Online consolidation thread

[DaveShoelace]

Stars are genius. They figured out the right type of customer to attract. Punters who are happy to do $100 - $500 a month and win sometimes and aren't bothered about rakeback, they just want a good game with big prizes. Every one else can go after the players chasing a living and have their games suffocated.

And at the same time giving the big grinders supernova elite, great customer service and superb multi tabling software. Yep, they are very clever chappies.

[tikay]

Meanwhile, as the race to consolidate continues, "Victory Poker" (is that the Site which Evander Holyfield represents?) have announced they are leaving Everleaf Gaming & throwing in their lot with Cake Network.

[NoflopsHomer]

Meanwhile, as the race to consolidate continues, "Victory Poker" (is that the Site which Evander Holyfield represents?) have announced they are leaving Everleaf Gaming & throwing in their lot with Cake Network.

The douschiest site around really. They have an advert somewhere on Youtube where two of their 'pros', while in Asia, pay a homeless kid a few hundred bucks to streak across a road.

[DaveShoelace]

Meanwhile, as the race to consolidate continues, "Victory Poker" (is that the Site which Evander Holyfield represents?) have announced they are leaving Everleaf Gaming & throwing in their lot with Cake Network.

The douschiest site around really. They have an advert somewhere on Youtube where two of their 'pros', while in Asia, pay a homeless kid a few hundred bucks to streak across a road.

Really? Thats awful. I was just begining to think how douschey they are with their girl girl girl prop bet prop bet girl girl girl marketing strategy, it made me think yesterday "there will be thousands of poker players who love this but then go play on Stars/Tilt anyway"

The Holyfield site is Real Deal Poker, which are the site that shuffle a real live deck rather than use an RNG. imo a very bad idea and actually bad for the integrity of the game as a whole because most of their marketing implies the rest of online poker is rigged.

Neither site have many customers, who would have thought good software, service, loyalty perks and guarantees would be what poker players want?

[NoflopsHomer]

Meanwhile, as the race to consolidate continues, "Victory Poker" (is that the Site which Evander Holyfield represents?) have announced they are leaving Everleaf Gaming & throwing in their lot with Cake Network.

The douschiest site around really. They have an advert somewhere on Youtube where two of their 'pros', while in Asia, pay a homeless kid a few hundred bucks to streak across a road.

Really? Thats awful. I was just begining to think how douschey they are with their girl girl girl prop bet prop bet girl girl girl marketing strategy, it made me think yesterday "there will be thousands of poker players who love this but then go play on Stars/Tilt anyway"

The Holyfield site is Real Deal Poker, which are the site that shuffle a real live deck rather than use an RNG. imo a very bad idea and actually bad for the integrity of the game as a whole because most of their marketing implies the rest of online poker is rigged.

Neither site have many customers, who would have thought good software, service, loyalty perks and guarantees would be what poker players want?

[Bongo]

[ ] Homeless man
[X] Their Drug Dealer

[TightEnd]

Blanca Games, Inc. has announced its acquisition of the Cereus Poker Network which includes Absolute Poker  and UB.com.

The terms of the acquisition have not been released, but the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has given Blanca the green light to complete the deal and begin operating the Cereus Poker Network.

Chief Executive Officer of Blanca Games, Stuart Gordon, said, "From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service. We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.

“We expect no changes in the playing experience on the Cereus sites, except for the improvements that will likely be the long-term result of this transaction… We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the Cereus Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service. Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.

“We’re also pleased with the efficiency and the player-friendly approach of Cereus’s customer service operation, but we will always be seeking to improve in this area.”

[NigDawG]

“We’re also pleased with the efficiency and the player-friendly approach of Cereus’s customer service operation, but we will always be seeking to improve in this area.”

lol think trigg had some first hand experience with this last night

[DaveShoelace]

Blanca Games, Inc. has announced its acquisition of the Cereus Poker Network which includes Absolute Poker  and UB.com.

