888.com
If you’re a regular reader of the Casino Online blog, you’ll know that one of the first major opinion pieces we published was about Mitch Garber’s new role as head of Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment. While what Garber would actually be doing was as yet unknown (who has job descriptions these days?...Evidently not Garber), we speculated he’d begin promoting the World Poker Tour (WPT) online.
Well, it turns out, we were wrong, as PartyGaming recently snapped up World Poker Tour for $12.3 million. This left us wondering, what is it Mitch Garber will actually be doing? For some reason, we can’t imagine him twiddling his thumbs and spinning around on his chair in a grand office all day. Well, it turns out he’s been busy setting up agreements with 888.com, which will see two of the biggest casino brands, both online and offline, working together.
It was revealed today that Harrah’s are taking their first steps into the online casino industry and will be using 888’s Dragonfish software to power its poker and casino suite, as well as payments and customer support. While financial details regarding the deal haven’t been revealed, it’s pretty obvious why Harrah’s and 888.com have teamed up. Harrah’s are keen to break into the European gaming market and are merely waiting until the UIGEA is lifted, whereas 888 are using Harrah’s all-American casino brand as a way of breaking into the future US gambling market.
At the moment, it’s believed Harrah’s and 888 will target the UK casino market, but Gigi Levy, CEO of 888 apparently just can’t contain himself about the deal and told eGamingReview: “The partnership with Harrah’s will have a huge positive impact if the US market opens. It clearly positions us as a provider in the field to these companies which are set to be approved by the relevant authorities. If people thought we weren’t well positioned [to work in the US], this development clearly shows that we are.”...You can just imagine the legions of 888 staff breaking open Uncle Sam themed party poppers as Levy uttered these words.
