Kindred Group, formerly Unibet Group took home the online poker operator award at the recently concluded International Gaming Awards (IGA) 2018.
The gaming industry’s annual IGA was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London earlier this month and all of the top iGaming operators and executives from the industry where in attendance to recognize the best players and contributors in the gaming industry.
Among the 25 awardees of the night was the Kindred Group, who took home their first Poker Operator of the Year award.
One of the key factors that gave Kindred the award was their excellent poker platform at Unibet Poker and PokeriHuone which was developed by Relax Gaming.
International Gaming Awards Official
Relax Gaming is a multi-awarded software solutions company that provides software for several gaming operators, its most recent award coming from Gaming Intelligence for the past two years as Poker Supplier of the Year. Relax Gaming worked with the Unibet Poker site in December 2016 as the online poker room implemented a new bespoke technology to run its games.
Much of the development of Unibet Poker came in 2014 when the then Unibet Group migrated away from the Microgaming Poker Network to form its very own Kindred Group in 2016. Since their rebranding, Kindred has pioneered partnerships with companies such as Relax Gaming, Thunderkick, and the Swedish BankID. They also purchased Bingo.com for $8 million and its UK-facing rival 32Red for $219 million.
Kindred’s new direction has worked well for the company and in 2017 they posted record revenue and profit. In the three months ending September 30, 2017, Unibet Poker posted a 36 percent spike in revenue amounting to £193.6 million. The company also set record earnings at £46.8 million, up 38 percent from the same period in 2016.
The increase in revenue and profits came mostly from the platform overhaul, which included a repeal of the former loyalty system and the introduction of Missions and Challenges to “gamify” online poker and reach out to the recreational and beginner poker players. Unibet Poker also were the first ones to take security measures against scripting software that allows poker sharks to “bum-hunt” casual players and cash on their inexperience.
In a statement, David Pomroy Unibet’s Head of Poker said
We are happy that Kindred has been recognized for helping to push online poker in a positive, much-needed direction. This is very much a passion project for all involved and only motivates us further to continue on a path which we feel brings real value to poker players, new and established alike
