Betstar

Last updated
Betstar
Industry Online Betting
Bookmaking
Sports Betting
Founded Melbourne & Darwin, Australia (2007 (2007))
Founders Michael Eskander, Alan Eskander
Headquarters
Brisbane & Darwin
,
Australia
Area served
Australia
RevenueIncrease2.svg A$275.94  million (2012)
Number of employees
40 (2012)
Website betstar.com.au

Betstar (also known as Eskander's Betstar) established in 2007, [1] is an Australian Corporate Bookmaking firm that are based and established within Melbourne and Darwin. BetStar were acquired by British bookmakers Ladbrokes Coral (formerly Ladbrokes) in 2014. [2] In 2018, Ladbrokes Coral (and therefore Betstar) were acquired by gaming group Entain (formerly GVC Holdings). [3]

Contents

Betstar employ 40+ staff split between the Melbourne & Darwin offices. Betstar turns over in excess of $275 million per year.

Founders

Betstar was founded by father and son bookmakers, Michael & Alan Eskander who had both been operating as independent bookmakers before merging the two businesses together. [4] In October 2009 Eskander's Betstar was announced as a Business Review Weekly Fast 100 company, the BRW Fast 100 ranks companies with according to their average annual turnover growth over three years

Michael Eskander

Michael Eskander emigrated to Australia from Egypt in July 1966, working as a bank teller initially and moving onto a number of industries before being exposed to bookmaking. [5] Michael was awarded his licence over 17 years ago. [6] After being granted his licence, Michael worked his way to become one of Australia's most prominent and well respected bookmakers. Michael Eskander was known for being a bookie to a number of Australian identities including Kerry Packer, whom once placed A$400,000 bet on Jezabeel via Eskander in the 1998 Melbourne Cup. [7]

Alan Eskander

Alan Eskander, son of Michael was educated at Trinity Grammar School, Kew and later achieved a bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Economics. Alan received his first bookmaker's licence in 1997 and started fielding at country race tracks, three years later Alan was granted his Metropolitan rails licence. Alan is a registered member of the Victorian Bookmakers Association. [8] Betstar are known for their authoritativeness as a source in many of Melbourne's newspapers about sporting & horse racing betting odds.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bookmaker</span> Organization or person that takes bets on sporting events

A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.

A betting exchange is a marketplace for customers to bet on the outcome of discrete events. Betting exchanges offer the same opportunities to bet as a bookmaker with a few differences. Gamblers can buy and sell the outcome, and they can trade in real-time throughout the event, either to cut their losses or lock in profit. Bookmaker operators generate revenue by offering less efficient odds. Betting exchanges normally generate revenue by charging a small commission on winning bets.

Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Dublin, alongside a satellite office in Malta. In February 2016, Paddy Power merged with Betfair to create Flutter Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ladbrokes Coral</span> British-based betting and gambling company

Ladbrokes Coral is a British gambling company founded in 1886. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The Ladbrokes portion of the group was established in 1886, and Coral in 1926. In November 2016, the companies merged to create Ladbrokes Coral Group. Since March 2018, it has been owned by Entain. Prior to its sale, Ladbrokes Coral was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a member of the FTSE 250 Index.

partypoker is an online poker card room. Launched in 2001 by PartyGaming, the site has had up to 80,000 players logged-in and was the largest online card room until 2006. In 2011 PartyGaming merged with bwin to form Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment. As of 2017, it remains among the largest online poker card rooms. The site was endorsed by Mike Sexton, the former host of the World Poker Tour television show. The domain partypoker.com attracted at least 3.6 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study. In 2016, after a protracted bidding process between 888 Holdings and GVC Holdings, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment accepted GVC Holdings' bid for £1.1 billion. Today, the site is run by GVC Holdings and is available in 14 different languages. In addition to partypoker.com, partypoker also offers dedicated networks for French and Italian based players via partypoker.fr and partypoker.it, respectively. GVC Holdings also acquired PartyCasino during the 2011 merger of Party Gaming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gala Bingo</span> British casino company

Gala Bingo is an online bingo and casino offering under the ownership of Entain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Totalisator Agency Board</span> Gambling agencies in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa

The Totalisator Agency Board, universally shortened to TAB or T.A.B., is the name given to monopoly totalisator organisations in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They operate betting shops and online betting. They were originally government owned, but in Australia most have been privatised. In Victoria, for instance, the Victorian Totalisator Agency Board began operating in March 1961 as a state enterprise, and was privatised in 1994.

