188Bet launches poker on Microgaming network
Largely sports betting and casino focused Asian operator follows 2011 Quickfire integration with debut poker launch.
188Bet has added poker to its offering for the first time, announcing today that it has joined Microgaming’s Poker Network.
The sports betting and casino-focused operator integrated the Isle of Man supplier’s Quickfire platform in September 2011, while today adding a number of poker variants, including Microgaming’s fast-fold Blaze poker and anonymous tables.
Nigel Singer, 188Bet’s managing director, said the launch of poker on the MPN would allow 188Bet to become a one-stop-shop for players, offering an “all-encompassing range” of betting products.
Lydia Melton, head of network games at Microgaming, said she was “elated” that 188BET had decided to join the MPN. “188Bet is one of Asia and Europe’s top online gaming sites, and we are confident that the addition of poker to 188Bet’s portfolio will result in a very beneficial relationship for both parties.”
The software and games supplier’s poker network has undergone a transformation over the past two years, culminating in the re-brand of the network in late 2012 and the launch of a network website. Last year saw a number of major operators join the MPN, and this is “set to continue” later this year the company said in a statement today. “Additional operators joining the MPN will be announced over the coming weeks”, it added.
Competition for network licensees has become increasingly fierce in the last year with both Microgaming and Playtech making significant changes in order to improve both the ecology of their respective products and the quality of licensees as well as battle for those operators that have been forced to leave the now defunct Entraction/IGT Poker network or other networks including Ongame following its acquisition by Amaya.