Betway/GNUF taken over?

[De Beuker]

CM already posted a short line about this in the Canbet thread, I think it deserves a thread of its own.

About a week ago I received a snail mail from the Palace Group (in case undeliverable, return to Palace Group, PO box XXX etc.), and was a bit surprised to see it contained a Betway offer for some free spins and a matchbonus.
Betway? Palace Group?

Thought it would be something like they shared the same marketingcompany.
Shitty thing was that I received the mailer on Feb.24 and the offer expired on Feb. 21. at midnight.
Didn't want to make a fuzz about it, but whats happening?
Do we have 2 new Palace Group casinos?
Or will it be the same shady construction they use with Prime, who are officially NOT a Palace Group casino, but sometimes they are, but not accredited and nobody really knows?

I really liked Betway and their fast payouts and nice bonuses.

Now just wait for the announcement that Casino Rewards buys the Palace Group and VWM's Black Hole theory might come true!
(All your Micro's are belong to us!!)

 

[hausse222]

I recieved the letter with the bonus that had already exspired, too
And i also wondered about the fact that it came from "Thepalacegroup", but i was too lazy to open a thread about it

 

[vinylweatherman]

I got that too, and fortunately BEFORE it expired. It worked in Betway, yet was showing the Palace Group as a return address.

Funny thing is, after the recent "upgrade", no more weekly offers for ME, which is EXACTLY what I get from Palace Group - NOTHING.

It seems to me that this "upgrade" has something to do with a merger with Palace Group, and another couple of weeks with NO more weekend offers will confirm it, and that'll be another pair of casinos to be uninstalled, joining Red Flush after THEIR "brand new loyalty scheme" launch meant no more Wednesday and Friday promos.

Fortunately, I DO get offers from the "black hole" of Casino Rewards, which seems the opposite of what most other players seem to get, which is nothing from CR and a locked rewards account, and offers from the likes of Palace Group.

It seems this consolidation is BAD news for players, and has resulted in a DRASTIC fall in offers for me, mainly because CR is one offer per week per player, whereas before they were taken over, Playshare was one offer per CASINO.

 

[Casinomeister]

Betway and Gnuf are moving over to the palace group - at least as their marketing is concerned. I'm pretty sure that their management is being kept separate, but I am unsure about their support - whether it's being merged or not. The casino rep is here, perhaps we should ask him

 

[Nifty29]

I got that too, and fortunately BEFORE it expired. It worked in Betway, yet was showing the Palace Group as a return address.

Funny thing is, after the recent "upgrade", no more weekly offers for ME, which is EXACTLY what I get from Palace Group - NOTHING.

It seems to me that this "upgrade" has something to do with a merger with Palace Group, and another couple of weeks with NO more weekend offers will confirm it, and that'll be another pair of casinos to be uninstalled, joining Red Flush after THEIR "brand new loyalty scheme" launch meant no more Wednesday and Friday promos.

Fortunately, I DO get offers from the "black hole" of Casino Rewards, which seems the opposite of what most other players seem to get, which is nothing from CR and a locked rewards account, and offers from the likes of Palace Group.

It seems this consolidation is BAD news for players, and has resulted in a DRASTIC fall in offers for me, mainly because CR is one offer per week per player, whereas before they were taken over, Playshare was one offer per CASINO.

Well at least I know it isnt personal at red flush.

I got an email offering a 15% bonus up to $50 - and IF I complete the WR after depositing the MAX AMOUNT I will get 50 free spins worth $25 which i then have to wager 30x the winnings. No thanks.

 

[dazlazz]

Betway and Gnuf were effectively taken over by Palace or Spin whichever way you want to describe them, over a year and a half ago, with major changes in managment at all levels, from being a predominantly Swedish run co to a S African run co.

 

[Marie2473]

Hmm maybe thats why the offers stopped coming from noth betway and Gnuf, usually I get pretty decent matchbonuses from them regularly!
Well, we will see what happens in the next few weeks!Q

 

[vinylweatherman]

Betway and Gnuf were effectively taken over by Palace or Spin whichever way you want to describe them, over a year and a half ago, with major changes in managment at all levels, from being a predominantly Swedish run co to a S African run co.

In this respect, I have ALWAYS played them under the Palace group, since I only joined when they became accredited.

Hmm maybe thats why the offers stopped coming from noth betway and Gnuf, usually I get pretty decent matchbonuses from them regularly!
Well, we will see what happens in the next few weeks!Q

I am bonus banned at Palace Group, and since the "upgrade" last week, it seems this bonus ban has been extended to GNUF and Betway. This implies Palace Group do MORE than "support & marketing", they make decisions about players in GNUF and Betway based on their history at Palace Group. The only "sin" I am guilty of at Palace Group is BEING LUCKY, and on the SLOTS! My final run at Prime earned me a total bonus ban across the ENTIRE Palace Group, even though I was VIP at Ruby Fortune, where I had NOT been lucky at all, and was over £12K down.

