U.K. Perfects Online Poker Business1 Jan 2006 You might say that it is the U.K. which has perfected its poker face this year, and helped the card game favorite to explode outside its native USA. Online poker captured the public interest in 2005, due in no small part to three online casino companies which focus on online poker successfully floating in one way or another on the London Stock Exchange. Poker players spent £ 1.2bn on internet gaming, and a raft of games and books hit the shops just in time for Christmas. Now, in 2006, online poker looks to continue its growth.
The biggest winner last year by far was Party Gaming, taking around £500m in revenues and floating for around £4.6bn. But the online poker company has also had mixed fortunes since flotation, after a cautious trading statement in September sent shares tumbling to just 67p. This event actually caused several online poker rooms to reconsider their own IPOs (initial public offerings) for the time being.
After adopting a more aggressive approach towards its competitors, Party Gaming underwent a remarkable recovery with shares hitting 136p. A series of mooted acquisitions in everything from mobile phones to interactive television have also helped to bolster the share price. "The beauty of it all is that we've invented nothing new," said Party Gaming CEO Richard Segal. "We're just taking games that have been around for decades and putting them in people's homes."
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