Sportingbet, the parent company of Paradise Poker, has partnered with the Entraction Network to bring online poker into additional areas of Europe. Paradise Poker currently makes its home on Boss Media’s International Poker Network.
In a press release posted on Entraction’s website yesterday, Peter Astrom, its CEO, commented, “We are proud to welcome Sportingbet to our network. The deal shows that Entraction is an attractive partner for the largest players in the online gaming industry.” The press release added that Sportingbet had already launched its first site on the Entraction Network. The specific markets that Sportingbet was targeting were not given.
An Entraction Network representative told eGamingReview Magazine why the partnership is attractive to the burgeoning family of sites: “Sportingbet has high standards and would not have signed up with us if it felt our software wasn’t up to scratch. While we started off with smaller operators, this deal shows we are now starting to recruit bigger and more established operators.” Paradise Poker is one of the staples of the online poker industry and was absorbed by Sportingbet in 2004.
The International Poker Network is the ninth largest worldwide, boasting a seven-day running average of 1,620 real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com. At its peak, more than double that number can be found on its virtual felts. Besides Paradise Poker, other members of Boss Media’s online poker network include CelebPoker, Classic Poker, Fortune Poker, i4Poker, InterPoker, and Poker Heaven.
The Entraction Network is slightly smaller, weighing in at 13th worldwide with a seven-day average of 1,100 cash game players. Its 24 hour peak is 2,241 and its traffic is comparable with that found on 888’s Pacific Poker and the Swedish gambling outfit Svenska Spel. The Entraction Network plays host to customers from sites like Devilfish Poker, NoiQ Poker, and Wasa Poker. Its parent company is based in Sweden; the Entraction Network’s servers call Malta home.
Sportingbet is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, where it can be found under the symbol “SBT.” At the time of writing, which is late afternoon throughout most of Europe, the company’s stock was up £1.75 on the day to £60.75, representing a jump of nearly 3%. Amid the worldwide financial meltdown late last year, shares of SBT traded as low as £23.25 in October. By December, it had crossed the £30 threshold and leapt over £40 for good in March.
Three weeks ago, Sportingbet divested itself of Sportingbet Italia, selling the entity to local management for what it termed “nominal consideration.” Over the first 11 months of the fiscal year, the Italian arm had turned in an operating loss for Sportingbet of £1.5 million. Sportingbet Italia was procured in 2006 with the expectation that payouts would increase, specific software would be developed for Italian customers, and “in-running betting” would be allowed. None of these changes occurred and, combined with the growth of brick and mortar gambling outfits in Italy, eroded Sportingbet Italia’s profit potential. The company took a loss of £7.1 million in order to rid itself of its failed venture, draining cash on-hand by £1.6 million.
eGamingReview speculated that the partnership between Sportingbet and the Entraction Network is set to expire in February. Neither Entraction nor the International Poker Network accepts players from the United States. The largest network that does not accept U.S. players is the iPoker family of sites, which includes BetFred, Better Poker, Boyle Poker, CD Poker, Chili Poker, Expekt, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, PokerPlex, Titan Poker, and VC Poker. The iPoker Network is owned and operated by Playtech, which can be found on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “PTEC.”