Harrah's egaming boss Garber predicts consolidation; legal US online gambling

HARRAH’S Interactive Entertainment boss and ex PartyGaming chief Mitch Garber has painted his vision of the future of online gambling.

In an interview with eGaming Review, the boss of Harrah’s new online gambling arm, which also promotes the World Series of Poker (WSOP), painted a landscape picture of an egaming world dominated by “a few strong, global operators” in which Americans were free to gamble online legally.

Garber (pictured) said: “The future of online gaming is going to be not dissimilar from the current situation with land-based gambling.There will be a few, very strong global operators that dominate, and obviously it is Harrah’s strategy to be one of those leading global operators, and to leverage our brands and the expertise of the people that I’m bringing on board to see that that happens.

“Caesars, Harrah’s and the World Series of Poker are all strong brands and part of our strategy is to leverage those. Caesars, Harrah’s and the WSOP are the most powerful brands globally, and even if you don’t see them in Europe they are still strong and we will use them online.”

As reported on EGRmagazine.com, Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment was launched in May. Mitch Garber joined PartyGaming in 2006, but chose not to continue his contract, and was replaced at Party by current chief executive Jim Ryan.

Garber said that Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment (HIE) is not yet a global business, however. “The idea is that ultimately HIE will be a global business,” Garber explained. “Today it is not yet a really global business because online gaming is an activity not yet legal in the US, which is the biggest internet market in the world, but the UK and the rest of the EU and the positions they have taken are creating a positive market for opportunity, and we are exploring those opportunities.”

Commenting on US regulation and moves including Barney Frank’s anti-UIGEA bill, Garber said: “I’m very confident that legislators will see that this is an industry that can be properly regulated, and that the technology exists to alleviate concerns about money laundering or age verification.

“It boils down to the activity being properly regulated and properly taxed. Gaming is an important revenue source in the USA and interactive gaming could be an important extension of that.”

The full Mitch Garber interview, which covers his past at PartyGaming, his future at Harrah’s and why running a European egaming business from Canada makes sense, features in the August issue of eGaming Review.