revenues from the FIFA World Cup had reached EUR 230 million on Friday and total revenues for the whole tournament are expected to come in between EUR 350 and 400 million. Brokers said that this would be significantly better than their estimates of about EUR 200 million for the tournament and they attribute the reported success to the increased payout of OPAP\’s fixed odds betting game Pame Stihima and the fact that players can now bet on single matches.
Elsewhere, Gabor Szekely, CEO of Hungary\’s state lottery operator Szerencsejatek Zrt announced the launch of the online versions of its sports betting games. “This development is targeted at new clients who prefer gambling via the Internet, with the possibility to use bankcards,” said Szekely.
Communications Director Laszlo Somorai added that the company experienced a boost to its revenues due to the soccer World Cup, which has almost doubled turnover in sports betting games. “The average weekly revenue generated by sports betting is around HUF 240m, which increases to HUF 480-500m when the World Cup is on,” he said.
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