Betclic Everest to adopt Playtech casino in 2013
Betclic Everest Group migrates dot.fr and dot.com players to iPoker and confirms Everest will sign deal to take Playtech casino next year.
Betclic Everest has officially launched its dot.fr and dot.com poker brands on Playtech’s respective local and international iPoker networks and is also due to adopt the supplier’s casino product next year, it has been announced this morning.
The Betclic Everest Group completed the migration of its Betclic and Everest poker offerings onto Playtech’s iPoker network last Thursday, strengthening the fifth ranked network in France according to Pokerscout’s liquidity rankings, while reinforcing the supplier’s second spot for dot.com liquidity.
The Betclic and Everest brands join Expekt on the poker network, although Betclic Everest-owned bet-at-home, which named Michael Quatember as its new joint-MD last week “ remains on GTECH G2’s International Poker Network. It is unclear whether the brands feature on iPoker’s top tier following its network split in July this year, however it is more than likely they would not be able to meet the network’s strict liquidity and active player criteria and therefore slip into its iPoker 2 network with the likes of Genting, Boylesports and Bluesquare.
“As part of the launch all Betclic and Everest poker players in France were migrated to Playtech iPoker.fr network and all other players were migrated to iPoker.com”, Playtech said in a statement.
“Everest and Betclic poker in France continue to share their liquidity pool and at the same time have improved on the current rake structure to further benefit their French poker players,” it added. “In other European markets, the improved liquidity provided by Playtech’s iPoker network will significantly enhance the player experience.”
iPoker and iPoker.fr are second and 20th respectively in Pokerscout’s overall liquidity standings with ipoker.fr fifth in the French market moving up one place with Everestpoker.fr now joining the local network.
Playtech today said Everest casino is also scheduled to integrate its casino solution sometime in 2013. No exact date was announced while no specific markets were mentioned by the supplier.
The migration comes less than two months after Betclic Everest announced its agreement with Playtech and just one year after the migration of its Betclic brand onto its proprietary software.
While the agreement only relates to the dot.com and dot.fr markets at present, Betclic Everest Group’s chief executive Ignacio Martos announced in September that it would look to apply for licences in other dot.country markets such as Spain. Playtech’s iPoker.es network currently houses operators including Poker770 and bet365, both of which are on the exclusive iPoker 1 network that also includes William Hill, and Paddy Power Poker.
Mor Weizer, chief executive of Playtech, said: “France remains an important market for Playtech and the combination of Betclic Everest’s leading position and our advanced technology together with significantly enlarged liquidity pools will lead to material benefits for Playtech and Betclic Everest. Outside of France, the launch of Betclic and Everest poker on ipoker.com further strengthens the network’s liquidity and cements its position as the natural choice for leading poker brands.”
Betclic Everest Group’s Martos, added: “We are pleased to offer the best of breed technology to our poker players. Larger liquidity and state of the art features will give our players a superior experience, in line with our strategy of offering nothing but the best to our community of players.
“Playtech offers a market leading range of products including a world class Casino, which Everest will be taking full advantage of in 2013. Betclic will maintain its program of investment in technology and innovation, focusing on major regulated markets to sustain profitable business growth.”