Online Casino Software Provider Enters Chinese Market

28 Dec 2006

Playtech, one of the leading online casino software providers, has recently signed a five year deal with China’s leading gaming group, Sino Strategic International (SSI). The deal, which certainly came as nice Christmas gift for the company, managed to push Playtech’s stock up 5 percent, signaling that the investors were happy too. SSI, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, focuses on the Chinese fast growing Internet and mobile media markets, which are expected to grow significantly in the next years, partly because of American online casino sites leaving the US after the legislation of UIGEA.

As a part of the deal, Playtech and SSI will be the first major distributor of Texas Hold’em Poker in the Chinese market. Following that, they plan to release a selection of online casino games in the first half of 2007, after a testing, approval and implementation period. At least in the beginning, the games will be those that are more commonly played in China, such as Mahjong, Do Di Zhu and To La Ji. If everything goes as planned, Chinese people will be able to play all the popular online casino games by next year.

“This might be a major development for both Playtech and SSI, as the Chinese online casino market has great potential. In addition, this license agreement will further establish our presence in Asia, which is part of our strategy” said Avigur Zmora, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech. As time passes and the Chinese online gambling industry starts developing, there’s no doubt that many more online casino software companies will join Playtech and enter this vast, and exciting, market.

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