Partygaming

A March 2011 merger of PartyGaming Plc. with Bwin (aka Bet to Win) formed Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc. The Gibraltar based company is now the biggest publicly traded Internet gaming company world-wide and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

PartyGaming is famous for the online poker room at PartyPoker.com. Since its launching, PartyPoker.com has grown to be one of the most significant online poker card rooms offering various games of Stud Poker, Omaha, and Texas Hold'em. (Bwin is the company’s sports betting brand).

In 1997, Ruth Parasol founded the network of gambling sites known as PartyGaming, and by 2001, their flagship site called PartyPoker.com was up and running.

2006 proved a most interesting year for PartyGaming.

In February of that year, PartyGaming launched new software that allowed players the option of playing multiple games with a single log-on and account.

In August, the company acquired Gamebookers, a Barbuda and Antigua based sports betting operation, with focus on European markets.

Mid-year the company launched PartyGammon.com, for playing online back gammon.

Late September, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed by the U.S. Congress, after which PartyGaming immediately reported that it would no longer be proffering money games to U.S. patrons. It did not affect games of free play or non-U.S. patrons.

October 13, 2006 saw the Act signed into law by President Bush.

April of 2009, PartyGaming reached a “non-prosecution agreement” with the U.S. government, agreeing to shell out $105 million in penalties. The settlement required PartyGaming to sign a statement admitting that they’d targeted American citizens prior to October 2006, the actions of which resulted in transaction processing that deviated from some U.S. laws.

Mike Sexton, the World Poker Television show host, endorses the PartyPoker.com website. In November 2009, PartyGaming acquired the World Poker Tour from WPTE.

Current joint CEOs are Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberge. Parasol, who in 2010 was ranked as 15th of the world’s richest self-made women by The Economist magazine, now provides PartyGaming with consulting services.