Issue N19, 2010
May 12, 2010
888 and Microgaming Link to Enter French Poker Market
The French gambling market is seeing plenty of action this year, with news that the online gambling market is due to be regulated and legalized. Two top operators in the business, 888 Holdings and Microgaming announced that they are launching a joint venture in the form of an online poker platform to serve the French poker public. Pending final authority and licensing requirements, the new platform is due to launch soon. Gigi Levy, the Chief Executive Officer of 888 Holdings Plc, said about the joint venture: “This deal marks a turning point in the industry with big networks collaborating in newly regulated markets to create a shared pool of liquidity, benefiting customers and assisting in rapidly generating large poker networks in each market.
“Once we have obtained the required licence and the French market is operational, this represents a strategic opportunity for us,” he added. “It provides us with the ideal platform to secure a meaningful market share in France which is set to become one of the key poker markets in Europe. This is an important step in the development of the industry, and marks the start of European regulated companies collaborating in the poker field to increase their competitiveness.”
Despite Profit Drops, Cryptologic Optimistic About Future
As it posted its first quarter revenue report, Cryptologic remained positive about the future of the group – despite a drop from $9.9 million in the fourth quarter to $7.6 million in the current quarter. A number of sectors in the group showed great promise, such as branded games on which Cryptologic is focusing. Revenue from this sector jumped from $1.2 million to $1.3 million – the fifth consecutive quarterly growth for the group.
Operating costs also dropped a significant 36% to $8.1 million.
“While subdued wagering activity impacted our revenues in the first quarter, the outlook for 2010 as a whole remains encouraging,” said Brian Hadfield, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cryptologic. “Operating costs have declined further while our revenue base is showing signs of improvement in the second quarter. The start of the World Cup soccer tournament in June provides short term uncertainty, however with a strong backlog of new business we expect our results to improve gradually as the year unfolds.”
“As would be expected,” added Hadfield, “the company continues to assess its revenue streams, costs and strategic direction as it moves towards profitability.”
888 Casino Rewards All Players
New players are receiving a very warm welcome at one of the most exciting new online casinos to be launched recently, 888Casino.com. Brought to the industry by the superior 888 Holdings Plc., 888Casino.com wants to make an impact and is therefore offering new players the chance to win instant cash as soon as they sign up at the site. After downloading the quality software, new players are given a free scratchcard which will reveal their instant winnings. Remarkably, all players win a prize, with the top prize being an amazing £1,000! 888Casino.com announced that 10 players will enjoy this top prize and thousands more will benefit from various other sums. The money can be used instantly to enjoy the excellent games portfolio found at 888Casinos.com, and allow players to extend their gaming sessions at the site.
“This promotion allows people to start playing with their winnings without having to deposit right away,” said Itai Pazner, Chief Operating Officer for 888. “This is our way of giving new players at 888 Casino something special to celebrate the new fresh design of 888 Casino.”
New Game Debuts at Win A Day Online Casino
The instant play online casino, Win-A-Day, sister site to the stand alone Slotland Casino, announced the introduction of a brand new game to its fold. The game is described as a combination of slots and blackjack and certainly looks intriguing for players who enjoy both these games. The site also described the game as “a kitschy, retro, arcade-style slot machine reminiscent of the old strip in Las Vegas”. However, the additions of this game come in the form of two built in bonus card games.
The bonus features in the new Slot 21 game are endless, and promise to provide plenty of entertainment and winning potential. Winnings can be doubled by playing the Red and Black Bonus game, while a second bonus game – inspired by blackjack – has players earn cash that can be used to play a form of 21. Wagers can also be doubled in this way. If all that is not enough, Slot 21 also carries a progressive slot jackpot that links all the other games at Win-A-Day online casino. The jackpot amount currently stands at $170K and is climbing fast. It was last hit in March when one lucky player took home $223,000!