Changes

While other popular betting shops were slow to transition into the online market Denise Coates anticipated it's popularity. In January 2000 she purchased the Bet365.com domain name off eBay for £10,000. Her father mortgaged the Provincial Racing chain to receive a £15,000,000 loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland. That money was used to develop the software that the website would operate on. After over a year of preparations Bet365 went live on March 2001with only 12 employees. === 2001-2004: Website growth === In order to set themselves apart from competing betting sites Bet365 began offering lines that were not available at other sports books. Lower division football, tennis, rugby, motor sports, international basketball, and European hockey did not have lines readily available in 2001 as they did today. Bet365 was the first online betting site to offer betting markets in these leagues. This ensured that customers always had something to bet on regardless of the time of day. Bet365 were one of the first online bookmakers to offer [[Bet365_signup_bonus_and_promo_code|signup bonuses]] to customers. These differences allowed them to enjoy rapid growth in the early stages of Internet gambling. === 2004-2006: Bet365 poker === Internet poker rose in popularity following Chris Moneymaker's 2003 World Series of Poker victory. In November 2004 Bet365 partnered with the [[Microgaming Poker Network]]. Customers found it convenient to use one balance for sports betting, horse racing, casino games, and now poker. In 2007 Bet365 switched their poker platform to [[Playtech]]'s [[iPoker]] network. Bet365 continued to develop their influence in the sports betting market by offering live streams of events in 2006. === 2006-2007: Acquisition of Bowmans === Bet365 purchased the online betting site Bowmans.com in November 2006. Bowmans was the first bookmaker to offer legal over-the-phone wagering to customers in the United States. Bet365 would soon exit the US market around the time of this acquisition. Bowmans still had a significant international customer base who's accounts were migrated over to Bet365 in 2007. === 2008-2010: Bingo additions === Bingo was added to the Bet365 platform in 2008. The service was powered by Playtech's Virtue Fusion software which was being used to power many of the top online bingo services at the time including [[Ruby Bingo]], [[William Hill]] and [[PaddyPower]]. Bet365 promoted their new service by through advertisement campaigns that aired during soap operas. === 2010-2013: Mobile === Today Bet365 is known for having one of the most user friendly mobile platforms in the industry. Denise Coates anticipated the demand for device compatibility in 2010 when they launched their first mobile site. By 2011 Bet365 had already live streamed over 18,000 unique events and had become the largest employer in Stoke with nearly 2000 employees. In 2012 the betting giant continued to grow their influence in the mobile market by releasing their first app and opening their services to Australia, Denmark, and Spain. By 2013 Bet365 had broken the 10,000,000 customer milestone. === 2014-present: Expansion === In 2014 Bet365 released the [[cash out]] feature allowing customers to instantly settle their bets in progress. Active wagers are graded against the current prices of in-play markets. At the same time Bet365 began accepting customers from Italy and restructured their business into a hub which operated out of Gibraltar. Offices for the company's headquarters in Stoke opened up in 2016, with further offices starting up in Manchester, England and Sofia, Bulgaria.