Before
we get to the proposed merger with bwin, first of
all how would you characterise these results? Because
most of the revenue growth has come from acquisitions,
hasn't it?
In
the first half of this year we had solid revenue growth
- overall 30 per cent - but if you actually dissect
it, our Casino vertical grew 23 per cent organically
and our Sports vertical grew 89 per cent organically.
So if you extract out the acquisitions of Cashcade
and World Poker Tour, which we did mid to late last
year, the business overall still grew 7 per cent half
on half. So in light of the current macroeconomic
climate and the competitive nature of Poker, we're
not unhappy with that growth.
And
overall strong performances from most of the segments,
except Poker. What happened there exactly, and does
the decline in revenues worry you?
So
half over half we're looking at a 10 per cent decline.
One has to analyse what has caused that, and there
are three distinct factors. First, as I've mentioned,
is the macroeconomic climate, which impacted us last
year and continues to be a factor this year. There's
also the strength of the US dollar against the pound
and the euro, and that's had the effect of reducing
the purchasing power of our consumers. And last, but
not least, we're operating in a dot.com poker marketplace,
in a hyper-competitive environment. Now what's caused
that? We've got the likes of US-facing operators who
are bringing their US profits into the European marketplace
and exploiting that, driving up cost per acquisitions
making it a much more competitive market to operate
in. In the final analysis dot.com poker will remain
tough throughout 2010 and 2011, but there is light
at the end of the tunnel - and it's poker in regulated
markets. The difference here, there are fewer competitors
in those markets, freedom to advertise. And our early
experience in Italy and France - growth.
But
the nature of that regulation could also impact revenues
in Poker, especially because of the way that regulation
is moving against cross-border pooling and poker is
all about cross-border pooling.
It's
actually unique, in that we call it a ring-fenced
environment. So if we take Italy and France, Italians
can only play with Italians and French with French.
The beauty of this is there are fewer competitors.
In the case in France, we were one of the first five
poker licensees - I think there are approximately
10 today. The competitors that are in the marketplace
can't take their worldwide liquidity into the marketplace,
so everyone has a level playing field. And then last,
but not least, you can advertise freely. In most of
the European markets it's difficult to invest in advertising.
In Italy and France media organisations are openly
accepting advertising for .it and .fr sites and, hence,
what we're seeing is revenue growth.
Casino
is now the largest contributor in terms of revenues
and clean EBITDA, but the cross-selling from Poker,
that's not sustainable, is it?
Well,
I think we perhaps need to do a bit of a history lesson
here to help the PartyGaming investor understand where
we've been and where we're going, and where we are.
I'm going to take you back to Q1 of 2008. And 93 per
cent of the consumers that played on PartyCasino were
actually acquired through PartyPoker. So fast forward
to Q2 of 2010, 77 per cent of the PartyCasino players
come from PartyPoker. Why has that change occurred?
Because we have actually a casino direct marketing
organisation where our objective is to go out and
acquire pure-play casino players.
Now
why are we doing that? One, to reduce the pressure
on our Poker liquidity - as it's become more competitive
we want more consumers to stay in our Poker network.
Two, the lifetime value of your pure-play casino player
is twice that of a casino player that comes from PartyPoker.
The proof is in the pudding. Take you back to Q1 of
2008. The average daily yield from a Casino consumer
was EUR25.8. In Q2 of 2010 it's EUR40.7.
So
how will you be targeting pure-play Casino spend?
The
success that we've had in growing our Casino business
- there's been three key attributes to it. The first
is content. Last year we introduced 80 new games;
this year we will introduce 50 new games. Every time
we introduce new Casino content into the marketplace
it gives us a reason to go and acquire more players
and it gives us a reason to communicate to existing
consumers. Inevitably, they come back, try the games
and then move on to their old favourites or, in fact,
find new favourites.
The
second component was our jackpot strategy. Over the
course of the last two years we have built the jackpots
up, with the increasing size of our Casino liquidity
pool, to the largest in the marketplace. Case in point,
our Melon Madness slot re-seeds at $1.5m. What does
that mean? Every time it's won it starts again at
$1.5m. The largest jackpot we had was just over $5m.
More recently we had a $3.1m jackpot. That's a differentiator
for us in the marketplace.
