iGaming News all over the world 18.11.2009

18.11.2009, Dragonfish and Second Life Strike ePayment Deal / Cake Poker Network Absorbs Third Bullet / Fair Poker Transferred to Noble Poker iPoker Network / Paddy Power Paves Way in French Sports Betting Market

Dragonfish and Second Life Strike ePayment Deal
Linden Lab, the Second Life virtual world creators and Dragonfish, online gambling’s Group 888’s business to business division have come together on a major e-Payments processing deal that will extend Dragonfish’s range into another sector besides gaming.

Dragonfish will provide Linden Lab with e-Payments , security, customer support and management services, delivered via the functional and advanced cashier interface in Dragonfish’s back office capabilities.

The agreement with Linden Lab represents an extension of Dragonfish’s offering into the wider retail environment; adding ‘Total Payment Services’ to the existing ‘Total Gaming Services’ product and strengthening it’s position in the regulated PSP market.

Linden Lab, founded in 1999, invented and continues to be a leader in the virtual three dimensional world on the internet. Since Second Life went online in 2003, residents have logged more than one billion hours and generated more than $1 billion USD in user-to- user transactions on it virtual world platform in cyberspace. Second Life boasts the largest user-generated virtual goods economy in the world. A huge cross section of society and business is involved in generating the content on Second Life.

Managing Director of Dragonfish, Gabi Campos, said, "We have many gaming partners interested in our e-Payment solutions but this is a giant step beyond our core operations into the retail environment. It’s an excellent complementary business for Dragonfish which will provide incremental revenue.”

Mark Kingdon, Chief Executive Officer of Linden Lab, commented, "Second Life residents log into the virtual world from nearly every country around the globe and participate in a virtual economy that will exceed US$500 million this year," adding, "Dragonfish has a strong track record in unlocking new markets through its unique and secure payment processing solutions, and as Second Life continues to grow internationally, we're pleased to work with them to provide easy and secure payment options for our users outside the United States."

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Cake Poker Network Absorbs Third Bullet
Third Bullet Poker was part of the Cake Poker Network which is based in Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. The Cake Poker network is one of the 10 largest in the online gambling industry. It is owned and operated by parent company Cake Gaming N.V. and is hosted by Cyberluck, a Curacao based Regulating and Gaming Licensing & Hosting provider operating under the gaming license of Cyberluck Curacao N.V. Recently Third Bullet Poker, announced that it was merging its player base with the network’s flagship site. Cake Poker. The official e mail sent to Third Bullet customers states, “Cake Poker has been operating and hosting our games for quite some time now. I’m sure you will agree that they have done a fantastic job. We are happy to announce that we are merging our players with Cake Poker.”

Third Bullet Poker customers will be transferred to the Cake poker site without delay. The e mail promises a seamless transfer of player information and funds from one site to the other. Many reasons are sited for the switch over, mentioned in the email communication “You will have access to an increased technical and marketing support team that will make your play experience even better.” management added, “We have full confidence that you will find continued play on Cake Poker to meet or exceed the level of professionalism and customer service you have come to know at Third Bullet.” Cake Poker has a large variety of choices for players in the tournament section and cash games. An offering of satellite events for stops on the European Poker Tour and a chance to play at the Aussie Millions in January 2010, Cake Poker offers cash games that gives poker players a chance to play with some of the biggest names in poker. The Cake Poker Network encompasses 43 poker rooms some of which feature the top names in the poker world.

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Fair Poker Transferred to Noble Poker iPoker Network
Noble Poker established in 2004 is regulated and licensed by the Government of Gibraltar. Noble Poker is included in the UK's White List of approved jurisdictions now allowed to advertise gaming services in that nation. The site is one of the industry's leading fully supported interactive poker rooms.

Members of the online poker room Fair Poker have now had their accounts transferred to the Noble Poker iPoker network. Players on Fair Poker recently received an e mail notice informing them of the change and offering a deposit bonus as a welcome to the new site. The Fair Poker website has already been re-branded as Noble Poker and does not explain why the change has occurred. Antigua-based Fair Poker was established in 2004 and is best known for its Jackpot Sit and Gos and action at the cash game tables.

Noble Poker, which is a substantially larger site than Fair Poker, also has a reputation for fast and lucrative cash game tables in addition to its ever-growing multi-table tournament schedule. Noble Poker offers users a range of Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha High-Low cash games.

The European Championship of Online Poker V is about to be launched by fellow iPoker site Titan Poker. The online tournament series starts November 23rd with satellites already running on Noble and other iPoker affiliates. The upcoming two-week long series features 14 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100 to $2,500 with more than $4.5 million in guaranteed prize money available. Sites on the iPoker Network, run by Playtech, software currently do not accept U.S. customers. Fair Poker players who have earned iPoints will have them transferred over to Noble Poker. Those iPoints go towards eligibility in Noble’s VIP Crown program of which there are six VIP Crown levels based on how many points that players earn each month. The iPoker Network, which hosts over 30 online poker rooms including Titan, Noble, Chili Poker, William Hill Poker, and Expekt has not posted any explanation for the suggested upgrade to the Noble Poker site.

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Paddy Power Paves Way in French Sports Betting Market
A deal with the French gambling monopoly Pari Mutuel Urbain and online gambling group Paddy Power from Ireland is expected to create a landing spot for the company as the French gambling market is opened up in 2010. The results of Paddy Power’s announcement that it would meet target market expectations for this year and the deal with PMU yielded a 5.6 percent increase in it’s stock value.

According to a Reuters news agency report the agreement with PMU will see Paddy Power committed to a five-year outsourcing deal to provide betting technology and pricing to the French horse racing operator, the largest betting organisation in Europe with 9.3 billion Euros in turnover for the year of 2008.

Reuters also reported that Paddy Power's financial director Jack Massey expects the deal with PMU will come into effect around May or June 2010, adding some 3 to 5 million Euros in revenue by 2012. This is just the beginning for Paddy Power as this deal when it comes online will trigger other partnerships and more business to business opportunities for the company.

Massey said in an interview with Reuters, "The strength of the deal is the quality of the partner which gives us an excellent calling card of other such opportunities that may emerge,"

Patrick Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer at Paddy Power said the agreement with PMU was an impressive start for the company's new B2B division, and that the firm would be capitalising on its expertise and technology to close agreements with other major betting companies.

Philippe Germond Chief Executive Officer of the Pari Mutuel Urbain had this to say about the deal, "This partnership is going to enable PMU to offer sporting bets online under its own brand and retain direct management of its client database. Paddy Power will provide us with its expertise in sports betting. Through this partnership PMU is given the means to be ready for the opening of the online betting market in France next year."

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