A new player will soon be found in the UK gambling market after it was
announced recently that the US gaming giant, Harrah's has signed a lucrative
multi year deal with the London based 888 Holdings.
888 share prices soared in London after details of the deal were revealed. It
was learned that 888, through its newly developed interactive unit, Dragonfish,
would provide Harrah's with a top quality online gaming platform for two of its
most successful brands - Caesars Casino and WSOP.
Harrah's, one of the most recognized gambling groups in the world, which runs
over fifty land based casinos, has been making some major strides into the
interactive gambling world of late, starting with the creation of Harrah's
Interactive Entertainment.
Harrah's hired former Party Gaming executive, Mitch Garber to run its new
interactive division, a move that highly publicized at the time.
Garber, whose experience includes overseeing operations at the Gibraltar
based Party Casino and Party Poker websites, was seen as the perfect choice to
take Harrah's into the UK gambling market and beyond.
The groups hope that, with the eventual softening of online gambling laws in
the United States, they will be able to run the new platforms in that market as
well.
"It's an amazing deal if the US market opens up to online gambling one day
and it's a good deal even if it's Europe only," said the Chief Executive Officer
of 888 Holdings, Gigi Levy. "We have more big American deals in the pipeline for
888."
Garber also commented on the deal and said: "As we develop and roll out our
interactive strategy, we have chosen to work with 888, primarily for their world
class technology, scalability and a strong commitment to compliance and
responsible gaming."
