Back in the murky world of online gaming
Nov. 3rd, 2005 07:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peterbirksSo, Party has now made a bid (well, okay, "non-binding approach" ) for Empire! Well, that came a bit out of the left field. But perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. When the abortive SportingBet approach for Empire came in, PartyGaming was seen as a far more logical bidder. So Party stitches the company up by taking away its toys, causes its share price to halve, and then puts in an approach! Marvellous! I'm sure that these guys learnt their trade playing 1830 back in the early 1990s.
It would be interesting to see what the reaction to this will be on the Empire futures price on Finspreads. Up about 20% would be my guess, maybe a bit more. Somewhere around 135p? I wish I had taken my own advice and taken a long position when Empire was in the mid 80 pences...
+++
Meanwhile, in the world of Ultimate Bet, Pokershare, the "share our profits" UB skin, has been effectively shut down, with accounts being closed if you are in North America. The ins and outs of this affair are, if anything, even more hilarious than the Party/Empire/Eurobet dispute.
Quite a few bloggers were promoting the Pokershare network. It looks like the "40% of our profits" will turn out to be 40% of zero. However, UB doesn't come out of this smelling of roses. Screams of "unfair!" from the UB camp and references to "greedy Englishmen" by your friend and mine, Dan Druff, star of stage, screen and coat twirling. (Pokershare was the brainchild of Englishman Max Wright). Ahh, accusations from America of being too capitalist. That's the trouble with the US today -- full of darned socialists.
This is more fun than actually playing.
+++
Bugger me, I can't keep up:
Betfair is bringing its tables in-house, but we all knew that, didn't we? What we were unaware of was the timing. Cryptologic have kindly informed the world that Betfair will continue its exclusive agreement with WagerLogic until June 2006, with an option to extend until January 2007. So, it looks like Betfair will dump Cryptocrap between June and Christmas next year.
And, FINALLY for the day, (I hope), there is an as yet unconfirmed report that Gala, which snaffled up Coral Eurobet a week or so ago, is going to quit the "old" Party Gaming network. Just as Empire's shares went up, well, back down they came. Empire will have to rename itself DriftingTumbleweedPoker.com if this carries on much longer.
+++
In response to Big DD's request, a few more snippets.
This is the e-mail sent to US customers of Pokershare:
We would like to thank you for being a member of PokerShare. We are writing to inform you that due to a policy change as of November 1, 2005 North American residents are no longer able to play in the PokerShare cardroom.
We have closed your account. If you had a cash balance in your account we have initiated a withdrawal for you to refund these monies in full. Along with your cash balance we have converted any Tournament Entry Chips (TECs) and included them in the withdrawal of funds.
If you are owed money, you will be receiving a check in full for your entire account balance to your address on file. Balances in excess of $500 have been sent by FedEx. Smaller balances have been sent by regular mail.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Sincerely
Robert
pokershareinquiries@ecom-arts.com
Here's the e-mail to the higher-value clients:
Due to changes in policy, North American customers are no longer allowed to play
for real money at PokerShare. We have initiated a withdrawal for you in check
form, but given the amount of funds you had in your account, I would like to
give you the opportunity to change the receipt of funds from check to another
method.
Unfortunately we do not have a phone number for you on file so we’ll need to
rely on email. If you do not wish to receive your withdrawal by check, please
reply to this email and give us your preferred withdrawal method no later than 6
p.m. ET on November 2nd, 2005. If we do not hear from you by that time, a check
will be FedEx’ed to the address we have on file for you.
Request by Wire – Please provide the following:
Bank Name, Address, Phone
Name on Account
Address and Phone number associated with name on account
SWIFT #
Account #
Your phone number for verification
Request by Neteller or Firepay – Please provide the following:
Verify the email account associated with their Neteller or Firepay Accounts.
Your phone number for verification
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely
Ella
vip@ecom-arts.com
So, what's the deal? Well, here's where it gets interesting. You have to go to www.excapsa.com. Excapsa has a wholly owned subsidiary, Game Theory. Game Theory licenses software to UB, DiscoverPoker, Aviation Club, Magic Palace, Green Tie, AVA Leisure's DV8 and, yes, Pokershare.
