Evening Standard (London): Pounds 300 million Net gambling boom

BRITAIN'S booming online gambling industry is worth Pounds 300 million, figures show today.

And its value is forecast to reach more than Pounds 600 million by the end of the decade.

Financial experts are comparing it to the notorious dotcom explosion of the late Nineties, when multimillion-pound fortunes were won and lost.

Virtually non-existent less than a decade ago, the market is now expanding at a rate of more than 20 per cent a year. Within five years it is set to outstrip spending on household brands such as Heinz.

The industry received another huge boost this week with the announcement that 888.com, one of the best-known online gambling brands, is to float on the stock exchange. Analysts estimate the company's value at Pounds 700 million.

The stake of the founders will be worth around Pounds 630 million.

Simon Champion, research analyst at Deutsche Bank, said: "The internet is perfectly suited to poker. Most of these companies are not seeing any slowdown in their growth at all."

The move fol lows June's successful Pounds 5.5billion stock market launch of PartyGaming, the world's biggest Net gambling firm and operator of the PartyPoker site.

The UK launch party for PartyPoker.com at Selfridges included Jade Jagger and Val Kilmer among the guests.

Last week Ladbrokes said its eGaming division had increased its first-half profits by 45 per cent to Pounds 17.5 million.

Earnings from its poker games rose 92 per cent.

According to the Remote Gambling Association, the European industry body, 14 million people in Europe are visiting sites every month, up 45 per cent in a year.

The British market will be worth more than Pounds 600 million by 2010.

Like many online gaming firms, the parent company of 888.com, Cassava, is based in Gibraltar. It claims to be the world's biggest casino, with 20 million registered players worldwide.

It was founded eight years ago by two pairs of Israeli brothers, Avi and Aaron Shaked and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak. The business is run by former Ladbrokes director John Anderson, who is to be awarded a one per cent stake worth Pounds 7 million.

The flotation of the company, which analysts believe is making profits of Pounds 100 million a year, is expected to take place this week.

BIG WHEELS OF GAMING

888.com Founders: Shaked brothers and Ben-Yitzhak brothers. Value: About Pounds 700million.

Financial performance: Profits of about Pounds 22.7 million a year. Profile: Most popular English language site. 888 is a lucky number in China - but the site is banned there.

Also owns Pacific Poker and sponsors Middlesbrough football club, whose stars include Michael Reiziger, right.

Betfair Founders: Former City bankers Andrew Black and Edward Wray. Value: Pounds 800 million to Pounds 1 billion. Financial performance: Operating profits of about Pounds 40 million last year. Profile: Revolutionised UK gambling. Customers wager against each other and can lay bets as well as back them. Pros regard it as easy pickings. One of the only sites to operate in sterling.

PartyPoker Founders: Indians Anurag Dikshit and Vikrant Bhargava and American couple Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon.

Value: More than Pounds 5 billion. Financial performance: parent company made Pounds 67.5million profit in first quarter of 2005. Profile: With its "Click to Play" logo, the world's biggest poker site.