Games
PartyPoker
Launched in August 2001, the number of players attracted to PartyPoker.com grew rapidly on the back of increasing broadband penetration, increasing popularity of gambling and the marketing efforts of online gaming companies. Television coverage of poker tournaments, has also generated significant interest in poker and online poker sites.
PartyPoker.com is the Group’s most successful brand and remains one of the world's largest poker rooms. PartyPoker is now available in 12 different languages. In the year to 31 December 2007 the poker segment contributed 64% of Revenues and 56% of Clean EBITDA with nearly 925,000 unique active players.
How online poker works
The mechanics are quite simple: the Group essentially acts as the host for customers wanting to play poker against each other and as such we simply charge players a fee, or 'rake', for every hand of real money poker they play (where the pot is greater than $0.1 and where the hand reaches the 'flop'). Players can compete with one another either through online tournaments or on individual tables, known as 'ring games'.
Ring games
Ring games have traditionally been the most popular format, generating between 70% and 80% of the Group's poker revenues. In 2007, ring games represented 70% of Continuing gross poker revenues. Players have a wide variety of different types of poker games they can play including Texas Hold 'em (the most popular game representing 94% of total poker revenues in 2007) as well as Omaha High and 7-card stud. Each is a variation on the core game of poker with players competing against each other for the total amount wagered for any particular hand (the 'pot'), minus the rake. The amount of rake varies depending on the pot size, but is subject to a cap with a maximum of $5 for high limit tables.
Tournaments
Tournament play differs from ring games in that rather than playing with real money, players receive chips in a tournament which they then use to play against each other. With only a set number of chips available, players are progressively knocked out until the winning player emerges with all of the chips. The winning player, and usually those in second and third places, receive a prize, normally in cash. Revenue varies depending on the size of the 'buy-in' and the number of players participating. The Group offers a wide variety of different tournaments with different prize levels for single-table tournaments as well as multi-table tournaments.
