Shake-up in Online Poker

Playtech owns iPoker and will share in the new venture between iPoker and William Hill Online as the newly formed company will be known.

Cryptologic is already slipping down the ranks and has already lost its contract with World Poker Tournament Enterprises. Now William Hill, a major sport betting company is expanding into online poker and will be joining iPoker network in January 2009. iPoker is widely recognized as one of the fastest growing poker networks and with its other recent acquisition Mansion Poker, the company seems on the road towards becoming the 2nd largest online poker room.

Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill said recently that the online betting business is "not recession proof but recession resilient". William Hill has acquired some Playtech assets in exchange for a 29% stake in the combined William Hill Online business. Playtech is the owner of iPoker and this deal will see both companies increase their customer base as well as their revenues. William Hill expects to make around £190 million before interest and taxes.

The good news for customers of William Hill Online is that they will be able to play on William Hill at both Cryptologic and iPoker for the next year. William Hill will operate a skin on Cryptologic and iPoker and when the year is up, it will only be available on iPoker. The venture is lauded as a transformational step for William Hill and according to Ralph Topping, it is consistent with the company's stated strategy to increase its online gaming and international earnings. The company wants to be a leader in online gaming and sports betting in the European market and also an online leader in the UK land based gaming and betting operators. This deal will also generate shareholder value and enhance William Hill's growth prospects.

Online poker sites have suffered recently because of the highly competitive market and increasingly weakened player liquidity. William Hill itself was previously very UK focused and mainly operated in the sports betting field with limited online gaming expertise.