After PartyGaming’s downbeat September trading statement caused a dramatic drop in the price of its shares, the online Poker giant has slowly recovered by taking a series of aggressive moves against its competitors. Part of the aggressive strategy involves the launch of a new online gambling site, PartyCasino, that will run alongside PartyGaming’s existing Starluck Casino. The new strategy also involves the introduction of two new casino games and the introduction of a “shared purse” option, which will allow players to switch from game to game. In addition to making things easier for players, the shared purse option also makes it easier for PartyGaming to cross-sell its different games to the players. Nearly 80 percent of PartyGaming’s revenue is earned from the United States, where it is illegal to play, but soon PartyGaming will be launching its games in six new currencies and languages. One of the targeted markets, Asia, is presenting a bit more of a challenge, however, because of the regulatory environment there, and because of the low-penetration of broadband Internet and credit cards. Fraud also presents a significant problem. While gambling via mobile phones is proving to be quite successful with casino games and sports betting, playing online poker via mobile phones is meeting with less success. This is primarily because poker games tend to be much longer, during which time mobile signals can fail. In contrast, digital television appears as though it may be a promising medium for online poker. Even though some industry analysts have been critical of PartyGaming for not cross-selling and being too focused on online poker, PartyGaming itself doesn’t seem to worried with this approach. On the other hand, the company is considering the possible purchase of a sports betting operation as long as it would not be a company that takes bets from the U.S. Posted on: January 6, 2006
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