Online Poker Gets Real, PokerStars Going Live in London 2013
It seems the world’s largest online poker room is extending its infobahn boundaries in the upcoming year as PokerStars has inked a deal with the UK’s largest land-based casino. PokerStars will be providing live poker games at The Hippodrome, located in the heart of London. In exchange, Hippodrome will be opening a new online casino soon, with PokerStars set to deliver the online poker venue for the gaming site.
“The Hippodrome has dramatically raised the quality bar for the UK casino industry,” said Guy Templar, PokerStars Group Strategy Director. “So 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.” Templar added that PokerStars is, “looking forward to unveiling some great new live events for the UK poker market in 2013.”
As for the new cyber-home of the Hippodrome, it has been confirmed that the online casino sector will be powered by another industry leader, Microgaming. CEO for the games system development company, Roger Raatgver, commented on the new partnership. “Microgaming is proud to have been selected as the exclusive provider of online gaming software to the iconic London brand, The Hippodrome. 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.”
Between now and 2013, The Hippodrome will be renovating its current poker room. The plans call for multiple upgrades. Though exact details are as yet unknown, we do know that the blueprints are calling for extravagant enhancements, befitting of the PokerStars brand.
The new live poker room in London will see PokerStars hosting a vast range of poker events, including sponsored tournaments. The first live poker tournament schedule is expected to be released in early 2013. PokerStars’ massive player base – approximately 50 million – will be able to log into their online poker accounts and participate in live poker events from the comfort of home, whilst those with access to The Hippodrome can take part in the live venue directly.
For The Hippodrome, the enormity of the deal could easily bring about the most successful all-encompassing internet gaming site ever to grace the exosphere of cyberspace.
On one pedestal, we have the highly distinguished software brand Microgaming, the longest operating developer of online casinos games in the business, in turn providing the largest assortment of gambling amusements at more than 600 and counting.
On the next plinth stands PokerStars, by far the largest, most respected and famously popular online poker room in the world. In a single week of activity, PokerStars averages 8x more active players at any given time over its nearest competitor, PartyPoker; 8.5x more than the entire iPoker Network combined.
The third podium is reserved for the core catalyst, The Hippodrome, the largest casino in all of the UK, centrally located in the very heart of London. Bringing all three laudably celebrated operators together will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the live and online gambling industry.
