Russia witnessed the launch of its third officially approved online sports betting site this week.

Winline, which operates 11 retail betting shops in major Russian cities, launched its Winlinebet.ru site this week. The site follows Liga Stavok and 888.ru, which launched in February and June, respectively, as the first authorized sites under Russia’s new sports betting regime.

Like those other two sites, Winlinebet.ru processes its payments via the TSUPIS centralized hub, which requires a three-stage registration process. To open a Winline account, punters have to first sign up with the betting site, then register online with TSUPIS, then physically present their passports at a Euroset mobile phone retail outlet, after which they’ll be allowed to make their first deposit – by check.

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