Game on?

RUMOURS are circulating about Bwin.Party striking a deal with Shuffle Master to sell Ongame for a reported €13 million. The news was initially reported in the Sunday Times. It’s also been reported that if Shuffle Master do get their hands on the deal, it could place them two steps ahead if and when the online poker industry is legalised.

Back in 2005, Bwin had purchased Ongame Network for £474 million. This was before Black Friday and before the US government passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Just before Bwin merged with PartyGaming to form Bwin.Party, a spokesperson for Bwin had stated that Bwin considers Ongame Network as a “surplus asset,” which the merger no longer requires.

According to various news reports, Shuffle Master is not the only gambling company making such moves in the hopes that the US federal government might legalize and regulate its online poker industry. Even International Gaming Technology (IGT) acquired Entraction Network in May last year for $115 million.

 However, gaming analysts do not feel that US online poker will be regulated soon. Howard Stutz, a reporter for Las Vegas Review – Journal, had tweeted, “One Wall Street analyst opinion: Internet poker legalization not being attached to the payroll tax bill means the issue is dead for 2012.”