Gaming software developer, Playtech, has just announced its acquisition of Ash Gaming. Playtech is already providing software solutions to a massive part of the online gaming industry and is one of the top suppliers of online gaming software. They have acquired Ash Gaming for a total of £23 million with the first £15.5 million being paid straight away and a further £7.5 million being paid over the next three years. The online gaming giant has been making acquisitions of online gaming companies throughout the industry and their latest deal takes the total to 11 acquisitions including 4 in 2011.

Playtech said that the acquisition "Enhances Playtech’s wholly-owned content library and value chain economics; complements Playtech’s technology leadership with additional premier content capability." The Playtech CEO Mor Weizer added that, "We see this as complementing our strategic actions by ensuring class leading content alongside our leadership in technology. Together this makes a powerful combination and by owning significant games content we will maximize both revenue and earnings across the value chain. In newly regulated markets both in Europe and other territories such as Canada, Ash Gaming’s content is set to gain considerable traction."

With Ash Gaming now a part of the Playtech empire it is expected that the online gaming firm will be able to increase the quality of the online gaming options that they provide to front end online casinos. Playtech is already well known for providing superior products to the online casino industry. Ash Gaming was founded in 2002 and specialises in innovation within the online gaming sphere.

This is good news for players at William Hill, which is powered by Playtech, as this means that their games are going to soon be seeing the innovations that Ash Gaming has become famous for. Players can expect to find that their favourite games are going to be even more fun to play in the near future.

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Changes implemented to reflect current ownership

Following the management buyout of eCOGRA earlier in the year, it has been decided to restructure and streamline the Board to reflect the Company’s current ownership.

As a result of the restructuring Non-Executive Directors Michael Hirst OBE, Bill Galston OBE and Frank Catania will be leaving the Board as of the 31st December 2011.

The new Board will be comprised of Chief Executive Officer Andrew Beveridge and Tex Rees, who have been part of the organisation’s management team since 2003.

Andrew Beveridge said, “I am very grateful to Michael, Bill and Frank for their enormous contribution in helping to establish eCOGRA as a pre-eminent independent remote gambling standards body and testing agency and steering the Company to its new found status.

“I look forward to the next chapter of our growth as we set out to use our exceptional and unrivalled experience in providing services to jurisdictions, whilst maintaining our unique eCOGRA seal assuring player protection on approved sites”.

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The iGB Affiliate award votes have been counted and the organisers are happy to say that over 4,000 industry affiliates and executives made their choice. A fantastic response, ensuring a truly representative vote, the shortlist includes those who received the most or equal votes in any of the following categories: Best Affiliate (all verticals), Best Affiliate Program (all verticals), Best New Comer (Affiliate & Program), Best Affiliate manager (all verticals), Best iGaming Affiliate Network, The Louis Fabiano Award for the Best iGaming Community and Best Payment System for Affiliates.

“A well deserved congratulations to everyone in the shortlist” said Alex Pratt, Head of iGaming Business “To get to this stage is an amazing result and means you’ve had to beat most of your competitors to one of these top spots. Win or lose, each company on this list should be proud to have gotten to this stage. The final decision is now in the hands of our judges, so all that is left to say is good luck to our finalists.”

All the finalists will be examined by a judging panel who will evaluate each short listed nomination in order to select the final winner. The judging process is a rigorous and thorough procedure – each nomination will be considered upon their initial nomination entry (their answer to “Why You Should Win”) and evaluated against the judging criteria. Each judging panel will consist of independent experts to ensure that the integrity of the Awards is upheld, all entries get full consideration and that the right winners are chosen. Specific experts have been invited according to the judging criteria of each Award to give their expert opinion on chosen areas, for example landing page professionals, SEO gurus, branding experts etc… More information on Judging criteria and a list of judges can be found here: www.iGBAffiliateAwards.com.

The iGB Affiliate Awards will be celebrated on the evening of the 26th of January, on the eve of the London Affiliate Conference. Over 50% of the seats have now been booked, so organisers expect a full house to come and celebrate these rising stars in the online gambling affiliate industry. With a three course meal, professional entertainment and a carnival theme, this will be a festive affair.

