On July 8th, 2008, PartyGaming PLC, the operator of PartyPoker commented that their overall sales are below their forecast for the month of May and June because of competition from other online gaming companies that still receive wagers from American-based players. PartyGaming lost most profits in the last fourteen months in London trading. Bigger bonuses were required to attract player for some poker events and expenses ballooned as well.
European based online betting organizations leave the United States in 2006 as industry officials were apprehended during the crackdown conducted by the American government on offshore online wagering. When PartyGaming stated yearly earnings in March, it said that some big spending poker enthusiasts had to switch from online casinos that still accept U.S. based players without being more particular. Andrew Lee, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort in London said that poker is usually based on liquidity.
An online casino will more attractive if it has a lot of customers. Concern that American officials might prosecute European based gaming companies which received wagers from U.S. residents before being blocked from the market has been one of the causes why PartyGaming's stock drop around 22% this year. Last March 2008, the European threatened to complain before the World Trade Organization about the UIGEA that blocks offshore gambling online sites from the U.S. market.
Jon Tarasewicz, an analyst from the Deutsche Bank commented that the game of poker has met some problems during the 2nd quarter of the year because of competition from U.S.-facing online poker sites. But expenses comments are more positive and he expects some profit recovery for the second part of the year. PartyGaming loss around 24.75 pence to 223.50 pence, the largest drop since May 2007.
Last month's debut of Internet slot machines by PartyGaming under the Mission Impossible and Saturday Night Fever gaming brand helped pushed wagering on casino games. It attracted a lot of new players and encouraged poker enthusiasts to bet on casino games.
07/20/2008 04:00 PM