Poker Revenues Slump at Party Gaming

May 7 - Revenues from Party Gaming's poker arm, Party Poker slumped significantly in the group's first quarter trading report.

Revenue dropped from $53.6 million to $47.8 million, with the Gibraltar based Party Gaming citing the reason for this decline as competition from "US facing sites" such as Poker Stars.

As a result, Party Gaming showed a dip in average daily revenue compared to the last quarter.

Casino gaming did somewhat better than Party Poker, with revenue climbing 25% to $51.2 million. This was a growth from $40.9 million one year ago.

"In line with our expectations, since the end of March gross average daily revenues have softened and were down between 6% and 7% versus the average for the previous quarter, reflecting the normal seasonal pattern seen in previous years," said the Chief Executive Officer of Party Gaming, Jim Ryan.

In other Party Gaming poker related news, the group said that it has added another licensee to its French poker network in the form of Aviation Club de France.

Described as "one of the country's most prestigious card rooms and private members clubs," Aviation Club de France's final acceptance to the network will come after it gets regulatory clearance from French authorities.

Party Gaming continues to eye a return to the US gaming market and Ryan said that he sees "increased momentum towards regulating online poker."