Ireland’s irrepressible bookies Paddy Power are on a roll, as demonstrated by their plan to add 610 staff members over the next couple years to their Power Tower base of operations in Dublin. The new hires are needed to support the company’s flourishing online business, which now accounts for the majority of the company’s operating profit and saw customer acquisition rise 50% in the first half of 2012. Since April, the company has filled 189 positions, primarily in the areas of e-commerce, risk management, quantitative research, social media, online marketing and technology. When complete, the new hires will bring Paddy’s total Irish employment figure to 2,783. Paddy’s aggressive recruiting is even more compelling when you consider that the nation’s unemployment figure is a stark 15% and the nation’s bookmakers have talked about laying off 500 betting shop staffers due to the government’s failure to extend the shops’ hours of operation.
Paddy’s commitment to its online business was enhanced by the recent release of its Roller Casino app for iPad and iPhone. The app, which was made available for download Oct. 1, was developed in conjunction with Viaden Gaming and offers 19 slots and casino table games, with more games promised by the end of the year. (An HTML5 option for Android users is also available.)
On the retail side, a Paddy Power shop in Newmarket has become the first of the company’s UK outlets to apply for the right to stay open past 10pm. The late license would allow the High Street shop to remain open until midnight seven days a week. The application is under consideration with the Forest Heath District Council’s licensing committee, which is scheduled to deliver a verdict Oct. 24. A Paddy spokesman told Cambridge News the move was “a reaction to Betfred, who were the first to apply, and we felt we should offer customers a choice.”
Finally, PaddyPowerPoker.com has announced a unique doubles no-limit hold’em event at the Irish Winter Festival at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin (Oct. 26-29). Two-person teams will alternate levels, with Player 1 starting with a stack of 5k chips and Player 2 starting Level 2 with 5k plus whatever Player 1 managed to accumulate by the end of Level 1. Paddy’s already lined up some celebrity dream teams, including former Irish Open winners Neil Channing and James Mitchell plus Olympic boxing bronze medalists Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlon. Whichever team manages to knock out the boxers gets an automatic entry into a €100 NLHE event. In the meantime, PaddyPowerPoker.com is running an Irish Winter Festival Mega Satellite this Sunday at 8pm.