What is REALLY silly, is that this week I got a snail mail from Palace Group inviting me to "join Spin Palace", where I received my FIRST bonus ban, and clearly already have an account "in poor standing". The mail was addressed to be by NAME, yet did not make any mention specifically that this offer would NOT apply to me. As an experienced player I "just know" it doesn't apply to me, because it offers a £1000 bonus, and I am so bonus banned there they even forget my Birthday and Christmas.

It looks like a definite goodbye to GNUF and Betway this month, probably the day before MGS release the "2 hours per casino" update - it'll save me up to 4 hours of thumb twiddling next week

Replacing them will be Intercasino, who have just offered me 100% up to £200, and with only a 20x WR (back to the good old days ).

 

[camilla]

oh noooo, not betway and gnuf (or gnuffybet I lovingly call them).

They were my favourite casinos, and had regular and lovely offers and paid out very quickly. I know by personal experience Palace Group takes a looonng time to pay out.

What is happening to online casinos? Seems to be heading towards true monopoly by a very select few groups who seems to swallow up everybody, its doing nothing for customer service and regular offers attractive to customers.

So is the manager for betway/gnuf here on casinomeister? Has anybody asked him/her about their weekly offers and if they will disappear?

 

[De Beuker]

oh noooo, not betway and gnuf (or gnuffybet I lovingly call them).

They were my favourite casinos, and had regular and lovely offers and paid out very quickly. I know by personal experience Palace Group takes a looonng time to pay out.

What is happening to online casinos? Seems to be heading towards true monopoly by a very select few groups who seems to swallow up everybody, its doing nothing for customer service and regular offers attractive to customers.

So is the manager for betway/gnuf here on casinomeister? Has anybody asked him/her about their weekly offers and if they will disappear?

I did send a PM to the Betway rep and asked him to reply in this thread, nothing so far, I guess he's busy.

Palace Group were not off to a good start, first the snailmail offer that had expired already, and last Tuesday I opted in for the new month bonus at Spin Palace, made a deposit of 34.- and the bonus was not credited.

Contacted support, (I HATE it when I have to beg for my bonus) they said there were technical difficulties, and the bonus would be credited 'later'.
Well, 48 hours and counting, and still nothing.
Guess I have to bug support.. again.

 

[Pulver]

Well aint this just great...

I was a VIP and did most of my play at two casinos, Casinoshare and Betway. First Betway gets taken over by Casinorewards and now Betway is taken over på Palace Group.

I always used to receive good and regular bonuses from Betway, but since I am bonusbanned from the Palace Group for having a large win, I guess that means no more bonuses from Betway from now on.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Well aint this just great...

I was a VIP and did most of my play at two casinos, Casinoshare and Betway. First Betway gets taken over by Casinorewards and now Betway is taken over på Palace Group.

I always used to receive good and regular bonuses from Betway, but since I am bonusbanned from the Palace Group for having a large win, I guess that means no more bonuses from Betway from now on.

Well, it DOES look like it for me too. I had a large win at Spin Palace, and got bonus banned just from there, but was still VIP with offers at Ruby Fortune. This all ended abruptly after a second big win at Prime, and the bonus ban became group wide. I know from experience what to expect from GNUF and Betway, and although there was not always a mid week offer, there was ALWAYS something that came along between Friday and Monday. Last week, NOTHING, and so far nothing this week. It looks like the offers shut down the very DAY this move happened, which was announced in advance as "improvements".

This consolidation is resulting in LESS choice, because players in a merged group are always allocated the LOWEST status, and lose any higher status earned at the group taken over.

It looked like I just made VIP at GNUF, and it lasted about a WEEK It's the same as all those Playshare VIPs who lost their status overnight last month.

Maybe Casino Rewards will take over Palace Group, which for me would be a GOOD thing

Maybe I will "save myself" for "Grand Slam of Slots II", which has just been announced by email from Sun Vegas, but seems to be MGS wide. I got given FOUR entries last time, completely FREE, so didn't even have to fork out the reduced price of $75 last time.

 

[Pulver]

Well, it DOES look like it for me too. I had a large win at Spin Palace, and got bonus banned just from there, but was still VIP with offers at Ruby Fortune. This all ended abruptly after a second big win at Prime, and the bonus ban became group wide. I know from experience what to expect from GNUF and Betway, and although there was not always a mid week offer, there was ALWAYS something that came along between Friday and Monday. Last week, NOTHING, and so far nothing this week. It looks like the offers shut down the very DAY this move happened, which was announced in advance as "improvements".