Lastly,
and it's a follow on from the fact that we are acquiring
fewer Casino players from our Poker liquidity pool
is the fact that we are marketing directly to the
casino marketplace. We've installed a Casino affiliate
programme, an SCO programme, pay-per-click direct
marketing, so our marketing organisation has expanded
to get to know and to cater to casino consumers directly.
If
we take a look at European regulation, we're hopeful
in the fourth quarter of this year that the Italian
marketplace will allow table games; possibly in Q1
of next year, slots. We've got the market in Denmark,
January of 2011, opening up for casino games. So we
should see more growth on the back of regulation.
Why
wasn't Casino and Bingo impacted by the World Cup,
when you say that Poker was?
There's
a higher correlation between a Poker consumer and
a Sports Betting consumer. And what do I mean by that?
Anyone who was likely to be watching the football
games would typically be a poker player or a sports
betting player on our network. Bingo and Casino consumers
are less likely and, hence, those two verticals weren't
impacted as much as Poker was.
Aside
from the costs related to the Cashcade and the World
Poker Tour acquisitions, how happy are you with the
costs and what are you doing about the lower than
expected margins as a result?
First
half our margins were 26.7 per cent against a target
of 28 per cent. There are two distinct reasons why
there was a shortfall. First and foremost, we had
a very large jackpot hit in our Casino environment
and we had the need to re-seed that jackpot with EUR1.3m.
That was a one-time cost.
Secondly,
in the Italian marketplace we were expecting the launch
of cash game poker and casino games in the first quarter
of the year. We made advertising commitments to the
tune of EUR5m. In fact, cash game poker and casino
games have now been delayed until fourth quarter,
so we got a lower return on investment in the ad spend
in Italy.
And
your margin targets as a result?
Margin
targets as a result for this year as a whole, we're
still forecasting 28 per cent. So we'll pick up the
difference in the second half.
Proposed
bwin merger
The
big news, of course, is your proposed merger with
bwin, so can you summarise what you see as the value
for your shareholders?
Certainly.
The merged organisation will be the world's largest
listed online gaming company with, if we take 2009
pro-forma results, revenues just shy of EUR700m with
clean EBITDA just shy of EUR200m. We will be a leader
in all four product verticals; that's poker, excluding
US-facing sites; sports betting; casino and bingo.
So,
interestingly enough, if we take a look at the PartyGaming
strategy, one to merge or acquire a business that
was in sports, was number one on our list. Two, to
be an industry leader, and we've always said top three
in each product vertical. Well, with this merger we'll
be number one in each of the product verticals. From
a peer-to-peer perspective we'll have one of the largest
liquidity pools in the dot.com marketplace, as well
as regulated marketplaces, in the poker world. Liquidity
will benefit our jackpot strategy in Casino, will
benefit risk management in Sports and also give us
larger prize pools in Bingo, so it's good news all
the way around.
Our
balance sheet strength doubles; the amount of cash
we'll have on hand, the cash flow generation we'll
get from the merged enterprise. Access to debt and
capital markets will improve. All of this gives us
further strength to continue the efforts to consolidate
the sector. So, all said and done, it looks pretty
good. And then you can top it all off with two of
the best online gaming teams in the sector coming
together.
You've
outlined the cost and revenue synergies from the merger.
The cost synergies are clearer, but can you give me
some more detail about how the revenue synergies will
be achieved?
Certainly.
Let me just take a step back and talk about the order
of magnitude of synergies. This merged enterprise
will deliver EUR55m of synergies. The bulk of those
synergies will be delivered in the first financial
year following the merger. Approximately one-quarter
of those synergies will be from the revenue side of
the ledger, and those are driven largely on the back
of merging liquidity pools in the Poker, Casino, Sports
and Bingo sides of the business; taking advantage
of bwin's margins. If I take a look at in-run betting,
their margins are approximately 2 per cent higher
than our own, so there are very nicer revenue synergies
to be generated using their risk management profiles
and tools.
From
the Casino perspective we achieve higher player yields,
so using our Casino platform into the bwin environment
will see an improvement in Casino revenues. And also
we take our blackjack product and our roulette product
and we embed that into the Poker client. So the bwin
poker consumer will be able to enjoy casino-style
games while sitting at the poker table. Those are
just few examples.
