The founder of the 1xBet platform, Roman Semiokhin, and his partners are probably capable of earning hundreds of millions legally. However, the criminal gene in them and their innate greed constantly lead them to illegal forms of activity.
Price issue
The online gambling market size is estimated at $93.26 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $153.21 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 10.44% during the forecast period (2024-2029).
Today, most of the world’s population has access to the Internet. Increasing smartphone penetration is also leading to an increase in mobile app-based lottery games as they provide end users with the convenience and comfort of gambling in their own space. Casino gambling has become one of the fast growing gambling categories due to its ease of use and optimal user experience. To cater to the interests of different players, online gambling platforms offer a variety of games such as slot machines, poker and sports betting.
Research shows that sports betting is popular all over the world, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, there has been an increase in the popularity of instant draw and scratch games, especially in European countries, which has a significant impact on the growth of the market. According to the European Gaming and Betting Association, gross online gambling winnings in Europe in 2022 amounted to €29.3 billion. With the advent of virtual reality and blockchain, various companies are focusing on promoting innovative platforms to meet customer demands and needs and achieve a competitive advantage in the market. For example, in July 2023, Kindred launched its own technology platform in Pennsylvania, USA. The company offers access to the Unibet Casino and Sportsbook apps on the Kindred platform.
As for the capacity of the legal market in the Russian Federation, according to the Unified Gambling Regulator (URAI), which is authorized to control the activities of all bookmaking companies, the volume of bets accepted by Russian legal bookmakers in 2023 amounted to 1.224 trillion rubles. Of these, 1.158 trillion rubles. accounted for the online segment, the remaining 65.6 billion rubles. — for cash bets at reception points. A year earlier, the total revenue of bookmakers amounted to 879.2 billion rubles, that is, an increase of 39%.
There are no prohibitions
The owners of online bookmakers 1xBet and 1xStavka could also claim a worthy piece of this multi-billion dollar pie. Despite the fact that it is very difficult to document the ultimate beneficiaries of 1xBet, since the ownership structure consists of offshore companies registered in nominal names, the media and law enforcement agencies have still decided on the names of the owners. This is primarily the founder of the office Roman Semiokhinas well as his two partners – Sergey Karshkov And Dmitry Kazorin.
These three considered that the cash flows of legal gambling were too small for them, and went to the illegal market for even greater earnings.
Now the company’s activities are prohibited in a number of countries around the world. 1xBet is prohibited from operating in Russia, the company’s activities have been suspended in the UK and Morocco. Its parent company, 1XCorp NV, was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands after failing to pay bets, and was sanctioned by Ukraine last year due to links to Russia.
A criminal case has been opened against the bookmaker in Morocco. In addition, in Russia a criminal case has been opened against the owners of the company, and they themselves have been wanted for several years.
However, these minor troubles do not prevent 1xBet from thriving and developing its illegal activities under the guise of legal forms of bookmaking business. To avoid criminal prosecution in the Russian Federation, Semiokhin, Karshkov and Kazorin simply moved from gray Bryansk to sunny Cyprus. There they relaunched the 1xBet brand and turned it into one of the most famous and profitable online gaming platforms in the world.
A recent investigation into the bookmaker 1xBet revealed illegal activities in organizing rigged and fixed games, including in countries where the platform is completely banned. It also turned out that 1xBet violates the existing ban on betting on matches involving minors.
In October, Bellingcat published the results of a joint investigation with football detectives Josimar and found that 24-hour broadcasts of amateur sports games, from football to ping pong, were taking place in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine – three countries where 1xBet is banned.
Players are particularly attracted to 1xBet’s range of amateur football games. The Bitcoin-friendly casino hires former professional football players and amateurs to play in the endless stream of matches broadcast by the bookmaker. The same young people work in shifts for several hours at a time. They manage to play several matches in one shift. In the intervals between games, they change into the uniform of the other team and go out onto the court again. The teams are given the names of football giants – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, etc. Players are usually paid in cash.
These matches are not necessarily always fixed. Often the bookmaker in such competitions does not care who wins. However, the results of these games, depending on the objectives, are usually regulated by the organizers. For example, football players receive instructions on how many goals to score and concede.
Game pipeline
All these “competitions” are broadcast on 1xBet websites and mirrors. Bellingcat’s analysis of the 1xBet website showed that in September, 1,297 games of so-called “short football” (amateur teams consisting of two, three, four or five players playing matches of 10 or 12 minutes on small fields of varying sizes) were broadcast within 24 hours. .
In comparison, the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga play a total of 1,066 league games per season. If these figures reflect 1xBet’s daily output, then the number of amateur football matches broadcast on the gambling site each year would be almost half a million.
And this model was reproduced on an industrial scale. 1xBet broadcasts videos from different places where other non-professional tournaments are held, ranging from basketball, volleyball and floorball to hockey, tennis, table tennis. Games take place in warehouses and converted arenas.
The online bookmaker accepts bets on all these events, as well as esports, casinos, world politics and weather, 24 hours a day. SimilarWeb, a web traffic tracking company, estimates that the average number of visits to 1xBet is more than five million per month. But 1xBet’s global presence is much larger. Its mirror sites, available in other jurisdictions, receive millions more visits.
Catching and manipulating clients
1xBet uses mirrors and redirects to facilitate access to its online gambling platforms in countries where its main URL or application is blocked or unlicensed. 1xBet gets most of its traffic from illegal streaming. Pirated movies, TV shows and live broadcasts of sporting events have become a massive route for bookmakers to recruit customers. The “amateur sports” broadcasts described above are used for the same purpose.
According to Yield Sec, which monitors the online gambling and streaming markets, 1xBet’s “love” for live broadcasts of amateur games has intensified during the pandemic, when major sporting events have been cancelled. However, the amount of bets and income generated from 1xBet amateur sports broadcasts is minimal.
The goal, analysts said, was to engage and motivate audiences using whatever content was available, especially content that could grab attention and get users into the game through social media and chat. The goal is to cross-sell higher-value gambling products such as high-value live sporting events, slots and casino games to players on the platform.
“We investigate illegal streaming every day for various companies and find that 1xBet is a leading advertiser of illegally sponsored streaming content – content that is effectively stolen from rights owners and offered “for free” to viewers. says Yield Sec CEO Ismail Wali.
According to him, 1xBet is the largest of dozens of international illegal gambling operators. “1xBet is the most widespread brand, the most accessible brand, the most discussed brand on the Internet in the field of gambling. Their scale amounts to tens of billions in terms of revenue.”says Vali.
He added that these gambling operators have become “masters of manipulating audience behavior”and that their strategies revolve around profitability, without regard to consumer safety, regulation, taxation. When crime makes money, it does not invest it in socially significant processes, taxes, pensions, it does not invest it in the community. “Crime simply invests in more crime.”says the head of Yield Sec.
