Betfair Poker Merges to Ongame Network

July 15 - Betfair Poker has announced that they will be moving to the Ongame Network at the end of July 2010. Ongame is expecting to see a large player migration from Betfair's standalone poker room to the Ongame Network.

The move to Ongame is planned for July 27. Betfair will share the Ongame Network with names such as Bwin Poker, as well as a number of other European facing online poker rooms.

They plan to change the name of their platform to Betfair Poker 2.

Daniel Svard, Head of Betfair Poker announced: "This move is a conscious effort to place our poker players at the forefront of our poker offering. Betfair Poker players will have access to more games, at all times of the day. Both companies are dedicated to the long germ improvement of player experience. We look forward to a long and successful partnership with Ongame Network."

In a similar vein, Martin Lerby, Head of Ongame Network stated: "Betfair is the ideal kind of long-term partner for Ongame Network: A respected gaming brand and technically mature."

He continued that: "In our competitive industry, we welcome the player liquidity and poker knowledge that Betfair brings to our network."

The merge is expected to benefit both companies and is likely to have a spillover effect for the smaller poker rooms that are part of the same network.

The move is expected to help the Ongame Network to raise its game and compete with the iPoker Network, perhaps even threatening its position.

According to statistics on Pokerscount, Betfair Poker attracts around 620 players each day in its cash games, while there are a total of 1,900 player to be found each day on the Ongame Network in its cash games. The merge will push their total players up to around 2,500.