Major online casino and poker room group 888.com’s fourth quarter results this week again illustrated the staying power of the online poker phenomenon, with poker revenues up 22 percent from the previous three months, the company revealed.
“Our new financial year has started well,” the owner of the Pacific Poker site said after reporting poker revenues of $36 million (GBP 20.3 million) in the three months to December 31. Compared with a year before, poker revenues were up 138 percent.
Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Chief Executive John Anderson also said that he was in the market for a sportsbetting operation to add to the group’s diversity sometime this year. And he shrugged off comments from the global online poker market leader PartyGaming plc that it would soon dominate the casino marketplace too.
888’s overall gaming revenue was up 52 percent to $271 million in 2005, and the number of real money registered member accounts rose by 49 percent to 5.5 million at the end of last year. The number of active members (an individual member who made a game-related balance movement in a real money account in the relevant quarter) rose to 330,962 in the fourth quarter, 75 percent more than in the fourth quarter of 2004.
2005 was a good year for 888. Net gaming revenue rose by 52 percent to $271 million for the year, with net gaming revenue from casino interests up 16 percent to $161 million, and net gaming revenue from poker up 179 percent to $110 million.
888 posted $77 million in net gaming revenue for the fourth quarter of 2005 alone, 56 percent more than for the corresponding quarter of 2004. In the same period, net gaming revenue from casino activities rose 19 percent to $41 million, and net gaming revenue from poker soared 138 percent to $36 million.
Net gaming revenue per active member in casino fell by $39 in the fourth quarter, compared with the preceding quarter, due to efforts aimed at reviving dormant members. Net gaming revenue per active member in poker rose by $27, from $129 in the third quarter to $156 in the fourth quarter.
888 boss John Anderson specifically mentioned the acquisition of a sportsbook operation, saying it would be valuable for customer retention and organic growth