Italian cash games to launch from early 2011

The Italian cash poker and casino market could be open for business from early 2011 after an Italian Court rejected network provider Microgame’s challenge to the Italian government’s cash games decree.

According to sources close to the matter, the new version of the decree has been approved and will be published shortly on the Official Gazette, meaning the law will come into force with immediate effect.

Italy largest poker network, with between 25% and 30% market share, lodged the complaint in June on the basis that the cash games decree was different from the version previously submitted, as required under EU law, to the European Commission, effectively putting the launch of poker cash games and casino in Europe’s largest egaming market on hold.

Microgame claimed that additional certifications of gaming platforms and individual games introduced by Italian authorities into the decree would unfairly disadvantage the 120 small and medium-sized operators on its network by potentially imposing extra costs of up to €100,000 per operator. By comparison, the next largest Italian network in terms of the number of operators it supports, Playtech, has only four brands on its platform.

The Administrative Court of Lazio Region however ruled this week that the alleged differences between the version of the decree that Italian authorities planned to implement and that submitted to the EC had been solved by Italian regulator AAMS through the renotification in July of the draft decree to the European Commission.

Parlay and Microgame unite to launch two new bingo networks

Parlay Entertainment and Microgame have announced they are to join forces to launch two online bingo networks powered by Parlay’s front-end bingo product and Microgame’s back-end administration system.

The first network to be launched will offer bingo to the Italian market, where Microgame presently offers sports and poker wagering, once the Italian government has added bingo to its list of regulated internet games. Microgame said it anticipates this to happen in the first quarter of 2009. A second network, most likely to be based in Malta, is slated for launch in the second quarter of 2009, and will offer Parlay’s bingo and other soft game products to an international marketplace.

Parlay’s chief executive Scott White said: "We are delighted to partner with Microgame to offer our leading-edge games in Italy, which will be a new regulated marketplace for Parlay and for bingo. We view the opportunity with Microgame, making use of their existing relationships, infrastructure and large customer base in Italy, as an excellent way to enter this new market for bingo."

Fabrizio D’Aloia, managing director of Microgame, added: "The agreement will allow Microgame to offer Italian gaming operators served by it the opportunity to immediately enter this new market as protagonists and with success by combining the powerful characteristics of Parlay bingo with the functionalities of Microgame’s regulated gaming service provider.”