Everything was okay in UB land until Pokershare "did an Empire" on UB, ripping off an increasing proportion of the multi-tabling logs who knock out about 30,000 hands a month. Pokershare is still listed on Excapsa because, if you in the UK, your account will not have been closed.
It was Excapsa that closed the Pokershare accounts, not Pokershare. It was excapsa that handled the payments, not Pokershare. And it was Excapsa that manned the red-hot phones and computers while the proverbial shit hit the fan.
Now, Excapsa is based in Toronto. It's CEO is Jim Ryan, who I think was one-time CFO of Cryptologic. Excapsa bought the software from one-time Oregon-based ieLogic, founded by Greg Pierson in 1999. Of minor interst is the fact that Annie Duke moved to Oregon to work for ieLogic in 2003, although ieLogic subsequently decamped to Canada.
Confused? I don't blame you. Are Excapsa and UB one and the same? If so, how come the one (Excapsa) licensed a deal to PokerShare that obviously worked against the other (Ultimate)? Incompetence? Clearly Excapsa is pushing hard in the UK and it is looking to increase the number of skins outside the US. Did it not occur to Excapsa that an aggressive UK company might steal UB clients in the US? If so (and this is currently my guess on how things went down), that's a bit dumb. As soon as Excapsa saw that UB was losing a lot of US-based customers to Pokershare, it changed its terms with Pokershare.
Now, if this were happening under US company law, you would have anti-trust lawsuits aflying. But, of course, it isn't. Excapsa is based in Canada. ieLogic (which could still have some kind of interest here) is also based in Canada. Any potential flotation of Excapsa would be in the UK. Excapsa's public relations firm is in the UK. Its investment bank is in Canada. But nothing is in the US.
UK customers of Pokershare need only worry if Max Wright now decides that the business is not viable. Who knows? Perhaps there will be enough custom in the UK to keep it going.
It would be interesting to see what the reaction to this will be on the Empire futures price on Finspreads. Up about 20% would be my guess, maybe a bit more. Somewhere around 135p? I wish I had taken my own advice and taken a long position when Empire was in the mid 80 pences...
+++
Meanwhile, in the world of Ultimate Bet, Pokershare, the "share our profits" UB skin, has been effectively shut down, with accounts being closed if you are in North America. The ins and outs of this affair are, if anything, even more hilarious than the Party/Empire/Eurobet dispute.
Quite a few bloggers were promoting the Pokershare network. It looks like the "40% of our profits" will turn out to be 40% of zero. However, UB doesn't come out of this smelling of roses. Screams of "unfair!" from the UB camp and references to "greedy Englishmen" by your friend and mine, Dan Druff, star of stage, screen and coat twirling. (Pokershare was the brainchild of Englishman Max Wright). Ahh, accusations from America of being too capitalist. That's the trouble with the US today -- full of darned socialists.
This is more fun than actually playing.
+++
Bugger me, I can't keep up:
Betfair is bringing its tables in-house, but we all knew that, didn't we? What we were unaware of was the timing. Cryptologic have kindly informed the world that Betfair will continue its exclusive agreement with WagerLogic until June 2006, with an option to extend until January 2007. So, it looks like Betfair will dump Cryptocrap between June and Christmas next year.
And, FINALLY for the day, (I hope), there is an as yet unconfirmed report that Gala, which snaffled up Coral Eurobet a week or so ago, is going to quit the "old" Party Gaming network. Just as Empire's shares went up, well, back down they came. Empire will have to rename itself DriftingTumbleweedPoker.com if this carries on much longer.
+++
In response to Big DD's request, a few more snippets.
This is the e-mail sent to US customers of Pokershare:
We would like to thank you for being a member of PokerShare. We are writing to inform you that due to a policy change as of November 1, 2005 North American residents are no longer able to play in the PokerShare cardroom.
