Party and 888 to merge?

[TightEnd]

reports over the weekend suggest Party and 888 are discussing a merger

This potential move, whilst clearly defensive and mooted from a position of weakness, is perhaps an inevitable response to the US legislative changes

Both businesses, being quoted, have significantly less flexibility in remaining open for US business than unquoted competitors and both need to re-establish scale. The online business is one in which scale is important and both need to cover their fixed costs and then spend rapidly to establish a player base in Asia and other new territories

and so will PStars, FTP etc etc

so a good time to be a poker player based in the Far East

I expect a lot  more of this consolidation, allied to second/third tier sites disappearing, as the market turns on a 24 month view from the current amorphous mass of sites to a far more oligopolistic situation where the remaining competitors create the conditions where acceptable returns can be had by the bigger players. 

[tikay]

reports over the weekend suggest Party and 888 are discussing a merger

This potential move, whilst clearly defensive and mooted from a position of weakness, is perhaps an inevitable response to the US legislative changes

Both businesses, being quoted, have significantly less flexibility in remaining open for US business than unquoted competitors and both need to re-establish scale. The online business is one in which scale is important and both need to cover their fixed costs and then spend rapidly to establish a player base in Asia and other new territories

and so will PStars, FTP etc etc

so a good time to be a poker player based in the Far East

I expect a lot  more of this consolidation, allied to second/third tier sites disappearing, as the market turns on a 24 month view from the current amorphous mass of sites to a far more oligopolistic situation where the remaining competitors create the conditions where acceptable returns can be had by the bigger players. 

Wow! LOVE that word.

"oligopolistic".

[TightEnd]

its a lovely word


sadly not one I get to use that much, but all the rage in economics academic circles in about 1990!


 

[Sheriff Fatman]

OMG - the site with the worst software and payout times in the industry could potentially merge with the site with the worst customer service in the industry.

I'm really looking forward to that one!

Sheriff