Just another strange day at the office.....

Playtech 2006 Revenues Rise Despite Pulling Out of the USA

Poker and casino software developer Playtech showed an annual rise in total revenues of 89 percent to $90 million. While casino revenues increased 81 percent in 2006, poker revenues rose by 309 percent.

Expansion in Europe spearheaded their success along with licensing agreements with Sino Strategic International, China’s largest gaming network. They also put together a successful licensing deal with a leading Mexican casino operator. This expansion more than offset losses in the USA, where online gaming operations were shut down with the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Chief executive Avigur Zmora said: “The US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 forced many gaming operators to radically change their business model to survive in the new international environment, (but) it highlighted the great strength of Playtech as a software provider to the wider gaming industry and clearly vindicated the board's strategic decision made over three years ago to concentrate on geographical diversification.”

France Mimics the USA; How Strange is That?

France moved to eliminate any online poker and online gaming not controlled by their state-owned monopoly. They did this by passing laws making competition illegal and by pressuring competition to close down.

Seemingly taking their cue from the United States, France justified their actions by calling them anti-terrorist measures designed to combat money laundering, which, in my opinion, is something the French government never seemed to care much about in the past.

Their state-owned monopolies, La Francaise des Jeux (lottery and sports betting) and Le Pari Mutuel Urbain (horseracing) have the French wagering field all to themselves.

In the past few days PartyPoker announced that it will not accept any new real money accounts from French players, though existing French players can continue playing, for now. No reason for this move was given.
In the fast moving world of online poker and gaming, this is just another day at the office.