Industry News

Dutch Spend on Online Gambling Doubles as Legal Threat Looms

Dutch gamblers spent €450 million on online gambling, including poker, in 2008, doubling their spend since 2005.
A survey by Motivaction found 485,000 regular online bettors in the country, most of them young and many of them poker players. The average spend was €82 per month.

The report said addiction clinic Jellinek has called for the regulation of online gaming - currently the Dutch government does not allow gambling online - saying that "the current ban for players and sites does not work".

Earlier in January, Dutch Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin told members of parliament that online gaming sites, including online poker sites which have refused to shut down, now face legal action.

Poker is regulated and run by the government in the Netherlands, and the justice ministry confirmed to news agency ANP that both Dutch and foreign-based companies would be targeted in the crackdown.

The ministry also confirmed that it was going to warn banks that having gambling sites as customers was illegal.

Doyle's Room Joins Cake Network

DoylesRoom.com, the online poker site fronted by poker veteran Doyle Brunson, has moved its online poker room to the Cake Poker Network. The move will come as a blow to the Microgaming network (formerly Prima network) which recently signed up Carlos Poker.

Last year Microgaming restricted access to the U.S. market by moving out of 13 states. Cake Poker Network accepts players from all U.S. states, as well as European players.

Brunson, ambassador for the site, said, "We wanted to offer our players a rewarding place to play and the liquidity and integrity associated with the Cake Poker Network made this an easy choice for our new partnership."

888.com Poker Revenue Slumps in 2008

888.com, the publicly-quoted owner of Pacific Poker, saw revenue, numbers, and net revenue per poker player decline in 2008 with the slump most dramatic between October and December.

Net gaming revenue from poker fell 6 percent to $76 million in 2008 from $81 in 2007, while figures for the fourth quarter to end December 2008 showed more dramatic drops.

Net gaming revenue for poker during this period fell 25 percent to $16 million from $21 million in the same period of 2007, while the number of active customers dropped 7 percent to 18,557.

Net gaming revenue per active poker customer fell 19 percent to $101 compared to the October to December period of 2007.
This was despite the company's poker client being released in 11 new languages including Japanese, Greek, Russian, and also eastern European languages.

However, it was not all doom and gloom for the Israeli-based operator with total operating income across all businesses up 21 percent to US$263 million from $217 million for the full year as casino continued to perform well, with revenue growing 13 percent for the year to $134 million.

iPoker Network Revenue Soars to Over €30 Million

The iPoker network, home to online poker rooms like PaddyPowerPoker, Titan, Boylepoker, and BlueSqPoker, has announced fourth quarter 2008 revenue of €8.6 million, up 43 percent on the same quarter of 2007.

Total revenue for the Israeli-based poker network hit €30.1 million in 2008, up 73 percent on the €17.4 million generated in 2007.
Publicly-quoted parent company Playtech saw total revenue for 2008 total €111.5 million, a jump of 70 percent on the €65.7 million earned in 2007. The balance was made up of casino revenues which leapt 68 percent to €79.4 million.

Playtech entered the regulated Italian poker market at the end of December and the company's interim report said of the move, "Current results indicate that the Italian poker network has proven to be significantly revenue enhancing and above management's expectations."

Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech said of the key performance indicators, "Once again we have enjoyed a successful quarter both operationally and strategically as we continue to grow the business and make the most of the opportunities presenting themselves."

Gala Casinos British Poker Tour Folds

The Gala Casinos British Poker Tour will not return in 2009. The Tour, which was to have entered season three this year, has been cancelled, and in a statement the company said, "While we have had two fantastic years running the… Tour, we've now decided to look at a number of new events and promotions for 2009."

The event had proved popular among UK players as a value alternative to the £1,000 buy in Grosvenor UK Poker Tour which was its main competitor.

The GCBPT main event was won by veteran British pro Alan Vinson in 2008 and Hendon Mobster Joe Beevers in 2007.

Poker Trillion Disappears

The Everleaf Gaming Network has assumed full responsibility for Poker Trillion players after the Maltese-regulated poker room appeared to have folded amid allegations of unpaid debts including wages.

In a statement published Jan. 31 Everleaf Gaming Ltd., which owns the Everleaf Gaming Network to which Poker Trillion moved after falling out with the Boss Network, said, "With immediate effect, Everleaf Gaming LTD (The ELG Network) has assumed full responsibility for the PLAYERS (sic) of Poker Trillion. On Monday February 2nd these players will access the network through Rockem Poker.

"Rockem Poker will continue to offer all the benefits and rewards the players enjoyed at Poker Trillion, but in addition, Rockem Poker will also be offering 25 percent rakeback to all their players. This additional bonus is paid weekly."

One internet forum exploded in recriminations ahead of the announcement, with a major shareholder of the forum claiming the site was owed £7,000 by Poker Trillion for advertising.

He stated it was his belief that the company owed a six figure sum to various print and web publications as well as to the Everleaf Network, which it was unable to pay.