All
said and done, if we take a look at the full population
of synergies, the EUR55m, there are 23 specific streams
that we'll be actioning to ensure that we realise
the full amount of synergies. And I would like our
investors to know that they can count on the full
EUR55m of synergies being realised as planned.
So
are your synergy targets too conservative, then?
I
think our synergy targets are realistic. What we want
the investor base to be able to do is to plan around
this number and to forecast our movements around this
number. Obviously, we have a desire to over-achieve
that target, and that would be good. And if we do
in fact over-achieve the target, what I would like
the marketplace to know is that it is our intention
equally to achieve revenue and cost synergies in this
deal, but also to achieve organic growth. And any
excess achieved is quite likely going to be invested
back into the business to secure future growth.
You're
both strong in Germany. So are you worried about over-dependence
on that one location, particularly in the light of
upcoming regulation?
One
of the compelling factors in terms of the two parties
coming together in this merger was the fact that we
would broaden our revenue base across various geographies.
We still have a strong presence in Germany but, interestingly
enough, we're looking at the German environment as
possibly changing positively towards a regulated environment.
We've got four of 16 States that have come out and
publicly stated that they would embrace a regulated
online gaming marketplace. And if you consider that
in the context of Europe, where we've seen the United
Kingdom, Italy, France, we're soon to see Belgium,
Denmark, Greece, possibly Spain, I think it's perfectly
reasonable to expect that Germany will follow.
And
why is there such a long completion timetable?
It's
approximately six months. It's largely process driven.
Some of the key components to the process: first and
foremost, we have to go through a European merger
expert review - that's essentially a review of the
fairness of the exchange ratio or the value split
between the parties; we've then got to issue a prospectus
because this will, for all intents and purposes, be
a re-listing of the Party stock on the London Stock
Exchange; we'll go through various government approvals;
a shareholder vote; and then an employee consultation.
All said and done, we're hoping to close the transaction
in the first quarter of 2011.
But
it does increase the risk of a counter bid. So you're
confident that you'll complete the deal?
We
certainly are dedicating significant resources --
both organisations are dedicating significant resources
because we're highly confident we'll get to the end
of this, yes.
And
you say that you and Norbert Teufelberger will be
joint CEOs, so how will that work in practice?
It's
a partnership. What one has to understand is we will
have a combined organisation of over 3,000 staff spread
across Europe, highly complicated businesses with
diverse cultures. To have two experienced online gaming
executives coming together as a true partnership to
drive the future of the business, I think, is going
to be nothing but good for the shareholders. And for
Norbert and I it's about value creation.
So
we have spent a good chunk of time talking about very
difficult issues as we have negotiated our way towards
completing a merger agreement. The more time we spend
with each other the more challenges that we've been
able to work through together, the more good I feel
about the partnership and how we're going to work
together. So I'm looking forward to it - I know he
is. And I think the combined shareholder base will
be the benefactors.
USA
regulation
Are
you encouraged by the recent committee approval of
the amended Frank Bill?
We're
very encouraged by it. In fact, we're encouraged by
a number of factors that exist in the US today. We're
seeing movements from the legislative perspective
at a Federal level, which are quite exciting for us.
We're seeing the land-based environment adopt and
embrace the online sector and supporting these Bills
moving forward. We're seeing State lotteries getting
involved, the horse racing constituency, the Indian
constituency all taking a good hard look at what the
opportunities will be if, in fact, the sector is regulated,
or probably more aptly stated, when it's regulated.
And
how do you think it will play out on the State level?
Interestingly
enough, there have been efforts to prepare Bills in
New Jersey, California and Florida, most notably.
Those efforts, at this point in time, seem to have
stalled as the Federal efforts have gained momentum.
But that being said, we do fully expect to see more
momentum at a State level towards regulating poker,
casino and, perhaps, bingo games.
Assuming
that you can re-enter the US market at some point,
is it likely to be by a merger with a US land-based
or online company? And do you think you'll have to
become a US company?
It'll
be driven by the nature of the regulation. So we're
quite interested to see how it's finally going to
work itself all out. That being said, we can't control
that in any meaningful way. So what we can control
is our readiness. And so we have made the decision
to be ready to potentially to be a B2C operator in
the marketplace, to be ready to be a B2B partner or
a B2G partner, or, in fact, to look at join venture
type partnerships.
And
how quickly could you move?