We have closed your account. If you had a cash balance in your account we have initiated a withdrawal for you to refund these monies in full. Along with your cash balance we have converted any Tournament Entry Chips (TECs) and included them in the withdrawal of funds.
If you are owed money, you will be receiving a check in full for your entire account balance to your address on file. Balances in excess of $500 have been sent by FedEx. Smaller balances have been sent by regular mail.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Sincerely
Robert
pokershareinquiries@ecom-arts.com
Here's the e-mail to the higher-value clients:
Due to changes in policy, North American customers are no longer allowed to play
for real money at PokerShare. We have initiated a withdrawal for you in check
form, but given the amount of funds you had in your account, I would like to
give you the opportunity to change the receipt of funds from check to another
method.
Unfortunately we do not have a phone number for you on file so we’ll need to
rely on email. If you do not wish to receive your withdrawal by check, please
reply to this email and give us your preferred withdrawal method no later than 6
p.m. ET on November 2nd, 2005. If we do not hear from you by that time, a check
will be FedEx’ed to the address we have on file for you.
Request by Wire – Please provide the following:
Bank Name, Address, Phone
Name on Account
Address and Phone number associated with name on account
SWIFT #
Account #
Your phone number for verification
Request by Neteller or Firepay – Please provide the following:
Verify the email account associated with their Neteller or Firepay Accounts.
Your phone number for verification
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely
Ella
vip@ecom-arts.com
So, what's the deal? Well, here's where it gets interesting. You have to go to www.excapsa.com. Excapsa has a wholly owned subsidiary, Game Theory. Game Theory licenses software to UB, DiscoverPoker, Aviation Club, Magic Palace, Green Tie, AVA Leisure's DV8 and, yes, Pokershare.
Everything was okay in UB land until Pokershare "did an Empire" on UB, ripping off an increasing proportion of the multi-tabling logs who knock out about 30,000 hands a month. Pokershare is still listed on Excapsa because, if you in the UK, your account will not have been closed.
It was Excapsa that closed the Pokershare accounts, not Pokershare. It was excapsa that handled the payments, not Pokershare. And it was Excapsa that manned the red-hot phones and computers while the proverbial shit hit the fan.
Now, Excapsa is based in Toronto. It's CEO is Jim Ryan, who I think was one-time CFO of Cryptologic. Excapsa bought the software from one-time Oregon-based ieLogic, founded by Greg Pierson in 1999. Of minor interst is the fact that Annie Duke moved to Oregon to work for ieLogic in 2003, although ieLogic subsequently decamped to Canada.
Confused? I don't blame you. Are Excapsa and UB one and the same? If so, how come the one (Excapsa) licensed a deal to PokerShare that obviously worked against the other (Ultimate)? Incompetence? Clearly Excapsa is pushing hard in the UK and it is looking to increase the number of skins outside the US. Did it not occur to Excapsa that an aggressive UK company might steal UB clients in the US? If so (and this is currently my guess on how things went down), that's a bit dumb. As soon as Excapsa saw that UB was losing a lot of US-based customers to Pokershare, it changed its terms with Pokershare.
Now, if this were happening under US company law, you would have anti-trust lawsuits aflying. But, of course, it isn't. Excapsa is based in Canada. ieLogic (which could still have some kind of interest here) is also based in Canada. Any potential flotation of Excapsa would be in the UK. Excapsa's public relations firm is in the UK. Its investment bank is in Canada. But nothing is in the US.
UK customers of Pokershare need only worry if Max Wright now decides that the business is not viable. Who knows? Perhaps there will be enough custom in the UK to keep it going.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 10:01 am (UTC)cheers
Dave D
Pokershare
Date: 2005-11-03 10:23 am (UTC)Go to 2+2 and the Internet Gambling forum and read the post from Dan Druff.
Apart from the xenophobia and baldism, it's a good piece of reporting. We'll make a journalist out of him yet!
PJ
no subject
Date: 2005-11-03 02:29 pm (UTC)Thanks for the dirt.
Better than playing indeed =)
Aksu
Behind Betfair
Date: 2005-11-03 07:20 pm (UTC)