The unnamed party who bought Devilfish Poker last month is unnamed no longer. The Weather Lottery, who got into the online gaming biz in July with the launch of FC Betz.com, were revealed as the angler who landed the fishy poker site in a £330k cash and shares deal. As TWL chairman Tim Razzall sees it, the acquisition fits into his “strategy to reinvigorate TWL” and promises the potential for “significant international growth” into Asia and the US.
GVC Holdings suffered a 12% drop in net gaming revenue in Q4 over the same period last year. Despite a 41% increase in average daily sports betting handle, a run of ‘unfavorable’ sports results caused the channel’s net revenues to drop 66%. Despite this setback, the company expects to meet the market’s full year expectations. GVC has also decided to liquidate its Luxembourg holding company Gaming VC Holdings.
Moody’s Investor Service has upgraded its outlook for US land-based gaming in 2011. While previous opinion held that gaming revenue would be flat, Moody’s now expects revenue to rise a modest 1-2% and casino profits to be double that figure. In regional terms, Moody’s expects less mature markets like New York and Pennsylvania to be above the norm, while Atlantic City and Las Vegas “will continue to struggle.” Furthermore, Moody’s warns that increased proliferation of gaming options “will likely result in more companies competing for the same customers within a particular market rather than the expansion of the overall industry or an improvement in industry operating profits.”
