Our online casino news features a huge take-over

The first of this month’s general online casino news here at onlinecasino.ie features a take-over bid which will almost certainly affect many of our own major online casino operators. A couple of weeks ago Canadian-listed Amaya Gaming shocked the online casino industry by announcing a huge $4.8 billion take-over of Rational Group, the company which owns PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker which are two of the most popular online casino brands with reportedly nearly 85 million registered online casino games players. The question now is whether PokerStars will go back into the American market from which they eventually withdrew following a long battle with the US Department of Justice in 2011. PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker both initially defied the US ban on online casino gambling which was introduced in 2006. The effect of the potential return of PokerStars to the American market just as some of our own well-known online casino operators are beginning to make inroads in America was immediate visible on the London stock market with share prices of both Bwin party and 888 Holdings taking a hit. Betfair is another of our online casino operators which has also recently begun to get into this huge potential market as more States begin to issue online gaming licences. Clearly the move came as a surprise to many in the online gambling sector but in spite of the huge sums of money involved some observers are still sceptical. Amaya Gaming was better known as a supplier on online casino software and casino games to both the online casino and land-based casino sector but this take-over moves them very firmly into the online casino operating industry. No doubt we will soon find out more.