Paradise Poker to Join Ongame Network

[morlspin]

Sportingbet, at one time the world’s largest publicly traded online gaming company, announced today that it will be adding a new poker room in the second half of this year. SportingBet currently runs one of online poker’s original rooms, Paradise Poker, on GTECH G2’s International Poker Network (IPN). Sportingbet already had an agreement in place to migrate players not accepted by IPN to Entraction, as was done with their Canadian user base. The new room will keep Paradise Poker’s brand, but will use Ongame’s platform. “Ongame has a great track record as a poker partner for major sportsbook brands.” states Ben Freeman, Sporting Bet’s Poker Manager. “We are impressed by their approach to network ecology and we’re excited to widen our offering with increased liquidity and better promotions to our players.” In the past, OnGame has focused their marketing efforts on recreational players to bring money into the system. This was apparent during the launch of the GSOP Live Poker Tour last year, where 80% of players attempting to qualify were net depositing players. And just this past January, Ongame revised its oddly named “Essence” rake distribution system to encourage partner rooms to bring in casual players. According to Ongame, these efforts were met with success, as they’ve reported 8% year over year growth in active recreational players. David Pittel, Managing Director at Ongame added “With Sportingbet we are building on our position as the premier choice for sportsbook operators. Sportingbet not only brings us increased liquidity and reach in further markets, but more importantly they share our view of poker. We are really looking forward to working with them.” Ongame, launched in 1999, is the 5th largest poker network behind PartyPoker & iPoker, and home to popular rooms Betfair Poker, Bwin, Red Kings Poker and Hollywood Poker. In 2005, Bwin purchased Ongame for 474 million pounds. Since the PartyPoker/Bwin merger, there has been speculation that a sale tag has been put on Ongame. With IGT’s 70 million pound bid last month for online poker network Entraction, another industry acquisition could be just around the corner. Update: June 7, 2011: A representative from GTECH G2 contacted us with a clarification. Ongame is in fact launching a second skin for Sportingbet, which continues to be part of the IPN. GTECH G2 confirmed this afternoon that it continues to serve as the poker provider for Paradise Poker. William Scott, Vice President GTECH G2, said in response to today’s earlier reports: “Sportingbet is and continues to be a valued client of GTECH G2 and the IPN. We will continue to work with them and all the members of the IPN to provide the ultimate poker experience for players. GTECH G2 is leading provider to regulated gaming markets.”

[teaulc]

Re: Paradise Poker to Join Ongame Network so if i read that right,paradise will be on both networks?