Speculation on the Internet was rife this week at the news that PartyGaming
subsidiary PartyPoker was to shed it's client "skins" as
part of a strategy to build a new, fully integrated PartyGaming site.
MultiPoker, Intertops, Empire Online and Eurobet are affected by the
changes.
In a press release this week, the company said that it has taken a
further step towards establishing a new, fully integrated PartyGaming
operating platform which will, on launch early in 2006 offer a variety
of different games but with a common systems architecture. This will
allow each of its nine million registered PartyPoker customers to
use a single account and a shared purse across all of the group’s
gaming brands. These brands include poker, casino and mobile gambling
interests.
The group has moved the PartyPoker.com brand and all of its players
to the new platform with immediate effect.
Historically, PartyPoker players have shared the same poker-only system
with players from each of the PartyGaming's four white label poker
clients or “skins” namely Empire Poker, Coral Eurobet,
Multipoker and Intertops.
Following the new plan, PartyPoker players will now play on their
own private tables and benefit from a number of new and exciting products
that are exclusive to the new platform.
The new platform includes non-poker games such as Blackjack, as well
as added features to the poker product such as Side Bets and Deal-Making
in poker tournaments.
Once the fully integrated platform is launched in the first half of
2006, players will be able to click through and play on PartyPoker,
PartyCasino and other new PartyGaming products that are currently
being developed, all using a common account and a shared purse.
The skins’ poker players will continue to have full access to
the existing poker system. They will also now benefit from the release
of several new product enhancements comprising “beginners’
tables” – these include “micro-limit tables”
and low buy-in tables – and $50/$100 and $100/$200 tables.
Despite showing good results, shares of Empire Online declined 34
percent this week as a direct result of PartyGaming's latest move.
Analyst think PartyGaming and Empire Online are headed for a full
divorce. In fact Empire has already started moving its customers across
from the PartyGaming platform to the recently acquired Noble Poker's
(powered by Playtech).