We recently heard in online poker news, that Swedish company Entraction – based in Stockholm has signed to become a poker network provider in a joint venture partnership with a Chinese company. This is an exclusive agreement for a new network and they are planning a standalone as well as a B2B version of their software which is adapted for local markets. The fact that more European software developers and operators are looking to the Asian Market, is becoming ever more apparent. Entraction offers leading poker software which will apparently be adapted and integrated with a Chinese gaming platform – at this stage in the dealings, the new client wishes to remain incognito, so the story gets curiouser and curiouser??
Apparently this is a “groundbreaking” deal as it is their first outside of Europe, and CEO, Peter Åström said that it is both the flexibility and scale-ability of their online poker product which won them the deal. According to one industry expert; he recons they are being so secretive as they are “installing the poker software into the cockpits of China’s new stealth fighter”. Entraction numbers have not been looking good and we assume our “expert” may believe this is a rumour being concocted perhaps to encourage growth in their share price or confidence in the company – otherwise why keep information regarding partners in a “signed deal” quiet?
In another rather strange, yet interesting poker deal, the sale of Devilfish Poker to the Weather Lottery has been a bit of a turn up for the books. While the Weather Lottery could certainly use the expansion and are excited about getting into online poker; again our expert adds his two pence worth with the concept that the Weather Lottery should have kept bidding them down. This brand name, sold at virtually 10% of the value of when it was floated just a few short years ago (around £300 000, apposed to its previous worth of more than £3 million!). He recons if they had kept going lower they would have got Dave “the Devilfish” Ulliot’s poker brand for the price of a pack of cigarettes and a pint – he is right of course; we don’t know what happened there.
Even more interesting in terms of the Weather Lottery is the fact that their former CEO – Keith Milhench, together with “hench-woman” Amie Pickersgill-Smith, also a former employee; have been jointly charged with theft and fraud. They were formally charged by Nottinghamshire police on four counts of theft and seven counts of fraud. The former CEO??!! Apparently they affected this against the company to the value of £80,000 in terms of alleged misappropriation of payments to lottery jackpot winners. All of this took place between April 2008 and April 2010, when both still worked for TWL. It seems a lot of trouble to go to for only £80,000 doesn’t it? If it were me, I would have at least tried to get away with millions if I were going to misappropriate funds. Ah well…isn’t it a strange world we live in? Needless to say shares in The Weather Lottery plc on the AIM hit a new 52-week low after this news was released.