Hippodrome appoints director of online
London casino to launch dot.com poker and casino offerings before end of 2013.
The Hippodrome Casino has appointed Pokerroom.com veteran George Constantinou to head up its online operations, the land-based London casino has announced.
Constantinou will oversee the launch of a Hippodrome-branded casino next month, which will be built by Microgaming and operated by Betway.
Meanwhile the venue in London’s West End will unveil a PokerStars-branded poker deck and accompanying online poker offering later next year, following the Isle of Man-licensed operator taking a minority shareholding in the business in October.
Constantinou (pictured) was previously behind the UK launch of bwin-owned Pokerroom.com in the UK in the early 2000s, in his guise as CEO of media agency Roman Media. Pokerroom would later shut down in 2009 but was reopened by bwin.party earlier this year.
The new head of online operations also had a spell with Serious Trivia, a skill gaming firm with whom he struck partnerships with MTV and the Football League.
His involvement with Pokerroom.com centred around UK marketing and affiliate deals, and he will be responsible for developing the Hippodrome’s affiliate network as well as exploring new partnerships and media relationships.
Constantinou said of his appointment: “Mine has to be the plum job in the online gaming world, with two of the industry’s biggest launches on the horizon.”