Frankly,
we're ready now.
Outlook
What
are your priorities for the second half?
There
are three distinct priorities. The first is to deliver
our 2010 budget. The second is to continue the execution
of our three-year plan. We've just finished the second
year. We believe we are ahead of schedule, so we've
got some exciting things that we'll deliver in the
final year of the plan. And then the third priority
is to complete the bwin/PartyGaming merger.
And
what are some of those exciting things to come?
I
would say the biggest area of focus - in addition
to completing the merger with bwin, which is, in fact,
right on strategy but will take the latter part of
this year to position nicely - is the further development
of our regulatory market strategy. So we've Italy,
we've entered France. The Italian marketplace is going
to open up in the very meaningful way at the end of
this year and into the new year, with cash game poker,
casino table games and, hopefully, slots.
We've
got Denmark opening up January of next year, perhaps
Belgium following suit. We now have the Greek government,
the Spanish government taking a look at it. The Canadian
government, we've had three Provinces open up business
for online gaming. And then we've got to further our
strategy in the US marketplace. Developing our B2B
and our B2G strategy, looking for partners in that
market as it continues to evolve and as the regulatory
environment unfolds, preparing ourselves as appropriate
for that.
And
how do you plan to manage handling all of that while
keeping your focus on the merger as well?
Interestingly
enough, we're organised to do that today. So we have
a team of people who are focused 100 per cent on completing
the merger. We have a team of people who are dedicated
to the US strategy, our B2B strategy, Italy, France
etc. The interesting thing, and where it does get
very exciting, is once you do merge these two organisations
our scale goes to the next level, and that's a compelling
factor here. In that we will be able to exploit more
regulated markets, we'll be able to move along the
strategy paradigm faster, and that is what I look
forward to most.
So
what are your expectations for the full year?
Well,
our expectations are to deliver the plan, to actually
sit back in a year's time with our shareholders and
demonstrate to them that we did, in fact, execute
all of the major components of our three-year strategy.
And we're well positioned for the next three years.
Interview
4th
March 2010
PartyGaming
- 2009 full year results
2009
performance
Total
revenue and clean EBITDA are down. So how would you
characterise 2009 performance?
2009
was a challenging year. It was a pretty tough economic
backdrop for the sector. In fact, the sector has not
worked through, or lived through a recession before
that. That being said, I think PartyGaming's performance
as well as the sector's was resilient but not immune.
In 2009, we focused on operations and improving our
operations.
In
doing so, we actually returned the business to growth.
And if you take a look at our fourth quarter, all
four product verticals grew in that quarter, and grew
dramatically. It was a 17% quarter-over-quarter growth.
So, if I take a look at the year as a whole, I would
say our trading was robust, slightly ahead of analysts'
consensus, so we feel good about that, and we're positioned
very nicely moving into 2010.
You
mentioned Q4. How much of that was down to seasonality?
And how much is sustainable growth?
Well,
it's interesting. Q4, Q1 are typically the two strongest
quarters in a year. That being said, focusing on our
core operations, focusing on the customer, making
a number of product, pricing, promotional-based improvements
have actually improved the trading of the company.
We saw the growth, as I mentioned, 17% quarter-over-quarter
growth in Q4. We've seen that growth continue into
the first quarter. So we're moving into the year very
optimistic about our prospects.
And
what's behind the decline in new player signups in
the Americas and in Asia-Pacific?
There
are two factors. First and foremost, you have operators
who have continued to operate in the United States,
taking their profits and investing into countries
like Canada. So that has made those environments far
more competitive. That being said, PartyGaming is
principally a European business. That's where our
focus is. That's where we see our growth in the ensuing
years. New, regulated markets coming - Italy, France,
Denmark, hopefully Spain in the not-too-distant future.
So that's where we're directing our attention at this
point.
Business
performance and development
Looking
first at Poker, you lost third place last year, but
have regained it since. What was behind this, and
how will you retain your position?
Interestingly
enough, it was fairly simple - focusing on core Poker
operations. What does that involve? It involved rewriting
our products, soup to nuts. We actually re-launched
Poker in September of 2008, but on the back of that
re-launch, we did some very, very important things.
We focused on the consumer. We changed our VIP and
loyalty points programme in July of 2009. Since we've
done that, we've experienced month-over-month growth
in our Poker product.
