Betfair Poker

The much anticipated move by Betfair Poker to the Ongame network is finally nearing completion with a new launch for the website due at the end of the month

For a long time now we have been waiting for Betfair Poker to complete their move on to the Ongame Network and at last it looks like it is happening. By the end of the month they are expected to be a part of the network as they attempt to improve the finances of their stand alone poker room.

The head of Ongame, Martin Lerby, said, “Betfair looked at the long-term picture, and they think they have found the right product with our P5, and the flexibility it offers for future markets, but the move also had a lot to do with liquidity.”

Lerby went onto say that Betfair’s new and creative approach would make it a much valued member of the network, “Betfair is doing something which is not done in the offline world, and is famous for being an innovative and driven company, and we want partners on the network like that, who are seeing possibilities, exploring new things.”
Even though they have been heavily investing in their poker product through schemes such as the sponsorship of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), Betfair Poker has been struggling, along with many other online operators, to compete with operators such as PokerStars and Full Tilt, which have far greater resources available to them thanks to the US market. At the same time competition has significantly increased from the European market with many large name operators running successful websites. Also, the website PokerScout which monitors the global online poker market announced last week that for the first time in years the worldwide online poker market actually shrunk last year.
The head of Betfair Poker, Daniel Syard, said that the move of Betfair Poker from its software platform to the Ongame Network is “a conscious effort to place our poker players at the forefront of our product offering.”

Lerby in a recent discussion with EGRMagazine.com said that the launch date had been carefully chosen to avoid major events such as the World Cup and to coincide with the general increase in poker playing which happens over the summer months.