PartyGaming loses punters to lure of World Cup

Online gambling group PartyGaming is wincing from the impact of the World Cup, as its poker-playing punters stayed in front of the TV rather than the PC, sending quarter-on-quarter revenues down 2%.

"Whilst the relatively unexpected results in the World Cup football have had a favourable impact on sports-betting margins in the period, the adverse impact on our other product verticals has been greater than expected," PartyGaming said.

It said the poker business had been "particularly tough" with the number of daily average players down by between 8% and 9% in the second quarter compared to the first.

But in a pre-close update, the firm said that total revenues would be up about 28% on last year, mainly because of its purchase of bingo operator Cashcade and the World Poker Tour, as well as continued strong growth in its PartyCasino site.