Poker Business News From Europe

Ladbrokes Launches Online Poker in Italy
Online poker network Microgaming launched its service in Italy in March with Ladbrokes Poker as the first operator to go live in the market.

The company has received its licence from regulatory body AAMS and is working with local companies to ensure a customised experience for Italian poker players. Negotiations for other Microgaming online poker rooms to move into the now regulated market are underway.

Roger Raatgever, chief executive officer of Microgaming, said, “With months to come, we are confident that we have the right resources and alliances to support our operators and help them to succeed. Italy is an important region for the future of gaming in Europe, as it has set the standard for other countries wishing to introduce gaming regulations; it is a crucial gateway for further EU expansion.”

Mattia Nicelli, of Ladbrokes Italia, added, “Drawing on its wealth of global and local expertise, together with its technological prowess, Microgaming has adapted its services in a way that caters to our specific needs, as we compete in the competitive Italian market.”

The Italian poker market was the subject of frenzied activity in 2009 as regulation allowed companies to offer tournament poker to players.

Lock Poker Moves to Merge Network
Lock Poker has confirmed it will be moving to the Merge Network from the Cake Poker Network in April.

Jennifer Larson, chief executive officer of Lock Poker said, “Merge is a natural fit for us. They are aggressive, innovative and very progressive in design and development. They are also dedicated to allowing their partners to be authentic which is integral to the success of a network in the long-term.”

Merge recently signed up Pokerhost.com and has expansionary plans.

South Africa Debates Poker Legislation
The growing popularity of poker in South Africa has led to talk of changing existing legislation.

At a recent Gambling Review Commission public hearing to review existing gambling policies, attorney Nico Jagga spoke about the difficulties of policing the game in South Africa under current legislation, and said that it must be reviewed so that poker may be legalised or licensed out of casinos in order for the country’s economy to benefit from taxes drawn from this form of gambling.

James Forbes, of online poker operator bwin, said, “To address the problem we need responsible regulation to enable South African operators to compete with international ones.”

Betfair Australia CEO Blasts Poker Rivals
Betfair Australia chief executive officer Andrew Twaits has published a stinging opinion on two of his company’s main poker rivals in Australia.

Writing on his blog in March, Twaits bemoaned what he perceives as unfair practices by Betfair competitors. “A handful of the largest illegal operators are actively promoting their products in the Australian media,” he claimed.

“For instance, the telecast of last summer’s golf season on Channel 10 was sponsored by PokerStars. Channel 9’s AFL Footy Show allowed an in-program promotion of another illegal operator, 888.com, during an appearance by Shane Warne. The Sydney Morning Herald carries a regular column by PokerStars “face of Australia” Joe Hachem, where he promotes his employer and the merits of online poker more generally.

“Many of the operators offering online poker to Australians do so under the guise of ‘.net’ or ‘play for free’ sites. Once customers are on board, they are ‘cross-sold’ to the illegal play-for-money sites… we understand that PokerStars – a company that continues to ignore the US online poker bans, as well as ours – apparently has 40 staff based somewhere in Sydney and is actively recruiting for more people. Other illegal operators have engaged local advertising agencies.

“Whether it’s a more effective system of prevention and prosecution or, more realistically, a more liberal regulatory regime that gives law-abiding local operators a chance to compete with the offshore rogues, Australia’s approach to online poker needs to change.”

Chelsea F.C. Owner Wins Poker Libel Case
Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich has won an apology and substantial libel damages from Italian newspaper La Repubblica which last year wrongly claimed he had lost a yacht in a poker game.

Abramovich claimed, through his solicitor in a London court, that the allegations, which included relationship difficulties arising from gambling online, had caused him “distress and embarrassment”.

The newspaper group Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso, which owns La Repubblica, has agreed to pay Abramovich damages which he will donate to charity.

Ongame Poker Network Consolidates in Italy
Ongame Network has announced the launch of its “first regional online poker network” by consolidating its seven partners in Italy onto the same software to allow shared liquidity.

The seven companies — BetPro.it, bwin (which owns Ongame), Casino di Venezia, Fast Poker, Gioco Digitale (which bwin bought last year), Gmatica, and SportingBet.it — moved onto the P5 Poker Engine on February 23 and Ongame says it launched with five million players.

Martin Lerby, head of Ongame Network, said, “The adaptability of the P5 Poker Engine to power both regional and global networks is showcased by Ongame Network Italy and we continue to work closely with the Italian authorities as we prepare for the anticipated introduction of cash games.”

Betsson and Entraction Sign Poker Deal
Scandinavian gaming operators Entraction and Betsson have inked an agreement which will see bookmaker Betsson offer Entraction’s poker network platform to its 290,000 active players.

The Entraction poker network will run parallel to Betssson’s existing poker network run by Ongame, which is owned by German betting giant bwin.

Magnus Silfverberg, chief executive officer of Betsson Malta said, “This strengthens Betsson’s total offer in our important poker markets. The agreement with Entraction is one of our measures to boost our position as a leading poker operator in Europe.”

B3W Group Launches New Poker Network
Online gaming solutions provider, the B3W Group, has announced the launch of its new poker network, with its software available to both fully licensed and white label operators.

B3W’s portfolio will now boast a variety of games including casino, scratch-cards, horse racing, and of course, poker.

B3W’s games development manager said, “The final result of the development process is state of the art poker software which is fully customizable for our operators. We have focused on making the player experience secure, fun and interactive.

“We do our best to be on the forefront of innovative approaches, technologies and solutions within our core competency as a gambling software development company.”

The first site to launch on the new poker software is betinparis.com.

PartyGaming Signs French Online Poker Deal
PartyGaming, owner of PartyPoker, has signed a multi-year deal with French betting company PMU to provide it with an online poker service when the French market opens later this year.

The PMU-branded company will come into existence when both companies obtain a French licence and will see PMU’s new online poker site share liquidity on PartyGaming’s French poker network.

Jim Ryan, chief executive officer of PartyGaming said, “Today’s agreement with PMU is consistent with our stated strategy of securing a small number of high value partners in regulated markets. PMU is widely recognised as one of Europe’s leading betting businesses and we look forward to providing them with a world class poker service.”

Elsewhere, French parliament passed the bill to regulate the gambling and poker markets in early April by 299 votes to 223. The market is expected to open ahead of the World Cup 2010.

32Red’s Poker Revenues Continue to Fall
32Red has announced its preliminary results for the year ending December 31, 2009, with poker revenue dropping 7.3 percent to £971,000 in 2009 from £1,052,000 in 2008.

The first half of 2009 saw poker revenues of £492,000 in comparison to £548,000 for the same period in 2008. The second half of 2009 saw revenue drop even further to £479,000, again in contrast to the £504,000 brought in during the second half of 2008.

32Red’s comments on this in its statement read, “The Board continues to evaluate all aspects of the poker market and believes that recent moves to attempt to restrict those operators still accepting illegal bets from the US may lead to a more level playing field but timings are very difficult to gauge.”

Overall the company saw net gaming drop slightly from £12.96 million for 2008 to £12.75 million for 2009.