Playtech Casino Software Review
Date Added: December 11, 2008
Playtech is one of the leading online gaming software providers. Though it started about five years after Microgaming and Cryptologic, it was well entrenched before the big boom in online gaming. Today it is the largest publicly traded online gaming software provider.
Playtech was founded in 1999 by Teddy Sagi and entrepreneurs from the casino, software engineering and multi-media industries. This multi-disciplinary team was engaged in market analysis and software development all through 2000. The first Playtech casino rolled out only in 2001. This was the Club Dice Casino. Other online casinos launched in 2001 were Swiss Casino, City Club Casino and Brandy Casino.
The next few years were a period of intense consolidation for Playtech. Most of its leading brands today were launched in that period. These include Casino Tropez, Casino Del Rio and Golden Palace Casino. Several new features were introduced in the software such as live online support, refer-a-friend bonus, compulsive gambling prevention tool, Blackjack Switch and Live Gaming. In 2004 Playtech launched the multiplayer poker network iPoker. This is one of the most popular networks today with many big online poker rooms operating from it. In 2005 Playtech focused on sports betting. It released customized software for sports book operators and also integrated software for complete gaming portals. It was the integrated software that was more successful and saw operators like bet365 joining up with Playtech. There were developments on the online casino front as well. In 2005 Playtech launched a new software version known as “NG”. It received the certification from Technical Systems Testing for its Random Number Generator.
2006 was a watershed year for Playtech. In March 2006 the company was listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market and immediately valued at £548 million. It thus became the world’s largest publicly traded online gaming software supplier. But later that year the pendulum swung downwards and Playtech witnesses an all time low on the stock market. The United States passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in October 2006. In order to play safe Playtech withdrew its online casinos from the United States market. The American market was a significant one and this act resulted in a one-day fall of over 40% in the stock’s value on the London Exchange. Playtech then began to focus on Europe and Asia. At that time is already had a presence in Asia-Pacific and was operating a customer support center in Chinese. It strengthened its Asian outlook by adding traditional Asian games to its portfolio. By February 2007 its stocks were back at the 52-week peak.
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