In
addition to that, we modified our pricing. The market
has become more competitive and we've changed our
pricing policy to ensure that we were as competitively
priced as the other leaders in the sector.
In
addition to that, promotions. There is always a reason
to come and play at Party, 24/7. We have month-long
promotions that stimulate VIPs, novices and mid-level
players.
And
last but not least, increasing the size and the capabilities
of our Poker management team. I have been with four
online gaming companies now, four different Poker
networks, and I've never seen a team who is more passionate
about the Poker product, worked as hard to make sure
that we are a leader in the sector. And yes, we're
number three today, but if you take out the US operators,
we're actually number one.
We
also saw you buy World Poker Tour Enterprises. What's
your strategy for that business? And have there been
any regulatory issues with the US?
I'm
going to answer the question in reverse order. First
and foremost, there have been no regulatory issues.
The World Poker Tour and its business is legal within
the United States, and within the European community.
The strategy for the World Poker Tour is fairly simple.
If you take a look at the US as a case in point, and
take a look at the most popular Poker brands in the
United States, certainly Party would be top five.
And also, World Poker Tour would be top five.
The
World Poker Tour has 12 land-based events in the US.
We will continue to operate those land-based events.
They'll be standalone, branded World Poker Tour and
their sponsors only. You will not see PartyPoker all
over them. We're quite proud to have probably the
best land-based tour events in the world, and we want
to preserve that and grow it. We'll be growing it
into Europe, with the addition of 10 land-based events.
Now,
some of the European events will be sponsored by PartyPoker,
and again, our focus is growing our Poker network
throughout Europe. But we will also have third parties,
online operators sponsor some of those events. So
we are embracing our competition. We want them to
participate in the land-based sponsorship, the TV
sponsorship of the World Poker Tour events. So it
is going to be, in one respect, business as usual
for the World Poker Tour.
There
is an online element that we're quite keen about in
the United States, and that is the second aspect of
the strategy. Subscription Poker is legal in 37 states
in the US. The World Poker Tour operates in those
states under the Club WPT brand. PartyPoker has a
database of 12 million registered users. Our desire
is to cross-pollinate the World Poker Tour subscription
product into our 12 million person database. And remind
those 12 million consumers that PartyPoker still exists,
hopefully get them educated and interested in Poker
again by getting them playing a legal subscription
model, and positioning the brand for the long term
- hopefully the short term, when the US market reopens.
And
you launched 80 games in Casino last year, which have
shown strong growth. But what's your strategy there
to ensure that level of growth?
We're
excited about our Casino business. What did we have?
12% year-over-year growth and we had quarter-over-quarter
growth all the way through the year. The strategy
is threefold.
New
content. 80 new games last year. We'll have 50 new
games this year. The content will be exciting. It
will be branded content. Some of the branded content
will be those trusted Hollywood brands that you saw
come from us last year - Terminator, Sinatra, Rambo
to name a few. There will also be some internally
developed brands from the PartyGaming game studio.
The
second aspect of the strategy is focused on having
life-changing events. It's a jackpot-based strategy.
Last year, we had one of the largest jackpot wins
in online gaming history. The jackpot was just shy
of US$5 million. Today we have the largest reset value
in our Melon Madness Jackpot. It resets or starts
at US$1.5 million. Nobody else can match that in the
sector. So we will continue to bring those life-changing
events to the consumer.
And
the last aspect of the strategy - and this is what
excites me most - is dedicated Casino marketing. Now,
here is why this is important. Historically, we've
acquired all of our Casino players from our Poker
database. That's been great, because our cost of acquisitions
hasn't been particularly high, but it hasn't been
particularly good for our Poker liquidity in a challenged
competitive environment where we need to grow that
liquidity. What we've now started to do is go and
acquire pure-play Casino players. The magic of a pure-play
Casino player? Their lifetime value is twice that
of a Poker consumer who moves over to Casino.
So
our Casino offering will grow in 2010 and beyond.
Bingo
performance has been transformed by the acquisition
of Cashcade, but how international is Bingo? And what's
the growth opportunity there?
Very
exciting acquisition for us. We're now a market leader
in the online Bingo space. We're arguably the largest
network in the United Kingdom. The UK market is probably
about US$400m in 2009. Now, what's fascinating about
this: the worldwide online Bingo market is US$1.7bn.