This consolidation is resulting in LESS choice, because players in a merged group are always allocated the LOWEST status, and lose any higher status earned at the group taken over.

It looked like I just made VIP at GNUF, and it lasted about a WEEK It's the same as all those Playshare VIPs who lost their status overnight last month.

Maybe Casino Rewards will take over Palace Group, which for me would be a GOOD thing

Maybe I will "save myself" for "Grand Slam of Slots II", which has just been announced by email from Sun Vegas, but seems to be MGS wide. I got given FOUR entries last time, completely FREE, so didn't even have to fork out the reduced price of $75 last time.

Well, I sure am glad I spent (lost) thousands at Betway the last few months to make sure that I was still at the same VIP level as before...

Same with me btw. I always received weekly promotions from Betway, but now it seems to have completely stopped..

Is there any Microgaming casinos left that will give you weekly promotions if you are a regular player and are a frequent depositor?

 

[De Beuker]

Again, no weekend promo's.
Looks like its really over.

Just like with every take over, the place becomes just another skin of the new group and you'll never hear a peep of them ever again.

Cant get my head around this.
To me, Betway looked like a rocksolid operation, one of the 'big boys' on the market, UK based sportsbook, 2 casinos, pokerroom, and they were one of the first who said they would obtain a licence for the Dutch market as soon as it would become regulated.

I would have been less surprised if Betway had taken over The Palace Group to be honest.

I've PMed the Betway rep. 3 days ago and asked what was going on but no reply, he has not been here since March 01.
Not a good sign either..

 

[camilla]

Thank you for sending a request to the betway rep, I would be so interested to see what he says about the changes.

Good luck with bugging live help about the bonus, I don't want to be rude, but I find a lot of live helpers not having a clue about most things. The times I have been on their case (for a few casinos, not only palace group) and received several different answers to the same question is mind boggling.
I'm sure you know more about your rights and the casinos terms and conditions than they do!

anyway, lets hope the betway rep gets back to us all with this question which seems to be bothering a lot of us fans of betway/gnuf )

 

[De Beuker]

Thank you for sending a request to the betway rep, I would be so interested to see what he says about the changes.

Good luck with bugging live help about the bonus, I don't want to be rude, but I find a lot of live helpers not having a clue about most things. The times I have been on their case (for a few casinos, not only palace group) and received several different answers to the same question is mind boggling.
I'm sure you know more about your rights and the casinos terms and conditions than they do!

anyway, lets hope the betway rep gets back to us all with this question which seems to be bothering a lot of us fans of betway/gnuf )

I got my bonus yesterday, I contacted support again and this time I had a really nice and friendly guy, he immediately saw what went wrong and added the bonus manually.
No idea why that other dude could not do that on monday, but whatever, case closed.
Losing the lot went alot faster!

Yes, lets just wait until we here from the rep.
If he still is the rep. ofcourse.. wont be till monday though.

 

[vinylweatherman]

I got my bonus yesterday, I contacted support again and this time I had a really nice and friendly guy, he immediately saw what went wrong and added the bonus manually.
No idea why that other dude could not do that on monday, but whatever, case closed.
Losing the lot went alot faster!

Yes, lets just wait until we here from the rep.
If he still is the rep. ofcourse.. wont be till monday though.

In the past, even if the email didn't arrive, the bonus was present in the banking page, and could be claimed there. The "upgrade" has REMOVED this facility for checking whether a bonus has been offered, and I have checked the lobby to confirm this is really a case of no more offers, rather than the emails going astray.

It seems they have truly stopped their current promotional program, which really DOES make it look like a full on takeover by Palace Group, rather than an internal revamp by Betway/GNUF (which is how it was presented to players).

I fail to see how a REMOVAL of the weekend promotions is in any way an IMPROVEMENT to the product. If it is merely a glitch, they should have communicated this to players, so that they could expect the "improvements" to appear later on.

The lobby too is devoid of any promotional notifications, and seems to have reverted to a "default template" that would come with any new MGS casino. There are no brand specific tournaments either, just the usual MGS stuff.

The ONLY "improvement" so far has been the reinstatement of the remaining two AWP games that were "lost" from the download version in December 2009.

I stuck £25 into GNUF to see if they were in any way "hot", but they were close to 0 Kelvin, pretty disappointing.

 

[De Beuker]

Did you notice the meters have all been reset to 80, all the slots are at their default values again, and I'm pretty sure I had a few passports on TRII, and those are also gone.
Yup, great 'improvements'.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Did you notice the meters have all been reset to 80, all the slots are at their default values again, and I'm pretty sure I had a few passports on TRII, and those are also gone.Yup, great 'improvements'.

That's a clear sign of a takeover. Happened to me when CR took over Playshare.

