Harrah's Hires Former PartyGaming CEO
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April 2009
There have been rumors and speculation for some time that Harrah's Entertainment had become interested in the prospect of online casinos and, specifically in the U.S., online poker. The brick and mortar casino industry as a whole has tended to lean toward not favoring online gaming, but now, Harrah's is starting to slide the other way.
Around April of 2009, the rumors were growing louder that Harrah's was definitely interested in Internet poker and had in fact hired former PartyGaming CEO, Mitch Garber. Although Harrah's initially denied the stories, they later admitted that yes indeed, they had hired Mr. Garber.
In June, Harrah's CEO Gary Loveman announced that the company had created a new division, called Harrah's Interactive Entertainment (HIE). This new division would be headed up by who else… Mitch Garber.
The Interactive Entertainment division was developed to take advantage of the company's name recognition, and especially the World Series of Poker brand, by exploring Internet gambling opportunities in Europe. They would start in Europe where many countries already have legal online gaming companies and only a few countries have banned Internet gaming altogether.
The speculation of course is that HIE is preparing for the return of Internet poker in the United States. Harrah's has reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying in Washington for the legalization and regulation of online poker. They would then be in a perfect position, as an American company, to obtain a license and capitalize on the "fresh" U.S. online poker market.
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