Party Gaming, which is the parent company of the popular online poker room Party Poker, has posted losses amounting up to $26.5 million for last fiscal year. Party Gaming is one of the few online juggernauts that is publically traded and thus has to respond to its investors, in stark contrast with the likes of, for instance, Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars.
For comparison, Party Poker’s 2008 profits were about $66.1 Million.
With the underhanded passing of the now infamous Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Party Poker (being publically listed on the London Stock Exchange) had no option but to jump out of the US market. The sites that stayed behind catered to the US market, and now are the biggest online poker sites in the world. The reason they could stay in the US market was because they were all private offshore companies at the time, and did not have to answer to any investors about any of their business moves. The best examples are PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, which have seen records in terms of earnings and players of the site ever since the debacle, and continue to offer their services to the US market to this day.
Even though Party Poker did comply to the terms of the “shady” law by withdrawing from the US market, the United States department of Justice was still not content and hit the online poker site with a $105 million fine. $15 million of this fine was paid out in 2009, hitting the sites profit numbers hard.
Jim Ryan, the Chief Executive Officer of Party Gaming, has stated that the site may be looking to buy, or merge with, other gaming companies in the near future, snowballing their way to the top spot once again. The group did purchase the World Poker Tour last year. The group is also a firm believer that the United States government is considering the lessening of the notoriously tough online poker laws of the US.
It looks like the path ahead is very interesting for Party Poker. Stay tuned, and we will bring you the latest news as they happen.