Industry News

Party time at Empire
Online poker giant PartyGaming has put an end to its litigation with Empire Online after agreeing to pay $250 million (£144 million) in cash to its small rival in return for acquiring its EmpirePoker.com skin and other associated white-label agreements relating to AceClub.com and StarluckCasino.com. The agreement also includes the withdrawal of all legal claims by Empire.



The dispute arose after PartyGaming announced last October that it would stop Empire's gamblers from playing alongside its own pool of 9 million customers.



Empire, meanwhile, said it reaffirms its expectation that continuing businesses will contribute $37 million of net profit in the year ending in December.



Red in the Black
Online gaming firm 32Red, with most of its customers based in the UK, said a 339 percent increase in poker revenues had helped it earn a £2.04 million profit during their last trading year.



Cashing Out

Chief Executive Richard Segal has cashed in his chips as chief executive of the online poker group PartyGaming, pocketing more than £30 million for less than two years of work.



He will leave the company no later than June 1 after refusing to uproot his young family from their home in London and relocate to Gibraltar, where PartyGaming is based.



"My family comes first," said Segal, 43, a former Odeon Cinemas chief who joined PartyGaming in August 2004 and led its £4.64 billion float last June.



Expensive T-Shirts
Manchester United looks to have netted a world record £60 million shirt sponsorship deal, underlining the club's star still shines bright in the world of business, and the online poker business continues to grow apace.



Despite losing ground on the field to Chelsea in the Premiership and being usurped by Real Madrid as the richest football club in the world by revenue, the Reds will prove the strength of the United brand with a deal with online gaming firm Mansion and, specifically, its Mansionpoker.com site.



United sources say nothing has yet been finalised, but they are confident the deal will be concluded by the summer.



Fred Betting on a Million

Betfred, the UK's largest independent bookmaker, has launched the UK's biggest online poker tournament, worth $1 million in prize money, at its betfredpoker.com site, claimed to be the fastest growing in Europe.



Fred Done, who is the founder and chairman of the company, commented: "Poker is the real growth area of my business and I want to give my customers the chance to take part in something special, with the chance to win big money."



Fred, who is famous for his early payout on Man United in 1998 and his £1 million wager on United vs. Chelsea in the 2004-2005 season, added: "I always like to do something a bit different that will get the punters excited. I am taking a risk by guaranteeing a million dollars in prize money, but that just adds to the buzz of the event."



Betfred is hoping that the event will have around 1,000 players in the final on June 4. The winner will pocket around $350,000, with the top 100 all receiving substantial cash prizes.



Betfred held two special charity launch nights for the event, in Manchester and Glasgow, with celebrities, journalists, and customers competing for a £1,000 first prize.



Manchester's event was won by Robert Leigh, a customer who has already pocketed £17,000 (and asked his girlfriend for her hand in marriage) courtesy of BetfredPoker.



The Glasgow winner was criminal lawyer and high-ranking poker player Bob Mitchell, who defeated darts player Peter Manley, snooker's Stephen Maguire, and Betfred poker customer Stephen McKay, who recently won $55,000 playing online at Betfred.