BuddyBet secures $3M to make online gambling social

BuddyBet, Prague-based online gambling company, has secured $3 million in funding from private investors to propel its social-focused betting site.

The company distinguishes itself from traditional online gambling and gaming websites by allowing people to bet against other BuddyBet users instead of playing against the site itself. It emphasizes the social element of betting — something that is often lost when taking gambling from the casino to the computer.

BuddyBet focuses exclusively on sports betting, but is anticipating growth into other markets in the future.

Three types of betting are allowed on the site: direct user-to-user bets, open market bets, and external link bets that allow users to post links via their social networks to hold friends and followers to back up their trash-talking. The site offers alternative ways to cash out by giving users the opportunity to bet for BuddyBucks or simply the satisfaction of winning.

BuddyBet is the latest online betting platform to capitalize on the growing trend of online gaming. In recent months, states have passed laws to allow online gambling, with New Jersey joining Nevada and Delaware as the latest state to relax virtual betting laws.

Other sites like Betable are seeing the opportunity of turning traditional online games into actual moneymakers. Betable has seen great success in converting online gamers into online gamblers, and with regulatory standards falling both in the U.S. and abroad, it is anticipated that this growth will continue.

BuddyBet founder and CEO Jarrod Epps has a broad background in sporting and business ventures and launched BuddyBet in August 2012.

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