More big news this week as Shuffle Master announced the purchase of Bwin "surplus assets," while on Everleaf Gaming, the LGA announced "sanctions" on the network. At Full Tilt Poker, CEO Ray Bitar finally breaks his silence. Check out these stories and more in this week's edition of the Weekly Industry Update for March 11th. Shuffle Master Purchases Ongame: American gaming supplier Shuffle Master officially announced their acquisition of Ongame Network "surplus assets" this week. The announcement comes almost a year after the merger of bwin and Party Gaming and approximately nine months since the network has been on the market. It is believed that bwin and Party Gaming will merge platforms before the completion of the acquisition, which is expected within 9 months. It is believed that the departure of bwin from the Ongame network will result in a 20%-30% traffic loss. Pokerfuse weighs in on what the sale could mean for players. Bwin.Party Applies for Nevada License: Bwin.Party has joined a list of two dozen companies to apply for licenses in the regulated Nevada market. If accepted, it would be the first time Party Gaming or Bwin have operated in any part of the United States since the enactment of the UIGEA in late 2006. Last October, Bwin.Party announced a partnership agreement with MGM and Boyd Gaming. LGA Issues Sanctions Against Everleaf: The Lotteries and Gaming Authority, the licensor of Everleaf Gaming, issued a brief notice on the agency's website on Thursday which stated in full that "The LGA Enforcement Unit issued sanctions against Everleaf Gaming Ltd following an investigation which emerged with a number of irregularities in their operation. Everleaf Gaming is being monitored closely to ensure its operation respects Maltese law." The statement came one month after Everleaf abruptly banned U.S. and French players. Since the removal of U.S. players from the network, Everleaf has been "business as usual" for non-US players but U.S. players have still received nothing of substance related to the future of their funds. Traffic is down a relatively modest 23% since the removal of U.S. and French players. Cashouts for non-players remain slow (3-4 weeks) but steady. Full Tilt Poker Update: Ray Bitar broke his long silence this week with a brief interview apologizing to all that have been affected by the Full Tilt Poker situation. In the interview, Bitar says that he has been working every single day since Black Friday to ensure players are paid. The explained his silence by saying that any public statements could diminish the likelyhood of a successful outcome. In other Full Tilt news, a report surfaced this week that suggested that there may be another interested buyer in Full Tilt if the GBT deal falls through. PokerScout Traffic Update: Online poker traffic dropped slightly for the forth straight week, down 0.6%. Among traffic movers, Bodog was down 5% after having the Bodog.com domain seized. Meanwhile at Everleaf, traffic was down another 2%, bringing their three week decline down to 23%. PAS News: A couple notable exclusive PAS promotions started this Sunday, a $4,100 Rake Race from Coral Poker and a $18,000 Tournament Fever Series at Party Poker. In PAS offer news, the Party Poker CPA was removed from PAS. Jottings: Report suggests online poker bill in New Jersey could pass within days...D'Amato makes case for legalizing online poker (VIDEO)...Casinos want fair gambling...Judge decision will shape Campos and Elie trial...Europe Regulatory News: Spanish license applicants see 80% approval rate, Danish Online Gambling Association approves Betsson, Bet24 and Ladbrokes....Sporting says license unaffected by court ruling...Internet gambling worries tribes
Bwin and Party Gaming first announced they would merge almost a year and a half ago, a move which became official in March of this year. Since then, both company's main poker brands have continued to be flagship rooms on their respective platforms -- bwin on Ongame and Party Poker, of course, on Party Gaming. That may be changing very soon. On December 5th, affiliates reported receiving emails related to the merging of affiliate platforms: We have some exciting news to share. In few weeks, we will be merging two of the industry's leading affiliate programs - bewinners and PartyPartners - to create an integrated affiliate program, starting with Spanish market. Soon you will have an opportunity to promote the most renowned Bwin brands alongside Party brands, and profit from the synergies. This move is almost certainly a precursor to the long-anticipated platform merger of the two online poker's heavyweights, which is expected to occur in early 2012 on the Party Gaming platform. bwin would join the Party Gaming Network -- currently in a battle with iPoker for the #2 poker room -- and should easily become the 2nd largest network in the world. Ongame, on the other hand, would lose a flagship room and important skin but would likely continue to be a prominent player in the marketplace. The network is home to dozens of rooms including large established rooms such as Betfair, Betsafe, Coral Poker and RedKings, all PAS partners. The question on the minds of players and affiliates is "does the new merged brands end up looking more like bwin or Party Gaming?" It is believed that the Party Gaming Network is the likely destination of both brands but will the ecology-minded Essence system make it's way to the new merged platform or will Party Gaming's rewards system and affiliate commission calculations win out? Answers to those questions may come to fruition over the coming weeks.