The terms of the acquisition have not been released, but the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has given Blanca the green light to complete the deal and begin operating the Cereus Poker Network.

Chief Executive Officer of Blanca Games, Stuart Gordon, said, "From our perspective, we have acquired a large, sophisticated online gaming operation with state-of-the art capabilities, ranging from compliance to business intelligence to online marketing to customer service. We see a tremendous growth opportunity in this deal and beyond, as Blanca seeks additional acquisitions in the market.

“We expect no changes in the playing experience on the Cereus sites, except for the improvements that will likely be the long-term result of this transaction… We intend to leverage the existing strengths of the Cereus Poker Network, particularly in the areas of security and customer service. Although we are impressed with many of the new security features on the Network today, security is and will remain our top priority.

“We’re also pleased with the efficiency and the player-friendly approach of Cereus’s customer service operation, but we will always be seeking to improve in this area.”

Blanca seems to be a brand new company (unless its the people behind the popular green streetfighter character) and nothing else on the network has changed, so imo its easy some sort of fiddle job or a weak attempt at rebranding to shake off the superuser thing.

[TightEnd]

Don't forget 888 whose poker numbers were also down.

Party's numbers interestingly appear to be as much a factor of the type of player they are getting as the amount.

New player numbers were up on the same period.

Correct. And Wm Hill, Blue Square, da de da.

"Inside Poker Business", which is a great & very well-informed read, suggests that the Networks are suffering even worse than standalones, as Margins are much thinner, as a result of slicing the cake three ways rather than two.

The (well-deserved) dominance of 'Stars over the market is also something to behold, & I doubt any regulated market would find that acceptable, certainly not the EC. 

The Online Poker landscape will be unrecognisable from now in a year or two.

As to Laddies, there is no way on earth the PLC will allow those declining numbers to continue. They'll find a way to arrest the trend (tough ask that) or sell the thing. Before 12 months are out.

On the upside, Laddies have returned to the Dividend List, happy days! I can't even recall how many I have, it's that long since I had a divi cheque from them.

Yesterday’s interim management statement by Ladbrokes Plc, the UK’s largest bookmaker, indicated a continuing and significant decline in online poker revenue.

The company, which operates Ladbrokes Poker, said, “Poker continues to be impacted by the industry-wide issues regarding liquidity in Europe compared to US facing sites and net revenue was down 27% over the prior period.”

The news follows on from poor first half figures which showed net revenue at Ladbrokes Poker fall 15.7 percent in the first half of 2010 to £10.7 million from £12.7 million in the first six months of 2009.

[tikay]

"......The company, which operates Ladbrokes Poker, said, “Poker continues to be impacted by the industry-wide issues regarding liquidity in Europe compared to US facing sites and net revenue was down 27% over the prior period.......”

Good grief!  They just will not allow that to continue much longer. An early exit beckons for Ladbrokes Poker, presumably.

I wonder what the YoY % decline across the i-Poker portfolio is now?

Industry-wide, Online gambling & gaming is showing massive revenue increases right across the board, with "Casino" & Betting showing phenonomal traffic & revenue uplifts, & "Mobile" is feeding that fire, but Online Poker is where the pain is, with just a few exceptions.   

[TightEnd]

This old chestnut floated to the surface again yesterday......

Ladbrokes confirms talks with 888 despite fears over US 'poison pill'!

SHARES in online gambling group 888 surged yesterday after it confirmed it was in talks with Ladbrokes over a possible takeover by Britain's largest bookmaker.
Both companies confirmed they were in very preliminary discussions, but spokesmen said they had nothing to add.

The two companies held talks four years ago, but these were aborted because of Ladbrokes's concerns over the threat of possible retrosADVERTISEMENTpective legal action in relation to 888's activities in the United States before the online gaming industry was outlawed in that country in 2006.

Online gaming rivals such as PartyGaming and Sportingbet have reached settlement with the US department of justice to give them immunity from prosecution, but 888 has not so far done so.

