Last week, it was announced that Caesars Interactive Entertainment and 888 had extended a U.K. software licensing agreement to the United States. When and if online poker is regulated on a Federal or state-by-state basis, 888 and Caesars will work together to offer real money online gaming. 888 is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “888,” while Caesars is a private company based in Las Vegas.

888’s business-to-business entity, Dragonfish, will work with Caesars, one of the largest land-based casino firms in the world. The strategic partnership led 888 Deputy Chairman Brian Mattingley to comment in a press release to the London Stock Exchange, “888 has taken a prudent approach to regulation, which culminated in the successful review conducted by the [Nevada Gaming Commission], putting 888 and Dragonfish in pole position for the U.S. market. This gives us a strong platform to roll out our cutting edge, turnkey solution to other potential partners as the market opens.”

Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber (pictured), who formerly worked with PartyPoker‘s parent company, Party Gaming, added in the same release, “888 has been successfully driving the World Series of Poker brand in the U.K. for the past three years, and with current momentum toward either a Federal or state-by-state regulatory environment, 888 is uniquely positioned to support either outcome, without delay.”

The first intrastate online poker market in the United States will likely be Nevada. There, the Nevada Gaming Commission has already approved online poker regulations, and real money sites could launch sometime this year. 888 has applied to be a service provider in Nevada and the state’s Gaming Commission has already rubber-stamped the partnership between the online poker room and Caesars.



Besides Nevada, other U.S. states looking at online gaming include New Jersey, Iowa, and California. Meanwhile, the District of Columbia, which approved online poker as part of a recent budget plan, could soon repeal its poker legislation.

The London Stock Exchange press statement noted that the extension of the existing agreement was the “first strand in [888’s] U.S. online strategy.”

When online poker regulations finally come to fruition in the United States, 888 could be in line for a sizable growth spurt. According to the traffic watchdog site PokerScout, 888 is the flagship room of what is already the fourth largest network in the world. At the time of writing, 888 holds a seven-day running average of 2,600 real money ring game players and sports a 24-hour peak of just over 4,500. Overall, 888’s cash game traffic is roughly on par with that found on PokerStars‘ Italian site.

In case you’re wondering, PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker room and offers a seven-day running average of nearly 30,000 cash game players.

On the topic of growth, Mattingley boasted, “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with [Caesars] into the much-anticipated U.S. market, and we are proud to be providing them with the technology and tools to leverage and monetize their powerful brand.” Caesars owns and operates casino brands like Bally’s, Harrah’s, and Paris, as well as the annual World Series of Poker, which is in its 43rd year. View the entire 2012 WSOP schedule, which was released on Wednesday.

If you sign up for 888 Poker through PocketFivesand make a deposit of any amount, you’ll get one free month of PocketFives Training with the sign-up fee waived, a $65 value. PocketFives Training features some of the top MTT instructors on the planet, including Mike Gags30Gagliano and Jon apestyles Van Fleet.

PocketFives Training regularly runs $29.95 per month with a $35 sign-up fee, so take advantage of our free training offer by creating a new 888 Poker account through our linksand depositing. Note that 888 Poker and all of the other real money gaming sites we promote on PocketFives do not take players from the United States. If you’re from the USA, we encourage you to sign up for Hog Wild Pokerand ClubWPT, both of which do not conduct rake-based gaming.

Keep it tuned to PocketFives for the latest poker news.