To view the shortlist click here:
http://files.igamingbusiness.co.uk/PDFs/Final_Shortlists_2012.pdf

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Lyceum Media, organizers of the most decadent iGaming party of the year will unveil a night of biblical proportion to the who’s who in the iGaming industry on Wednesday, January 25th at the exotic Gilgamesh in bustling Camden town London.

Doors open at 8:30pm for Party and Table Sponsors and their VIP guests. Organizers say that the best way to guarantee a spot inside the walls of Fire & Ice and avoid the queues outside is to reserve a drinks table in advance.

"Without our industry’s backing Fire & Ice couldn’t be possible. Leading iGaming companies come together to support one night of decadence. Fire & Ice is all about our totally unique stage show performances and we’re very grateful for our 2012 sponsors so far like headline sponsor ONEworks™ and our table sponsors such as WorldPay, Bet365, PayPoint, Income Access, JackpotJoy, Calvin Ayre, Experian, Bookmakers Review," commented Jodie Thind, organizer Fire & Ice.

Information, Photos and Video clips from past events are available at www.fireandiceparty.com

Sponsorship opportunities and VIP Table bookings are available now, Contact: Lyceum Media, events@lyceummedia.com +44 (0) 208 123 7184

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William Hill Online has been crowned operator of the year at the 2011 eGaming Review operator awards – beating shortlisted nominees including Bet365, Betfair and 888 to win the coveted trophy.

Held at the Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London, the annual egaming operator awards was bigger than ever this year with more than 700 online gaming professionals joining host and comedian Rufus Hound to celebrate the industry’s achievements in last 12 months.

According to eGR’s independent panel of judges, William Hill Online deservedly took home the most prestigious award of the evening, with the panel describing the operator as "the turnaround story of 2011".

"William Hill Online has transformed its brand into a dynamic fresh faced online gaming brand and their momentum shows no sign of slowing down," they said.

Henry Birch, CEO of William Hill Online said "The eGR award for operator of the year recognises the huge strides we’ve made over the last 12 months. I want to thank everyone at William Hill Online for all their hard work over the year – it has been fantastic!"

William Hill Online 2011

Following an outstanding performance in 2010, William Hill Online has continued to deliver excellent results this year.

In 2011, William Hill added Italian, Irish and Canadian sites to their international portfolio. The new additions now mean Hills offer 26 different language/territory sites which are available to over 175 different countries across the globe.

In Spain, William Hill Online have expanded their product range and through clever marketing techniques they’ve managed to become one of the leading players in the very competitive sector.

Another new site which William Hill added to its product range is their new financial betting site Day Trader.

The Mobile betting division benefitted from a series of innovations, including an exclusive relationship as the betting partner for the Racing Post app (William Hill took its millionth bet on the App in June), Shake-A-Bet, Mobile Casino and their new mobile sports betting site.

In-play amounts staked grew 95% year-on-year fuelled by continuous product expansion. Recent examples include being the only bookmaker to offer point-by-point betting on every Wimbledon match and the launch of an expanded in-play basketball products.

William Hill Online’s extensive pre-match and in-play football offering means the bookie offer around 500,000 betting opportunities every week on the widest variety of markets in the industry.

To support their online products – William Hill signed exclusive betting arrangements with ESPN, SPL, Scottish Football, the Sun’s Dream Team, the Investec Derby, and Super League Rugby.

Gaming net revenue grew 15% in the first half of 2011 period including Casino net revenue grew 14%, benefitting from further enhancements in the flash-based product range. Underlying gaming net revenue grew 29%. Bingo and Poker also grew, up 25% and 11%, respectively.

Their new revamped Bingo site embarked on a massive promotional campaign in October when they gave away 31 cars in 31 days to prize draw winners.

Poker is continuing to run some of the best promotions on the poker planet, while William Hill Vegas, Skills and Live Casino have also enjoyed a strong 2011. Vegas was spurred on by new games including exclusive marvel comic games and the Madness (music band) games.

Photo Caption: William Hill CEO Henry Birch, second from the right, receiving the trophy for operator of the year at the 2011 eGaming Review operator awards at the Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London, 30th November 2011.

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