So
strategically, where are we going with this business?
Well, we definitely want to capture more share in
the United Kingdom, and we will this year. But we're
going to take that business into other European markets,
so you'll likely see us go into the Nordic territories
and perhaps Spain in 2010.
You've
talked a lot about expanding your position in Sports
Betting, and last year speculation was rife about
a possible merger with bwin. What happened on that?
In
fact, we've talked to a number of participants in
the marketplace and continue to do so. There have
been rumours about bwin and many others. The reality
of it is where we stand today we have a number of
discussions that are ongoing. Everything is at a preliminary
stage. So, M&A continues to be a material part
of our strategy moving forward, but we need the right
set of circumstances for a deal to happen. So stay
tuned.
B2B
and B2G
You
say you've done five B2B deals in 2009, excluding
those that came with the acquisition of Cashcade.
How significant are they?
If
I may, just for a moment, just state that we're particularly
proud of our B2B business vertical. Why? Because it
was part of our new strategy that we announced in
August of 2008. And here we are, a year and a half
later, and we set that strategy up by saying we wanted
to do five meaningful deals in the first year. And
we did them.
You'll
never see us do double digits in terms of the number
of new partners we're bringing into our B2B business.
The objective in 2009 was five deals, and that's exactly
what we did. The objective in 2010 is five deals.
Our mission is to find five B2B partners who are ready
and willing to invest in their online brand and drive
a successful business. It is a situation where, in
fact, less is more.
All
of this, the five that we have, the five that we'll
do in 2010, will contribute as a foundation to our
plan to achieve in excess of US$30m revenue from our
B2B business in 2012.
Turning
to your B2G vertical, some commentators believe signing
agreements with governments is restricting your potential
earnings in a free market, and restricting your liquidity
pool. What's your view on this? And do you intend
to continue a strategy of B2G as your preferred entry
into a market?
I'm
going to take you back to our strategy session in
2008. The executive team sat down and we took at look
at the competitive environment and we said, 'Let's
move five years out in trying to understand what this
marketplace looks like.' The first thing we agreed
on was the marketplace within Europe would regulate,
and potentially within the United States and the rest
of the world. In a regulated market, who are we going
to have to compete against? We're going to have to
compete against media organisations, trusted brands
like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo - and governments -
including state lottery operators and government operators
for online gaming services.
So
we won't get to dictate what is the best way to enter
into these markets. They're going to regulate. And
the regulations, as they are in Europe today, vary
from country to country. Is it a preferred approach?
Our preferred approach is in fact to operate in regulated
marketplaces because there is certainty. But there's
something also more valuable in a regulated market
- the ability to freely advertise.
So
our strategy right now is without question to focus
on our B2B offering. So we'll tackle those trusted
brands and those media channels that want to get into
the online sector. But also our B2G. It's a natural.
We've positioned our business beautifully for it for
2010. And what we will do, with both the B2B and the
B2G, is marry them up with our liquidity pool that
we generate from B2C. And hence, as we're doing in
Italy today, provide the consumer with the best possible
experience.
Regulation
and industry consolidation
How
much time are you devoting to the US at the moment?
You've got your non-prosecution deal now agreed. You've
got the World Poker Tour deal under your belt. The
Barney Frank bill is in motion, for instance. You're
well-placed for a comeback, aren't you?
We
are still very much a European-focused business. That
is how we'll pay the bills throughout 2010 and beyond.
That being said, we can't ignore the opportunity in
the United States. Truth be told, if I take you back
to 2006, on a run rate basis, our business would have
done US$1.2b worth of revenue and generated three-quarters
of a billion dollars (US$750m) of EBITDA. The PartyPoker
brand is still one of the most popular - if not the
most popular - Poker brand in that marketplace.
So
what have we done? We now have an office in Los Angeles.
We have 38 employees. We've moved one of our executives,
in fact an individual who used to run PartyPoker when
we were in the US, over to our LA office. We're propagating
Poker through our subscription model right now in
the WTP. We're actively talking to land-based operators
and others who are potentially interested in getting
into this marketplace when it regulates.
So
we're sowing the seeds, if you will, right now and
planting trees, preparing ourselves for re-entry.
If and when it regulates, we'll be there.
And
what further opportunities are you seeing in Europe?
