Poker Business News From Europe

Danish Gaming Monopoly Cancels PartyGaming Contract

Danske Spil has been ordered to annul its recent agreement with PartyGaming, which would have seen the latter operate a state-owned online poker room in the country.

The order came from the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement after rival network operator Playtech objected to the tender process, which it says, was not followed by Danske Spil when awarding the contract.

The chief executive of Danske Spil, H.C. Madsen, said, “We have not in any way tried to bypass the rules. Since the contract was supposed to be entered by a newly formed subsidiary, which was supposed to compete on a partially liberalised gambling market, we assumed that we were not obliged to perform a tender process as such, but chose a quicker and more flexible tender-like process instead.”

Bwin and PartyGaming Merger

The much mooted merger between bwin and PartyGaming took a couple of unexpected public twists in late June with bwin first saying the talks were over then correcting that statement, indicating talks could still be ongoing.

The statement said, “… an article appeared in the Austrian monthly journal ‘Trend’. The authors commented on bwin’s ‘plans to merge with a competitor.

“In this context, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Hannes Androsch is wrongly quoted as saying: ‘It is true, that talks with the English company ultimately did not lead to the desired outcome.’ Hannes Androsch would like to clarify his statement as follows: ‘It is true, that up until now, talks have not lead to any specific outcome.’

“As previously stated several times, bwin is currently holding talks with several potential partners in the online gaming sector on possible co-operations and/or acquisitions and will communicate any related agreement without delay.

“It is also correct that bwin, in the event that online gaming is regulated and liberalised in the U.S., is planning to enter the market together with a local partner and has already initiated talks to that effect. Hannes Androsch adds: ‘We are acting from a position of strength and are under no time pressure.’”

Everest Poker and Harrah’s Legal Wrangle Continues

Everest Gaming has filed a second lawsuit against Harrah’s Entertainment, owner and organiser of the World Series of Poker, alleging the company is continuing to use its trademarked Everest Poker brand.

The lawsuit stems from the ongoing dispute between Everest’s parent company Ultra Internet Media (UIM) and Harrah’s which sees UIM claim Harrah’s breached the three-year sponsorship agreement between the two companies for Everest Poker to be the on-felt sponsor of the WSOP when one of Everest’s competitors replaced it digitally on a WSOP TV broadcast in France.

Quoting the lawsuit, the Las Vegas Sun reported that, “The felt on the poker tables being used for the 2010 World Series of Poker features at least one of Everest’s Everest Poker logo trademarks.

“The Everest Poker trademarks also are on display at the Rio as large banners or wall posters, on the ‘inner rung’ of certain tables used for the 2010 World Series of Poker and on television monitors in the casino displaying the schedule of events.”

The “defendants are refusing to remove the trademarks in an effort to try to force payment by Everest for defendant’s use of such marks, and in order to bolster the legitimacy of the World Series of Poker in the minds of tournament participants, fans and the viewing public.”

As a result of the original lawsuit, Ultra Internet Media is refusing to pay £8.4 million to Harrah’s for sponsorship of the 2010 WSOP.

888 Pays £18 Million for Social Media Poker

888 has paid Real Dice Inc. $18 million for social game development studio Mytopia.

Among the assets acquired in the deal are a social poker application using 888’s Pacific Poker brand and a real-time multiplayer mobile poker application with over one million users on iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, J2ME, and Blackberry platforms.

The applications and games will now be offered to 888’s business-to-business clients through Dragonfish, its business-to-business provider.

The deal consists of $12 million in cash with a further $6 million payable if certain “milestones” are met before December 31, 2011. The maximum cost to 888 will be $48 million.

Gigi Levy, chief executive officer of 888 said, “This is a very exciting deal for 888, and builds on our aim of providing a variety of entertainment destinations where people can enjoy a truly interactive experience on a multitude of platforms. Mytopia is one of the leading publishers of cross-platform social-games and this acquisition gives us an immediate footprint in the fast-growing social gaming arena, complementing our core offering and giving us access to millions of customers.”

bwin First “Legal” French Online Poker Site

The first “legal” online poker tournament in France took place in the early hours of July 1 on bwin as the company became the first to market in the newly liberalised and regulated online poker market.

The game took place at 12.30 a.m. and Norbert Teufelberger, co-CEO of bwin said of the landmark move, “As with sports betting, we were able to launch poker at the earliest possible opportunity because we were well prepared. We have thus achieved our goal of becoming the very first mover in the newly regulated French market.”

The company offers both cash and tournament games in no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha poker variants under the bwin.fr and SAjOO brands in a joint venture with media company Éditions Philippe Amaury.

However, the company also fired a broadside at some of its competitors saying, “It remains to be seen to what extent the French regulator succeeds in establishing a fair competitive situation.

“Operators licensed in France are still up against illegal providers who are neither willing to comply with statutory requirements nor inclined to pay taxes. To warrant a successful market opening, bwin expects the responsible authorities to give highest priority to stamping out the existing black market.”

Norwegian Online Poker Payment Ban Comes Into Effect

Norway has become the first European country to legally block financial transactions between online gaming companies and its citizens.

As of June 1, financial institutions in the country could no longer facilitate transactions between online poker operators and their customers, much like the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the U.S..

Exempt from the ban are the state-run gaming operators Norske Tipping and Rikstoto.

The Norwegian government claims the move is necessary to prevent gambling addiction and fraud. The country is not a full member of the European Union but a member of the European Free Trade Association, which has already stated its disquiet at the move and is expected to challenge Norway over its anti-competitive stance.

Purple Lounge Revenues Soar

Purple Lounge, the online poker and casino business purchased last year by Media Corporation, said revenue in the first two months of the second half of its financial year have “soared” to more than £10 million — almost equal to its revenues for the entire first half of the financial period.

“During the current financial year there has been a material shift in the Group’s fortunes,” said chief executive Justin Drummond. “We have benefited from a strong performance by Purple Lounge and www.gambling.com has returned to number one in the Google rankings resulting in an increased flow of traffic to our site. We feel extremely positive and I look forward to providing further updates over the course of the year.”

In June the company, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market in London, also raised £700,000 from the sale of shares, which Drummond said it will use to drive growth and acquisition.

Mastercard Launches UK My Poker Card

Mastercard has launched a new pre-paid debit card in the UK aimed specifically at online poker players.

My Poker Card allows players to play online poker without ever having to register a bank account or credit card details over the Internet.

Players can top up their poker account with cash at any of the 12,500 participating locations across the UK. The card also claims to be the first debit card in the UK to offer purchase protection.