Coral is a chain of betting shops in the United Kingdom, owned by Entain. The Coral business was established by Joe Coral in 1926. It grew into an entertainment conglomerate before undergoing a series of ownership changes starting in 1981. As of 2015, Coral had 1,845 shops across the country.

Helen Monica Mabel Vernet (1875–1956) was the first woman in the history of horse racing in Great Britain to be granted a license to legally carry out business as a bookmaker on a racecourse.

William Stanley Waterhouse was an Australian bookmaker, businessman and barrister. Waterhouse was also Tonga's honorary Consul-General in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Waterhouse</span> Australian businessman (born 1982)

Thomas Robert Waterhouse is an Australian businessman, Chief Investment Officer of Waterhouse VC, Director of TomWaterhouse.com, co-founder of investment firm ListedReserve.com. He is the fourth generation of the Waterhouse racing dynasty and the grandson of one of the first official bookmakers in Australia.

Alan Eskander is an Australian entrepreneur and licensed bookmaker who together with his father, Michael Eskander, founded the Australian bookmaking company Betstar in 2007. Eskander lives in Melbourne, though travels to the Northern Territory for business.

James Joseph Mullen is a Scottish businessman, the chief executive (CEO) of Reach plc, the UK's largest commercial news publisher, with titles including the Daily Mirror, the Daily Express and InYourArea. He is the former CEO of Ladbrokes, the high street betting chain.

Entain plc, formerly GVC Holdings, is an international sports betting and gambling company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It owns brands such as bwin, Coral, Ladbrokes, PartyPoker and Sportingbet.

The Dagenham Coup was an incident that took place at Dagenham Greyhound Stadium on 30 June 1964.

Kenneth Jack (Kenny) Alexander is a British businessman, and was the chief executive (CEO) of GVC Holdings, a gambling company based in the Isle of Man, from 2007 to 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betting on horse racing</span>

Betting on horse racing or horse betting commonly occurs at many horse races. Modern horse betting started in Great Britain in the early 1600s during the reign of King James I. Gamblers can stake money on the final placement of the horses taking part in a race. Gambling on horses is, however, prohibited at some racetracks. For example, because of a law passed in 1951, betting is illegal in Springdale Race Course, home of the nationally renowned Toronto-Dominion Bank Carolina Cup and Colonial Cup Steeplechase in Camden, South Carolina.

Lee Michael Feldman is an American lawyer and businessman. Feldman is the managing partner of the private equity firm, Twin Lakes Capital Management, LLC. and the former chairman of GVC Holdings, the FTSE 100 Index gambling conglomerate.

Shay Segev is a business executive in the technology sector and the CEO of DAZN, the over-the-top (OTT) sports subscription streaming service. Described by Gaming Intelligence as a tech “futurist”, Segev is the former chief executive of Entain plc, previously GVC Holdings, a global sports betting and gambling company listed on the London FTSE 100 index. Before that he was chief operating officer of Playtech, a gambling software development company listed on London's FTSE 250.

References

  1. ↑ "Betstar Bookmakers". Pro Racing Group. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "Ladbrokes set to acquire Australian sportsbook - Eskander Betstar". SBC News. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "GVC completes Ladbrokes Coral takeover". IGaming Business. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  4. ↑ Switzer, Peter. "Eskanders: life in the fast lane". Grow Your Business. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  5. ↑ Topsfield, Jewel (October 18, 2012). "Against the Odds". The Age. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "Michael Eskander Victorian Bookmakers Association". Victorian Bookmakers Association. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  7. ↑ Topsfield, Jewel (October 18, 2008). "Against the Odds". The Age. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Alan Eskander | Victorian Bookmakers' Association". VBA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.