Europe
is an exciting place from a regulatory perspective
right now. We have got Italy - and Italy is without
question the fastest-growing poker market within the
European Union. What you have to realise is, it is
a regulated market now only for tournament poker.
Tournament poker is 25 per cent of our core Poker
business. Cash game poker makes up the balance. Cash
game poker is in the process of being regulated, and
hopefully will be so in the first half of 2010. Also
with that, Casino games in the first half of 2010.
And, hopefully in the second half, Bingo. So the Italian
market is very exciting. We should expect to see some
very nice growth coming from that country.
France?
Hopefully mid-year will regulate online poker and
sports betting. And Denmark, beginning of 2011. We
also have the Spanish government, at a federal level,
considering how best to manage online poker and regulation.
So we're excited about some of the developments that
we're seeing in the European marketplace.
Management
focus and outlook
You
now have a COO, Per Widerström. So how are you
focused to strategically develop the business in 2010?
It's
wonderful having Per. I was happy over 2009 to get
actively involved in the operations, dig a little
deeper and understand the business and perhaps put
'Jim Ryan's' thumbprint on the few areas that I felt
I could contribute. Per, an experienced online gaming
executive joining the team, taking over the day-to-day
operations, will free me up to do a couple of important
things. First and foremost, make sure that we monetise
the synergies from the deals that we've done in 2009.
Secondly, focus on new M&A opportunities. And
lastly, contribute to the growth of our B2B and B2G
efforts, not only in Europe but hopefully in the United
States.
Are
you happy with the way the year has started? And what's
your outlook for the business in 2010?
We
have started this year very positively, and we're
quite confident and optimistic about our growth prospects
for the balance of the year.
Live
it up in Vegas with our exclusive points race
Every
casino player dreams of the day they get to hit the
big time in Vegas.
That’s why we’re giving our Palladium Lounge
VIPs an exclusive chance to win one of six fantastic
trips to Nevada’s hottest destination in our
Viva Las Vegas points race.
To
take your shot at winning a luxury holiday or a big
cash prize, collect as many PartyPoints as possible
from 00:00 ET on 1st June to 23:59 ET on 13th June.
The 50 players who earn the most points will win a
prize on our leader board: the higher you rank, the
bigger your prize will be.
To
make things even more exciting, we’re reserving
the top spot for our VIP Las Vegas package worth a
whopping $13,000, which includes:
The
$13,000 VIP Las Vegas package
Round-trip
airfare to Las Vegas (up to $8,000)
Airport limousine transfers
Five nights in a suite at a five-star hotel (up to
$2,500)
24-hour concierge service
Nightly fine dining ($1,000 maximum)
Las Vegas shows ($1,000 maximum)
Helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon
We’ve
also got five packages worth $6,500 for the players
in 2nd to 6th place:
The
$6,500 Las Vegas package
Round-trip airfare to Las Vegas (up to $4,000)
Airport transfers
Five nights at a five-star hotel (up to $1,500)
Fine dining ($900 maximum)
Las Vegas shows ($600 maximum)
Helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon
Here’s what you could win if you place anywhere
on our leader board:
Position
Prize type Value (USD)
1st VIP Las Vegas package $13,000
2nd to 6th Las Vegas package $6,500
7th to 9th Cash $2,000
10th to 13th Cash $1,250
14th to 17th Cash $750
18th to 25th Cash bonus $400
26th to 35th Cash bonus $200
36th to 50th Cash bonus $100
Earning PartyPoints
at PartyCasino.com
couldn’t be simpler. Just enjoy your favourite
games and collect points.
PartyCasino
Grand Win Auto
Win
a brand new Maserati GranTurismo when you go for the
ultimate spin
Starts: 00:00 ET, 6th May
Ends: 23:59 ET, 19th May
Go
full throttle on our jackpot slots between 6th and
19th May and you could win a brand new Maserati GranTurismo
or a share of $150,000.
The
task is easy: simply climb our coolest leader board
ever by earning points when you play our jackpot slots.
Reach pole position and you’ll win the Maserati
if either our Gold Mega Jackpot or The Big One is
hit.
Here
are the jackpot slots that will earn you points for
the Grand Win Auto leader board:
Mega
Fortune Wheel
The Godfather
Super Mystic
Super Star
Super Joker
Super Fortune Wheel
Melon Madness
If neither jackpot is hit before 19th May, your leader
board position still puts you in line for a share
of $150,000.
