Hippodrome in PokerStars and Microgaming deals
Casino previously had JV with MediaCorp's now-defunct Purple Lounge subsidiary.
Microgaming has announced an exclusive deal to provide online casino software to UK bricks and mortar venue The Hippodrome, while the venue’s online poker offering will be provided by PokerStars.
Stars has taken an undisclosed minority stake in the casino, in London’s West End, which will also see the operator’s branding feature in the Hippodrome’s physical poker room, described in a statement from the venue as “the UK’s first PokerStars’ poker room.” No specifics were provided with regard to the online poker element.
The Isle of Man-licensed operator already has a branded poker room in Macau’s Grand Waldo Hotel, and it is anticipated that its Hippodrome deal will be the precursor to sponsored tournaments and events as is the case in the Asian city. It also has a deal with Casino de Namur in Belgium, a deal which preceded its award of a licence in the EU member state.
PokerStars group strategy director Guy Templer said: “Together we will give poker players the same great poker experience, live 24/7 in the heart of London that they get from PokerStars online. We are looking forward to unveiling some great new live events for the UK poker market in 2013.”
Meanwhile Microgaming will work alongside Betway in developing the hippodromecasino.com site, which will feature a number of its online and mobile casino games. Betway’s involvement covers back-office support and customer loyalty schemes.
The Hippodrome, which opened in July this year, previously agreed a joint venture with Purple Lounge in advance of the opening, intended to cover both online casino and poker offerings. However after initially being delayed the deal was impacted by the liquidation of the Media Corporation subsidiary over the summer.
Purple Lounge had sat on the Microgaming network before moving to Entraction at the start of this year. However it surrendered its Maltese egaming licence in April before liquidation plans were announced by MediaCorp at the end of the following month.
Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, said of the casino deal: “The convergence of offline and online gaming is a trend that Microgaming has been at the forefront of for some time now and we are delighted to be able to provide a bespoke online casino to The Hippodrome, giving their players a first class cross-platform gaming experience.”
Hippodrome Casino chairman and founder Simon Thomas said both Microgaming and PokerStars “Bring unrivalled online profile and expertise that will allow us to harness the true potential of a bricks-and-mortar venue and its online presence.”