PartyGaming Close To A Settlement

Jim Ryan, the new chief executive of online poker and
gaming group PartyGaming, has recently given a statement regarding the progress
towards reaching a settlement with the New York US Attorney's Office
which should put to rest any legal entanglements for his company:

"Our
discussions with the U.S. government are proceeding positively. We
believe we're in the final stages of the settlement process. That being
said, we are not directly in control of the process but remain
optimistic and we'll keep the market informed as we proceed and
hopefully with a statement as to the final conclusion of this matter in
the not too distant future."

Legal issues began when Party Poker accepted so-called "illegal" bets from American residents before the passage of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). After the UIGEA was signed into law, PartyGaming exited the US market and consequently lost 50-75% of its business.

Even though many contend that poker does not fall under the UIGEA, PartyGaming as a public company decided not to risk shareholder lawsuits. The settlement will remove possibility of any lawsuits, thus giving PartyGaming a better position for making deals with other companies.

Whether PartyGaming will return to the U.S. or not, Ryan commented:

"We would not re-enter in that market in anything other
than a legal and regulated way. But what we are interested in doing,
before we do see the advent of regulation, is propagating the brand,
keeping it alive. So we are looking at ways and means to, in fact,
reinforce the brand through our play for fun site, reinforce the brand
perhaps through a subscription-based model. These are all opportunities
as well as a few others that I would rather not go into that we're
exploring today."