With
such an amazing prize up for grabs, the action on
our slots promises to be fast and furious. Drive for
the top spot and keep earning those leader board points:
you never know when our jackpots could be won.
Lucky
Lady (Next Gen Classic Slot)
Hurdy Gurdy (Next Gen Classic Slot)
Treasure Cove (Next Gen Classic Slot) Jungle
King (Next Gen Classic Slot) Sumo
(Next Gen Classic Slot) Paradise
Riches (Next Gen Classic Slot)
The
mix of games available at Party Casino includes: Roulette,
Blackjack, Single Deck Blackjack, Jacks or Better,
Mega Deuces Wild, Mega Joker Poker, Virtual Racing,
Let It Ride, Keno, Baccarat, Red Dog, Casino War,
Progressive Caribbean Poker, Slots, Jackpot slots
and more.
Recent
releases include RAMBO, TOP GUN, The Hulk, Mission:
Impossible and Saturday Night Fever..
The
affiliation with AffClub.com, bringing in a range
of top themed games looks to be a sure fire winner
and cements the companies place amongst the worlds
top online casinos. And, PartyCasino and AffClub.com
are honest, friendly, and understand customer service,
and what the online casino player and operators want.
Top ranking casino.
Games
at PartyCasino
Blackjack: Bonus Pairs blackjack, High Limit blackjack,
Multi Player Tournaments Blackjack , Multi-hand blackjack
, Multi Player Multi Hand blackjack, Single Deck blackjack
, Single Player blackjack
Roulette: American Roulette and European Roulette
Table Poker: Caribbean Poker, Let it Ride, Paigow
Poker, Progressive Caribbean Poker and Triple Card
Poker
Table Games: Baccarat, Casino War and Red Dog
Video Poker: Jacks or better, Flamingo, Jungle Rumble,
Kanga Cash, Kooka Keno, Mega Deuces Wild, Mega Joker
Poker, Vegas Club and Multi Hand Jacks or Better
Slots: Board Babe, Bust Da Safe, Cool Bananas, Fruit
Party, Goanna Gold, Golden Eagle, Golden Gopher, Graveyard
Bash, Hot Roller, King Tuts Fortune, Magic Man, Metropolis,
Piggy Payback, Predator, Silver City and Treasures
of the Deep.
Jackpot Slots: Cash Cruise, Fire Drake, Golden Oasis,
Super Joker, Super Mystic, Super Star, Super Fortune
Wheel, Sweet Hawaii and Mega Fortune Wheel.
Virtual Racing: Virtual Greyhound and Virtual Horse
Safe Cracker Keno
Deposits
Diners Club, ePassporte, FirePay, MasterCard, Money
Transfer, MoneyBookers, NETeller, Solo Card, Switch
Card, Visa, Wire Transfer
Withdrawals
Bank Draft, Bank Draft Express (, ePassporte, MoneyBookers,
NETeller, Solo Card, Switch Card, Wire Transfer
Saturday
Night Fever is full of iconic imagery from the film,
including the Odyssey disco, the Cuban heels and,
of course, the flares. There’s also an ultra-cool
bonus round based on the film’s famous dance
competition. Fly with the disco moves over six super-fly
rounds, each with a progressively bigger prize.
Mission:
Impossible is packed with all the thrilling scenes
from the movie, including the legendary high-speed
train chase. You're sure to enjoy the high-octane
action.
The
Godfather Slot is our greatest-ever ‘Gold Jackpot’
slot game with a ‘feature’ game that gives
you the chance to win extra prizes. The game also
features a wild symbol, The Godfather, which appears
on reels two, three and four only and substitutes
for all symbols other than the scattered Gold Ring
symbol. For each bet placed, the house adds a percentage
of the bet amount to all the four running Gold Jackpots
making them grow progressively, as bets are made.
All four levels in Gold Jackpot can be won irrespective
of hitting any winning combination, while betting
any amount.
Top
Gun slot game lets you earn your place as a fighter
ace and secure a big-money fortune and the title of
Top Gun. While your players take off for the skies,
they can pick up even more cash by defending themselves
from enemy bogeys in the thrilling bonus round.
