Tiger Woods Rejects Paddy Power Deal

Golf pro’ and serial cheater, Tiger Woods, has rejected a sponsorship deal from Irish gaming giants Paddy Power. Paddy Power, parent company of one of the most popular online Irish poker rooms, is reported to have tabled a $75 million package to Woods.

Woods, under fire after allegations about his private life came to light, has suffered financially after several of his mainstream sponsors pulled out of their deals. But, despite that, Tiger wasn’t keen to accept the huge deal on offer from the Irish bookmaking giants.

Paddy Power are well known for their publicity stunts but it’s thought that the deal WAS a serious offer and the company are set to talk to Tiger’s agents again soon.

PartyGaming Posts $26.5 Million Loss for 2009

PartyGaming PLC, the company behind Party Poker, have announced a net loss of $26.5 million for 2009. Despite the apparently poor figures, the group remains positive about their future.

PartyGaming CEO, Jim Ryan, was quick to put a positive outlook on the results. He said; “Whilst the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, we remain focused on executing our stated strategy and are confident about the Group’s prospects.”

Company revenues were down 6% from 2008 to $446.2 million in a turbulent year for the business. In the previous year PartyGaming posted a profit of $66.9 million.

Everest Poker Sold to Mangas Gaming

GigaMedia LTD (GIGM) is to sell popular European online poker room, Everest Poker, alongside 60% of their online gaming business to rivals Mangas Gaming for over $100 million.

Shares in GigaMedia rose by 11% as the market reacted positively to the news. The price increase was a welcome boost to GIGM shareholders who have suffered a 33% drop in price since the start of 2009.

GigaMedia will have the option of requiring Mangas to buy the remaining stake as soon as 2013. Mangas gets the option to force a sale starting in 2015.

Anurag Dikshit Sells Majority of His PartyGaming Shares

Anurag Dikshit has sold two thirds of his PartyGaming PLC shares. His previous holding stood at 27% of the company. After the sale Dikshit owns just 9%. The sale represents £213 million worth of equity based on PartyGaming PLC’s closing share price of 284.5 pence on Monday evening.

Dikshit stands to lose his “largest shareholder in the company” status to co-founders Ruth Parasol DeLeon and Russell DeLeon – both own a 14% stake in the company with 58 million shares each.

News of the sale has sent PartyGaming’s share price spiralling down 14% in today’s trading.

Is SEGA Poker On The Way?

Video game provider SEGA could be set to launch their own poker and casino platforms following the granting of a gambling licence by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission today.

Segapoker.com and segacasino.com have already been registered in what many are predicting could be the biggest shake up of the online poker and casino markets for some time.

Robin Le Prevost, head of eCommerce Development for Alderney, said; “”That SEGA Games chose to base their new venture with us in Alderney is something we are immensely proud about. In our minds it vindicates the high quality of our regulation, which is recognized the world over and has seen substantial investment from companies of high standing like SEGA over the last few years.”

888 Holdings See Profits Crash

888 Holdings, the company behind 888 / Pacific Poker, have announced a huge drop in profits for the first half of this year. Profits crashed by 43% prompting their share price to be slashed by 8% in trading yesterday.

While 888’s new sports betting venture showed good growth and their bingo business reportedly continued to progress, it was 888 Casino that took the brunt of the drop with a 20% tumble in profits.

CEO of 888.com, Gigi Levy, said; “Consumer behaviour has gone back to normal, and we think the third quarter is going to be okay, with the fourth quarter showing nice growth.”

PartyGaming to Buy WPT for $12.3 Million

We broke the story that Gamynia LTD were to buy the WPT earlier this month for the purchase price of $9.07 million. Now, it seems, Gamynia have been left out in the cold as WPT Enterprises Inc. have announced they have accepted an improved offer for the business from Party Poker owners PartyGaming PLC.

PartyGaming announced to the London Stock Exchange earlier today that they will be buying the WPT for $12.3 million in cash. PartyGaming said it would also pay a minimum of $3 million over the next three years to World Poker Tour’s vendors.

WSOP and ESPN Sign New 7 Year Deal

The World Series of Poker and television broadcaster ESPN have agreed a new 7 year deal in an extension to their current agreement. Currently the deal between the two companies was due to end towards the tail of 2010. The new deal will stretch that agreement out until 2017.

ESPN are reported to be “very bullish” in regards to poker for a long time to come and the new WSOP deal underlines their stance.

Not everything is rosy in the WSOP/ESPN gardens, though. Ratings for the latest WSOP are 8% lower than last years. However, it appears ESPN are still very confident about the growth of the poker industry and this years televised coverage is just about to broadcast the main event from the ‘09 Series. That should mean greater interest from poker fans

Celeb Poker Move to iPoker Network Today

Celeb Poker are set to switch networks today. The former Boss Media skin are leaving thier former home to move to the more popular Playtech (iPoker) network.

iPoker features popular poker rooms such as Sun Poker, Titan Poker and Poker770 and is generally considered to have more superior poker software than their Boss Media rivals.

Celeb Poker said in an emailed statement; “Expect improvements in both the software as well as the promotions at CelebPoker. As part of the iPoker Network, your CelebPoker players will be able to win more money, with an incredible $20 million in guaranteed tournaments (up from €3 million to €5 million on our old network). There are also limitless opportunities to win seats to major live events.”