888 Plc., the biggest name in online gaming around the world, has inked an agreement to offer its online gaming expertise to land-based casino giant Harrah’s Entertainment, owners of casinos such as Caesars Palace, Bally’s and the Rio, as well as the World Series of Poker, the largest and most prestigious series of poker tournaments in the world.

In 2006, the US Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) as a small, undebated part of a port security bill. Since then, operators of online gaming sites have either pulled out of the lucrative American market or faced stiff legal challenges. With 888’s partnership with Harrah’s, Mr. Batram speculated, the door that the UIGEA shut could be reopened sometime early next year.

Nick Batram, a financial analyst with the London firm of KBC Peel Hunt, stated that he considered the deal to be very good news for US-based online gaming customers. He said that the deal was “transformational” and that, rather than allowing full-blown legalized online gaming to Americans, that 888 would be acting as a “service provider” to Harrah’s, offering their extensive experience in the online gambling field.

A press release from 888 stated that they had created a working arrangement between Harrah’s and 888’s Dragonfish subsidiary. Dragonfish would help Harrah’s launch their World Series of Poker and Caesars Casinos brands in the UK market. Dragonfish would also tap 888’s knowledge of online casino software by creating sites that carried the WSOP and Caesars brands, accessible to UK-based customers. Dragonfish would also coordinate online payment systems for these sites.

When the UIGEA went into effect, 888 retreated from the US market and lost more than twenty-five percent of its annual revenue from the previous year. Now, with this agreement and new laws working their way through Congress, 888 has put themselves in prime position if the US market reopens for online gaming. 888 also has deals in the works with several other US-based companies in preparation for such an event.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.