Poker Business News From Europe

Cyprus and Poland Plan Online Poker Ban

Draft legislation in Cyprus, which includes a ban on online poker and casinos, has received unanimous approval in the Cypriot parliament and will now be submitted for approval to EU Commission.

The government has decided not to go down the route of France and Italy and licence online gaming in the country.

With this decision the government remains consistent with its initial position that it is against the creation of (real) casinos and online casinos for social and other reasons,” said Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis.

Poland has also drafted legislation but it will regulate online gaming in the country while banning online poker.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) said that a number of key provisions in the draft proposal, including the “unjustified” ban on online poker are “highly doubtful under EU law” and has urged Polish lawmakers to revise the treaty.

Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of EGBA said, “We support the Polish government’s intention to join the growing number of countries regulating the online gaming and betting market in the EU. However, the current draft foresees a wide range of obstacles and obligations which will make it highly difficult for EU licensed and regulated operators to apply for a license in Poland. We urge Poland to revise its draft and align it with the requirements of the EU Treaty.”

Member states including the UK and Malta have also expressed concerns about the legislation, which was subject to a “standstill” period until August 16. The European Commission awaits Poland’s response.

iPoker Revenue Continues to Fall

Poker revenues at iPoker, the online poker network owned by Playtech, fell 13 percent in the second quarter of 2010 to €7.3 million from €8.4 million a year earlier.

This was “owing to the impact of the Football World Cup and seasonality effect” according to the company’s latest interim statement.

The second quarter decline in revenue was 15 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010 when revenues hit €8.5 million.

In the first six months of 2010 poker revenues were down 8 percent to €15.8 million compared to €17.3 million in the first half of 2009.

The company recently launched its government licensed French online poker network and said it was expecting more operators to join the network in the third quarter of 2010.

PartyGaming and bwin to Merge

PartyGaming, owner of PartyPoker, and bwin, the Austro-German betting giant, have agreed terms on their long-mooted merger.

Pending shareholder approval, bwin will own 51.64 percent of the enlarged group while PartyGaming will own 48.36 percent.

The companies said the merger would lead to “the world’s largest online gaming business [with] market leading positions in all key verticals including online poker…”

The company will be listed on the London Stock Exchange and expects to achieve annual savings of €55 million through “synergies” though the companies have yet to announce what the company will be called or what their plans for PartyPoker and the Ongame poker network are.

Jim Ryan, chief executive officer of PartyGaming said, “This is a transformational opportunity for both our companies to create the world’s largest listed online gaming business…the Enlarged Group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cashflow generation and a highly experienced management team.”

Norbert Teufelberger, co-chief executive officer of bwin said, “This merger of equals makes great strategic, operational and financial sense. We will be in pole position to capitalise on the wealth of opportunities that will flow from the continued evolution and expansion of the global online gaming industry.”

Both men will helm the new company as co-chief executives.

888 Poker Plummets

888.com, the publicly-quoted online gaming operator based in Israel and London, saw total operating income in its business-to-consumer (B2C) poker unit fall 36 percent to US$8 million in the second quarter of 2010 from US$13 million in the same period of 2009.

The company said this was “in line with general online poker trends” noting that, “Trading throughout this period has been challenging, impacted by a number of factors including general online poker weakness, adverse F/X and, in relation to Poker and Casino, the World Cup.”

The company recently acquired a licence to operate an online poker business in France while it also acquired a social media gaming company.

The number of active customers in the B2C poker business was also down, 15 percent to 122,000 from 142,000 a year earlier, with income per active poker customer down 25 percent to US$66.

In the first six months of 2010 total operating income from B2C poker was 25 percent lower at US$20 million compared to US$26 million in the first half of 2009.

The company also operates sportsbook, bingo, casino, and business-to-business units and saw total operating income across all units remain static in the second quarter of 2010 at US$61 million compared to the same period a year earlier.

French Poker Licencees Expand

FullTiltPoker.com and PKR.com were among the latest round of online poker rooms to be granted a licence to operate in the newly regulated French market.

Five new poker licences were awarded by regulator Arjel in July and they were (operator – site):

Rekop — FullTiltPoker.fr
PKR France SAS — PKR.fr
AD Astra — pokersubito.fr
LB Poker — Barrierepoker.fr
Fullfun — pokerxtrem.fr

These companies join a host of local and international businesses now operating in the country including bwin, Everest Poker, Winamax, PokerStars, and PartyGaming.

Betsson Poker Revenue Drops

Betsson Poker’s revenue plummeted 21 percent in the second quarter of 2010 to SEK25.3 million (€2.68 million) from SEK31.9 million (€3.38 million) in the same period of last year. The second quarter 2010 was also down 17 percent on the SEK30.3 million generated in the first quarter of 2010.

Poker, as a percentage of overall gross profit at Betsson, is now just 8.7 percent compared to 14.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009. Casino is Betsson’s largest product and accounted for 59.6 percent of gross profit in the period compared to 70.7 percent a year earlier, while sportsbook was the most successful business channel, growing to 26.7 percent compared to 11.5 percent last year.

Betsson Poker declined 17 percent overall in 2009 and by 26 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2010.

Not all news in the company’s interim statement was gloomy however — overall revenue at the Swedish betting operator grew 29 percent to SEK366.1 million (€38.7 million) from SEK284.6 million (€30.1 million) in the second period of 2009.

New CEO for PokerStars

Gabi Campos has been appointed chief executive officer at PokerStars.com according to media reports which also said founder Isai Scheinberg would continue as chief technical officer and his son Mark will take the position of chairman at the company.

Campos was formerly head of Dragonfish, the business-to-business arm of 888.com but left earlier in the summer after the business he built contributed US$51.3m of 888 Holdings’ $246.7m operating income in 2009.

32 Red Poker Revenue Declines

Poker revenue dropped 14 percent at 32Red in the first half of 2010 compared to the same six months in 2009 according to the company’s latest trading statement.

Revenue for the first six months of 2010 was £400,000 compared to £500,000 a year earlier.

These figures echo the decline in revenue for full year 2009 when it fell 7.3 percent to £971,000 from £1.01 million in 2008.

However overall revenue at the publicly quoted company, which has bingo, casino, and sports book business lines, grew 33 percent to £7.8 million in the first half of 2010 from £5.8 million a year earlier.