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Empire shares fall as investors fold on internet poker
Published: 2005-10-10
 By Tom Griggs in London
Updated: 12:40 p.m. ET Oct. 10, 2005
Investors in internet poker were scared away from the sector on Monday despite strong third quarter revenue results from Empire Online as PartyGaming, the market leader said that it would take its customers away from the system of pooled poker players that has provided liquidity for all companies.
Empire's results were overshadowed as Noam Lanir, chief executive, said that there was little growth in the sector during the period and Empire's shares slumped 18 per cent to 150½p.
In a separate announcement, PartyGaming indicated trading could get tougher for its smaller rivals. The world's largest online poker operator unveiled a change to its operating platform that would separate its own players from those from other companies, such as Empire. The new system will allow its customers to play a range of different games in addition to poker on the same platform.
The change was welcomed by Empire which said that its EmpireOnline.com site would be enhanced by the inclusion of new features provided by PartyGaming.
However, Charles Wilson, analyst at Bridgewell Securities, said: "The move towards proprietary systems will cut off liquidity for skins, which has been one of the key drivers of traffic."
Investors, already jittery following a warning from PartyGaming over growth prospects and a flat listing by 888.com in September, pushed shares for the whole sector lower on Monday. PartyGaming shares fell 6.9 per cent to 74½p, Sportingbet fell 5.9 per cent to 288½p and 888 Holdings fell 2.8 per cent to 156¾p.
But Mr Lanir sought to reassure Empire investors about the prospects for the group. "In a period where there has been much uncertainty over potential growth rates in the online gaming industry as a whole we believe our results demonstrate the strength of our core marketing skills."
Empire said that the number of real money players increased 62 per cent to 53,148 compared to last year, a jump of 24 per cent compared to the second quarter. Net revenues from gaming leapt from $18.3m in the third quarter last year to $31.4m in the same quarter this year, an increase of 24 per cent from the previous quarter.
The group, which ended talks with Sportingbet over a £791m takeover at the end of September, estimated that operating profits for the quarter would be $16.1m, a rise of 43 per cent compared to $11.3m last year. It said that over 40 per cent of the new real money players had come through its own platforms, Noble Poker and Club Dice, which it acquired over the summer.
Last month, PartyGaming, the world's largest internet gambling group, saw its shares fall by a third when it said that customer growth had slowed while player retention rates and player yields had declined at rates "greater than expected", prompting fears that the online poker fad had come to an end.
However, analysts at Altium Securities, said that Empire's results demonstrated that "the majority of PartyGaming's woes are company specific".
Mr Lanir attributed Empire's success to its diversification strategy of directing new players to its own platforms, such as Noble Poker, and away from so-called "skins" such as Empire-Poker.html>EmpirePoker.com which uses PartyGaming technology.
Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Cingular Wireless and Summus Reveal Secrets of Hold'em with Howard Lederer
Published: 2005-10-12
The unique tutorial poker game for the mobile phone will be a sure bet with
Cingular Wireless customers
ATLANTA and RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Cingular Wireless, the
nation's largest wireless carrier, and Summus, Inc.
(OTC Bulletin Board: SMMU), a leading provider of mobile media applications
that optimize the consumer wireless experience, announced today the launch of
a unique Texas Hold'em tutorial poker game, "Secrets of Hold'em with Howard
Lederer," available first on Cingular Wireless.
Known as "The Professor of Poker," Howard Lederer is one of the most
successful and famous poker players around today. Howard is a two-time World
Series of Poker champion, and has two World Poker Tour titles, two Hall of
Fame titles and three Bellagio titles. Living up to his name, Howard Lederer
has produced a series of videos/DVDs and books also branded as "Secrets of
Hold'em" to assist poker players in advancing their game.
Unlike other mobile Hold'em games on the market, Secrets of Hold'em
combines challenging game play with a teaching component that allows players
to hone their poker skills, and can be used as a stand alone game or as a
companion to an existing mobile poker game. The game uses hints, tips and
interactive strategy charts from the "Professor of Poker" himself, Howard
Lederer, to develop skills for all levels of players in one mobile phone
application.
As players master the tutorial information, they can test their skills in
a series of poker tournaments against computer-simulated poker celebrities
like Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Phil Gordon, Matt Savage and Greg Raymer.
Each player's virtual bank starts at $500, and they may enter $100, $1K or
$10K tournaments. Once a player wins the $10K tournament, the game unlocks
the feature to play head-to-head against Howard Lederer, himself.
"I am very impressed with the way Summus captured the essence of my
tutorial products and integrated it into a fun, challenging mobile hold'em
game," said Howard Lederer. "We are very excited at the prospect of imparting
poker knowledge via mobile phones at any time, or any location. The product is
valuable to all poker players whether they are practicing for a big
tournament, or needing to access pre-flop tips while actually playing a hand
online or at a real table."
"Once ESPN began airing more hours of poker programming than any other
single sport, it was apparent that there was a need for an educational poker
game such as this. It's a phenomenon," said Gary Ban, CEO of Summus. "We
pride ourselves in the fact that Summus has created an application designed to
appeal to those who already play mobile poker as well as those who have never
played a hand in their life. There's nothing else like this on the market
today."
"For millions of consumers, Texas Hold'Em has clearly become a favorite
pastime, one that can be easily and conveniently enjoyed and played in person,
on the PC and on the wireless phone," said Jim Ryan, vice president of
consumer data services, Cingular Wireless. "As a company, we are always on the
lookout for innovative and compelling products and services that appeal to
Cingular customers' communication and entertainment needs. 'Secrets of
Hold'em' definitely fits the bill."
There are more than 50 million poker players in the United States and more
than 100 million worldwide. More people play poker than play golf, billiards
or tennis, according to WPT Enterprises, Inc. Recent data from Reuters also
shows the number of hours of poker broadcast on television up more than 250
percent over each of the past two years.
To purchase "Secrets of Hold'em," Cingular Wireless customers can go to
MEdia Mall on their mobile phones. Select the Card & Board game category,
then scroll to find "Secrets of Hold'em with Howard Lederer." The game is
available at a cost of $5.99 for a one-time download.
About Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless is the largest wireless carrier in the United States,
serving 51.44 million customers. Cingular, a joint venture between SBC
Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC) and BellSouth Corporation (NYSE: BLS), has the
largest digital voice and data network in the nation -- the ALLOVER (SM)
network - and the largest mobile-to-mobile community of any national wireless
carrier. Cingular is the only U.S. wireless carrier to offer Rollover (SM),
the wireless plan that lets customers keep their unused monthly minutes.
Details of the company are available at http://www.cingular.com. Get Cingular
Wireless press releases e-mailed to you automatically. Sign up at
http://www.cingular.com/newsroom.
About Summus
Summus is a leading provider of mobile media applications that optimize
the consumer wireless experience. Summus partners with leading content brands
to develop compelling and unique wireless applications and content for the
mobile phone, focused within the most popular areas of growth, including
photo-messaging, multi-player games, news/information and personalization.
Summus currently offers an ever-growing list of 30 mobile phone applications
deployed through 45 major wireless carriers in the U.S and abroad. Summus
designs and develops these applications with the industry's most intuitive
navigation that is designed for a consistently superior user experience. For
more information, see http://www.summus.com.
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