On March 2, 888 Holdings PLC announced the promotion of Itai Frieberger to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Frieberger began working for 888 in 2003, and had been Chief Operating Officer (COO) of 888 since April 2011, and a board member since May 2015. He has worked in the areas of business development and marketing, and had the title Senior Vice President of Product Technologies.
Brian Mattingly has been running the company as “Executive Chairman” since May 2015, and immediately becomes Non-Executive Chairman. He remains Chairman of the Board of 888. He expressed delight with Frieberger taking over, citing how he would take the company to a new chapter. According to Mattingly, Frieberger and 888’s Chief Financial Officer, Aviad Kobrine, would work together to grow the company. It has excellent products for the online gaming market, unique technology 888 owns and solid back office and customer service.
Frieberger said the promotion was an honor, and he would build on the company’s success. The online gaming market continues to grow around the world. He has been with the company for over ten years, and helped 888 enter several regulated markets. In February, 888 applied for approval to make Frieberger the CEO with the regulatory agencies in countries where it holds licenses.
888 was launched in 1997 by Aaron Shaked and Avi Shaked and Ron and Shay Ben-Yitzhak as “Virtual Holdings Limited”. It has been a leader in the online gaming industry ever since. It launched Casino-on-Net right away in Antiqua. Later, in 2002, they opened the doors on Pacific Poker and Reef Club Casino, then moved the center of operations to Gibraltar, where it operates under a gaming license under the government of Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. They acquired Globalcom Limited’s bingo business for over $43 million.
It’s listed on the London Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol 888 and is included in the FTSE 250 Index. Over half of its business comes from casino operations. However, it also operates poker, sports books and bingo. Their casinos have over 25 million registered users in 13 countries, and their platform is available in 17 languages. All of their casinos have mobile platforms. They provide free apps for IOS and Android users.
Among the online gaming brands they own are 888poker, 888casino and 888sports.
In 2015, Gaming Intelligence awarded 888casino Casino Operator of the Year. It’s won many similar awards over the years from Global Gaming Awards, EGR Awards and Totally Gaming Awards.
They launched 888sports in 2009, and they make sports wagering as easy as possible. The site provides odds on hundreds of sports games every day. Players can also watch many events through live streaming. The site offers a Treble the Odds welcome bonus to new bettors.
888 also owns Mytopia, a studio for developing online games. It develops games for 888 to use on its proprietary gambling platforms, but also games for Facebook and mobile platforms, including Governor of Poker 3, Backgammon Live and others. It has also turned classic casino games into mobile apps that can be played for free on Facebook, IOS and Android, no gambling involved. Mytopia’s Bingo Island was one of Facebook’s first offered bingo games.
