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PartyGaming Outplay Empire In The Biggest Poker Game
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The biggest poker game of all is taking place on the London Stock Exchange, and there can be little doubt that PartyGaming, the oldest online poker player has taken Empire Online, their former partner and current rival, to school. In fact, PartyGaming have run rings round them, and are now considering a buy-out of Empire - the coup de grace after hacking away at their share value in the past two months...
It all started when Empire Online, which made it's name operating online poker skins that fed players into the PartyPoker network (owned by PartyGaming), got a little too big for their boots. Empire Online allowed themselves to be wooed by Sportingbet, in a deal that would have redirected all those skins to Paradise Poker. At the time, Empire was valued at 270p a share in the prospective deal. PartyGaming quashed that deal in a hurry. They claimed that their contracts with Empire were unbreakable.
News that the deal would not be done undermined investor confidence in Empire. That confidence was dashed completely when PartyGaming outflanked Empire, annnouncing that Empire's players would be fenced out from the network. They would no longer mingle with the rest of the network's players. Suddenly, Empire's players found dwindling numbers of tables, and far less juicy games. PartyGaming proved that their skins need them a lot more than they need the skins.
Now, Empire Online is valued at 140p and they are wobbling. PartyGaming has graciously offered to buy out their former partner, pending an examination of Empire's books. PartyGaming could potentially cripple Empire. They might report that they have decided not to buy the company, which would imply that those accounts were not up to scratch, and the stock would continue it's freefall. Or they could buy the company for half of what Sportingbet were willing to pay, a victory on several levels for the canny management team at PartyGaming.
Time will tell, but if you want to see real big money poker of the online variety you won't find better action that PartyGaming breaking Empire one deal at a time.
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