It hardly gives much confidence in the software, because this is STEALING from players, because these things DO have value, as they represent progress towards a bonus round.

This removal of passports, coins, etc has become VERY COMMON of late. The FIRST time I saw it was at King Neptunes, and their excuse was "technical issue". They also told me it might happen again, and now we have PROOF that there is this SERIOUS shortcoming with MGS software.

It seems to happen when an account is deleted, and recreated on a new server. This usually happens when a casino is taken over, and the servers for the new group are in a different jurisdiction. It happened with Playshare because CR servers are in Kahnawake, and Playshare servers were not. The problem is in data transfer, no process is in place to preserve "state" during the porting of a player account between servers.


The funny thing is that the AWP games did NOT seem to lose their "state", and reset to the factory defaults. This is evidence that they are not running from the main casino server, and are possibly NOT running from the correct jurisdiction either

My firewall also suggests the MGS AWP games try to make contact with a different IP address than the other games, and I get this whenever I install a casino that has not yet been configured in the security software. I recently changed to security software provided free with my broadband, and it no longer issues these warnings (I bet I could have this as a settings option though).

I think in the end the rep will merely confirm what we have already figured out.

 

[XOXOXOXOXOX]

i see more deposit methods that are typical for MG but gnuf did not have them before. TS2 achievements are wipe out too. oh well, I never could hit anything at gnuf anyway, much luckier at palace group. I just hope its really them and not some shady operator.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Just got a new set of promos today, in the nick of time too, as it is "update or uninstall" review time.

Both are 30% up to 600, and the claim form is a PALACE GROUP claim form, and the TERMS for the bonuses have been CHANGED to match those of Palace Group. It means players have NO excluded games any longer, but have the 30% max of bonus balance betting rule defined slightly differently.

The terms also refer to "cashback on losses" promos, and these are something Betway and GNUF have NEVER done before, so if one of these comes along, it is pretty much proof absolute that these are now being run by Palace Group, rather than Betway.

Seems they have forgotten they bonus banned me a couple of years ago too

UNFORTUNATELY, my Neteller account has been "disarmed" by Fortune Lounge over a failed attempt on a few MPV tournaments, I only got back £800. My withdrawal from Lucky Emperor almost all went back to my card, and will not be available in time.

 

[De Beuker]

I got that offer too.
And I got exactle the same one from Spin Palace..

Still waiting for the Betway rep. to comment on this, but he has not been here ever since March 01.
I'm afraid he's no longer the Betway rep.

Why are these take overs always surrounded with such an air of mystery?

 

[vinylweatherman]

I got that offer too.
And I got exactle the same one from Spin Palace..

Still waiting for the Betway rep. to comment on this, but he has not been here ever since March 01.
I'm afraid he's no longer the Betway rep.

Why are these take overs always surrounded with such an air of mystery?

Hopefully we will find out, but we STILL don't know what REALLY happened in the CR takeover of Playshare, other than an admission that it took place, something yet to be explained by either Betway or Palace Group.

If this is merely an upgrade as claimed, then the SAME STAFF would still work there, give or take a couple, and there would STILL be a Betway rep.

This is either a FULL takeover, or Betway and GNUF have become like Prime casino, completely run and controlled by Palace Group, but not OWNED by them.

This would have enabled Betway to get rid of all their CS and promotions staff, a considerable saving, leaving only the owners. For players, this would mean the loss of ALL the contacts they had previously used, and all queries would now be dealt with by the Palace group staff, and all promotions would follow the Palace Group format, and this is what has happened so far.

 

[De Beuker]

Now I'm really puzzled..
Just received a mail from GNUF, announcing some exiting changes in their casino. Erm, ok.

Dear XXXX,

We are delighted to announce that Gnuf is now a member of the Betway Group!

As a Betway Group player you can look forward to fantastic bonuses and promotions, life changing jackpots and the very highest standard of gaming software available anywhere.

Should you have any queries, do not hesitate to contact support@gnuf.com. We hope you will enjoy the benefits of this new partnership and that you'll come and play with us soon!


Nothing about the Palace Group.
And Betway/GNUF have always been Betway/GNUF, they were sistercasinos from the start.
Now what exactly are the 'exiting changes'?

I made a small deposit at Betway tonight, took up on a 40% offer, and payments are made to Betway/GNUF, and not to Palace Group, like when you deposit at Prime.

The only exiting change I found was that the slots paid pretty damn good tonight, so if thats the change, I'm more than happy with it.

Cashed $330.- so lets see if they have done any exiting changes to the cashout process as well.

The Betway rep. is still AWOL... no reply to my PM, last login March 01.

 

[hausse222]

The only "exiting change" i noticed is that i deposited and its not credited due to technical errors
By the way, all promotional emails and the bonus T&C are identical to the palacegroup...