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Online Poker: IGT stop its operations in EU countries
International Game Technology (IGT) decided to stop its online poker operations in Europe by advancing as reason the change of regulations that tend to destroy profitability. As a reminder, IGT is the largest slot machine manufacturer in the world. It also has a powerful online poker operating system. IGT's decision is effectively the result from the fact that some European countries prohibit the access to foreign players, which greatly reduces the performance of operators. Last year, IGT paid $ 115 million to acquire Entraction, an online poker operator based in Sweden who had more than four million players. But businesses are not so interesting. Thus, IGT decided to stop. However, the cancellation applies only to online poker. Thus, other online games such as bingo, slots and sports betting are still available.
In June, the company obtained a license to operate in the U.S. state of Nevada. IGT even considered to use Entraction platform to offer online poker to players in this part of the USA. The closure of European sites will however not affect the project. Note that twelve operators had approval to operate in Nevada. However, given the problem on the market of online poker in Europe, the United States shall take the necessary measures. In fact, the CEO of IGT, Patti Hart announced that huge risks are incurred in launching the intrastate market.
Source: Jack SMITH
Friday, 21 September 2012
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