GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 12 - April 2010

D UBLIN, Ireland – Merge Gaming, a designer, developer and licensor of software for the international online poker industry, announced inFebruary that it has agreed to migrate the online poker gaming activitiesof JazetteEnterprises to theMerge Gamingplatform. Thedealwill see thegroup’sbrands, Sports- book.com Racebook & Sportsbook, Players Only Sportsbook & Racebook and Super- book Sports & Racebook, move their poker operations to the Merge Gaming platform. It is expected all players will be seamlessly transferred over to theMerge Gaming plat- formbymid-April 2010. “This is an industry changing deal and we are delighted to have come to an agreement with Jazette Enterprises,” saidMerge Gam- ing CEO Anthony Taylor. “This deal will bring massive liquidity to the network and see the online poker industry landscape change overnight. We are delighted to sign such an established partner to the network. It’s throughour great software and superior backendweareable toattractagroupof this size to thenetwork.” “Ourgoal istoprovideourplayerswiththebest pokerexperiencepossible,which iswhywede- cided tomake thismove,”saidRogerWhitaker, a spokesperson for JazetteEnterprises. “We’re confidentthatourplayerswillenjoytheground- breaking features, generous loyalty rewards program and improvedoverall playability that Merge’spokersoftwareprovides.” “With the same dedicated team behind us, players can rest assured that our new poker offering comes with the same steadfast ad- herence to player protection, security and fairnesswehavebeenproviding since 1996,” Whitaker added. WEBMASTERNEWS MergeGamingaddsSportsbook.com topokernetwork Playtech launchesplatform formobilegaming QUOTABLES “Like the rest of the world, the poker community is eager to do anything it can to aid Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake. I applaud PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Cake Poker for providing poker players across the globe an easy way to make a contribution.” —PPA chairmanAlfonseD’Amato “With the addition of the NAPT, I’ll have a chance to play some tournaments on home soil, and I’m very excited about that.” —DanielNegreanuon the launch of thePokerStarsNorthAmerican PokerTour “We believe that consolidation talks are widespread across the online gaming sector and that most companies could be considered to be both potential industry consolidators and takeover targets.” —NumisanalystWynEllis “As far as we’re concerned, we’re confident that we’ve won in Kentucky. We’ve moved on.” — iMEGAChairmanJoeBrennan, after theKentuckySupremeCourt pushedbackadecision related to 141 seizedgamblingdomainnames “It’s business as usual for TonyG Poker. The exciting acquisition of its assets by PartyGaming will create a larger more flexible and productive playing environment.” —PokerproTonyG “There are probably 500,000 online poker players in New Jersey alone. And we’re missing out on around $100 million in revenue.” —NewJerseystateSen.Raymond Lesniak, thesponsorofabill thatwould legalizeonlinegambling in thestate I SLE OF MAN – Playtech, the world’s largest publicly traded online gaming software supplier, announced in February its new playing platform for mobile gam- ing. The newMobileWebApps is the latest cross-platform solution from Playtech, al- lowing players to continue playing their fa- voriteonline casinogameson thego. Playtech Mobile gives its operators the opportunity to grow their player base by expanding their existing online op- erations intothemo- bile entertainment market. Playtech Mobile’s Web Apps is the latest way in which users can en- joy the freedom and flexibility of Playtech’s mobile casino, switching easily between their computer and mobile using the same account log-in. This nonstop, instant play experience is supported by the leadingmo- bile platforms of iPhone/iPod Touch and Android phones, enabling a maximum ex- posure toamaximumaudience. With over a dozen casino games already available for the mobile, the three pioneer games to launch as Mobile Web Apps are the ever-popular Blackjack, Jack or Better (videopoker)and theGoldRallyprogressive slot,which is linked to thePlaytechprogres- sive jackpot, one of the largest progressive jackpots in the world. Playtech is launch- ing threemore new games as Java apps for players to enjoy: Pop Bingo, a single-player version of the classic Bingo; Keno, an excit- ing lottery-stylegame, and theall-enduring, fixed-odds face-offRock, Paper, Scissors. Playtech Mobile’s Casino Packs allow operators to create their own unique download packages. By bundling the cus- tom-selected games into one package, users can log-in one time andaccessall thegames instantly. Playtech’s Mobile Gaming is fully supported by the Information Management Solution (IMS), Playtech’s operational infrastructure that expertly manages and monitors all the ac- tivities of themobile gaming operation. The system’s modular architecture enables full integration and customization opportuni- ties, allowing licensees to take full advantage ofPlaytech’scross-platformcapabilities. Webmaster News