Last week the Full Tilt/GBT deal took a step forward as it came to light that GBT had made an agreement in principle with the U.S. DOJ to continue acquiring Full Tilt Poker. In other news, MGM and Boyd Gaming announced that they would be partnering with Bwin.Party on an online poker site should the U.S. regulate online poker in country. Check out all of these stories and more in the PAS Weekly Industry Update. Full Tilt Deal Clears Hurdle: The GBT pursuit of Full Tilt Poker cleared a major hurdle when reports surfaced that a deal had been agreed to in principle with the U.S. Department of Justice that would allow the deal to progress. Initial reports suggest that U.S. Department of Justice would pay U.S. players and GBT would pay non-US players and continue to operate under the Full Tilt brand name. Laurent Tapie told iGamingFrance he hopes to have the deal signed by November 17th. MGM and Boyd Partner with Bwin.Party: A huge online poker partnership was announced by three leaders in their respective markets on Monday. The Bwin.Party/MGM/Boyd Gaming deal would have the three companies joining forces if/when online poker becomes legal in the United States. Bwin.Party will own 65% of the new company, MGM 25% and Boyd Gaming 10%. Bwin.Party CEO Jim Ryan said "It's all about preparing for the eventual opening of the market. There's been an awful lot of momentum at the state and federal levels." Shares in Bwin.Party shot up 9% on the news. Ongame changing Points system: A PAS Ongame rep has confirmed that the network will be changing their points system at the end of this month. Cash game and tournament players will each earn 3.6 Player Points per $1 of contributed rake, an improvement for cash game players and a deduction for tournament players. Since many PAS players play cash games, this is likely a overall positive for players who play under PAS publishers. Latest Traffic Update from PokerScout: Online poker traffic increased 2.2% last week , according to PokerScout. PokerStars was the cause for much of the game as the site held a popular 70 Billionth Hand promotion PokerStar. Merge Gaming continued their upward climb by rising another 1% during the week. Party Gaming held the number two spot for a sixth consecutive week. Vote for PAS for the iGB Awards: PAS is pleased to be nominated for five iGB Awards in in a variety of general affiliate and poker categories: Best iGaming Affiliate Network, Best Affiliate (Poker, Best Affiliate Manager (Poker)- Sebastian Loaiza (PAS), Best Affiliate Program (Poker) and Best iGaming Community. If you are happy with the service that PAS provides, we would appreciate if you could take a few minutes to show your support by voting for us in the mentioned categories. Jottings: Was Party Poker right all along?... U.S. Responds To Motion to Dismiss Charges by Campos and Elie... An opinion on the Everleaf rake discount...Entraction implements Geo-restrictions...Nevada holds online poker regulation hearings...WSOP November 9 gets underway Novermber 6th...MoneyLineWallet Offline.
What a crazy week for Full Tilt Poker. On Wednesday, Full Tilt Poker had their Alderney License suspended and games shut down, which was followed by reports that initially surfaced on Thursday night that the company had been purchased by European investors and that the Phil Ivey lawsuit had been dropped. The question on the minds of everyone now is what happens next to the poker site and the situation with US player payments. Drama at Full Tilt Poker: As everyone knows by now, Full Tilt Poker's license was suspended by the licensing body in Alderney. On Friday morning, the Los Angeles Times reported that Full Tilt would be sold to European investors. Full Tilt is believed to owe upwards of $150 million dollars to US players, which is the catalyst for the suspension of the Alderney license. According to the article, the yet unnamed European investors would attain a majority stake in the company and would put up enough money to pay US players. In other news related to the deal, Phil Ivey lawyer David Chesnoff said that his client intended to "dismiss the lawsuit as he believes Full Tilt is taking steps to see that the players are paid." In other positive news for Full Tilt Poker, the ARJEL announced that Full Tilt Poker could keep their French license (link in French) but that service in France must be restored "without delay." Bwin.party Confirms Plans to Sell Ongame by end of 2011: Accoring to EGR, bwin.party, the merged company of Bwin and Party Poker, has confirmed that they plan on selling the Ongame "surplus asset." The company has said that they have received "interest from several parties" and that they plan to sell ownership of network by the end of 2011. Ongame is currently the 4th largest .com network. Poker Traffic Update: Prior to the suspension of Full Tilt Poker's license, Full Tilt Poker had actually increased 9% over the previous week and Merge Gaming saw its first weekly increase in over a month, according to PokerScout. Overall, traffic during the week decreased slightly more than 1% due to seasonal trends. PokerScout also noted that PokerStars and Party Poker were the largest initial benefactors of the current Full Tilt Poker shutdown. Jottings: Skill (Moneybookers) halted deposits before Full Tilt Poker license suspension...IGT takes control of Entraction....I Nelson Rose article on online poker in the District of Columbia....David Yu steps down as Betfair CEO
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