Industry executives and City analysts said this could still scupper a takeover this time. "This may be a barrier to a bid," Richard Taylor, leisure specialist at Liberum Capital, said.

An online gambling industry executive said: "The deal does make sense from Ladbrokes's viewpoint because the 888 platforms are good. It would be a case of Ladbrokes gaining proven technology.

"But the financial difficulty about a bid is what does Ladbrokes value the 888 shares at as the company has not yet settled with the department of justice? It is an overhang on a deal that otherwise probably makes quite a bit of sense."

Shares in 888, which had lost two-thirds of their value since January, closed up 18 per cent or 8.75p at 57.75p.

Simon Davies, an analyst with Collins Stewart, said a price of 70p would probably be well received by 888 shareholders, but also expressed concerns over the spectre of American litigation.

"We believe a 70p offer should be a slam dunk for (888] investors, but see significant regulatory risk to a successful transaction given that 888 has not procured a non-prosecution agreement with the US department of justice, which represents a potential poison pill," Davies said.

The latest potential deal in the online gambling sector follows the merger of PartyGaming with bwin in August, and would represent the first inorganic corporate activity by new Ladbrokes chief executive Richard Glynn, who took over last spring.

Analysts said a deal made sense strategically, marrying Ladbrokes's strong betting shop business with 888's casino offering. It would create a combined online gambling business with annual revenue of £350m and earnings of £85m.

It is believed the two companies could save about £25m a year in shared technology, marketing and overhead costs, analysts said.

[TightEnd]

times are tough

Swedish gaming operator Entraction saw its online poker network revenue (gaming surplus) decline 27 percent in 2010 to SEK316.4 million (€35.8 million) from SEK435.7 million (€49.3 million) in 2009.

Revenue dropped 24 percent to SEK81.7 million from SEK106.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The company’s annual report stated that, “The growth of the poker market in Europe has stagnated primarily because revenue per player decreases. Entraction is therefore working to develop a new loyalty program designed to attract new recreational players, and increase and prolong the activity of these. The 4th quarter saw an increase in liquidity in the poker network, which also had a positive effect on poker turnover of turnkey customers.”

The number of registered players at the end of 2010 was 3.9 million, an increase of 100 percent on 2009. The number of active players during the fourth quarter was 165,825 (146,158), an increase of 13 percent on 2009.

During 2010 the company signed up Victor Chandler Poker as a client and Paradise Poker’s Canadian players also joined the network.

[TightEnd]

Sportingbet Plc has issued its financial results for the first six months of its 2010/11 financial year ending January 31, 2011.

Net poker revenue in the second quarter (Nov. to Jan. 2011) at its online poker business Paradise Poker was down 36 percent to £3.6 million compared to £5.6 million in the same period last year.

The company said the was as a result of, “economic conditions [which] affected our players and our product has proved uncompetitive compared to the poker sites that still accept US based players.”

“The poker market remains challenging as the environment is very competitive due to the large US-facing companies continuing to utilise their significant US cash flows and high liquidity to aggressively target the European region.”

In the six months to end Jan. 2011 net poker revenue dropped to £9.8 million to £7.1 million year earlier.

[The Camel]

Sportingbet Plc has issued its financial results for the first six months of its 2010/11 financial year ending January 31, 2011.

Net poker revenue in the second quarter (Nov. to Jan. 2011) at its online poker business Paradise Poker was down 36 percent to £3.6 million compared to £5.6 million in the same period last year.

The company said the was as a result of, “economic conditions [which] affected our players and our product has proved uncompetitive compared to the poker sites that still accept US based players.”

“The poker market remains challenging as the environment is very competitive due to the large US-facing companies continuing to utilise their significant US cash flows and high liquidity to aggressively target the European region.”

In the six months to end Jan. 2011 net poker revenue dropped to £9.8 million to £7.1 million year earlier.

How much did Sportingbet pay for Paradise?