Virgin shuts novelty betting site

Virgin has closed Virgin Bets, its sports betting service, less than a year after it launched.

In a notice, Virgin says the site will be shut down for the short term and ultimately replaced by a "new and improved betting product".

Created in association with Betfair, Virgin Bets was launched in May 2007 with the aim of targeting casual gamblers.

It specialised in novelty betting on X Factor, Big Brother etc, as well as offering odds on Premiership football, cricket and other sports.

A Virgin spokesman told E-consultancy:

"Virgin Games is in the process of building a one wallet account across its products to further enhance players’ online gaming experience. However, the objective is to re-launch a new version of the Virgin Bets service – one that can exceed customer expectations – and we will make further announcements on this when appropriate."

Related stories:
Punters let down by online gambling sites
Deval in disguised attempt to ban internet gambling 

Add to Del.icio.us  |  Digg this  |  Add to reddit  |  Add to Y! MyWeb