2 CARDS

In online casino industry news this week, we see Foxwoods, a massive US casino brand, entering the online industry, obviously with hopes that the US Government will de-regulate sometime soon. They start off the proceedings by entering into a joint venture with Goodson Gaming who currently presents TV game shows. Currently these include Family Feud, global lotteries and Price is Right amongst others.

The new company formed will be called Velocity Gaming and they are to focus their efforts on regulated online gambling activities. The plan is to create an exciting and new customer experience using a proven business model. Goodson Gaming has developed and produced twenty six successful TV lottery programmes and has over 25 years in the turnkey lottery industry. Their aim is to generate product awareness as well as drive incremental game play. Jonathan Goodson is a leading television producer and Foxwoods is a commercial entity for tribal gaming properties in the USA. It is hoped that the combination of gaming expertise and proven success will help Velocity Gaming to be successfully launched.

In the meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Dave the “Devilfish” Ulliot seems to be struggling with his online gambling offering. He currently produces an online bingo, casino and poker site, which appears to be in financial difficulty. We read this some weeks ago, but now it appears things have come to a head and Devilfish Gaming Plc has agreed to sell its online gambling business. Currently there is speculation that and unnamed third party has made an offer of approximately £330 000. An additional amount of £40 000 will be raised through the issue of new Ordinary Shares on the London AIM.

Dave the “Devilfish” Ulliot is a charismatic poker player who apparently knows how it feels to lose his shirt every now and then. There has been months of uncertainty surrounding the future of this company; they have been plagued by financial difficulties and regardless of the fact that the poker site has a strong brand name, they have been unable to perform in a saturated market which is driven by much stronger and more effective brands. Poker is actually being monopolized by the big brands such as Poker Stars and Full Tilt, and smaller operators such as Devilfish are lost in to a war of attrition.

The sale has not been completed as yet, and obviously the show isn’t over till the fat lady sings; or should we say, until due diligence takes place. The industry is not surprised by the sale of this online gambling property because as far back as September, shares were suspended pending clarification of the financial position of the company.

In the bigger scheme of things, in particular with regard to the online gambling industry, £330 000 is not a lot of money; particularly when you think about the turnover of big brand poker and gambling names which are in the $ billions annually.  It is a shame really, but Devilfish has also been unable to attain UK white-list status which means they have been unable to advertise the product to British players.