Bally Technologies CEO on Internet Poker: “Expect to Announce Poker Partnerships Soon”

In an interview with Vegas Inc. Bally Technologies CEO Richard Haddrill hinted at potential new online poker partnerships.

Through acquisition and internal development, we do. We’re very excited about that, and we expect to announce some poker partnerships soon. The integration will be done. Our casino customers will be able to have a best-in-class poker solution, but integrated into their marketing database so they get a single look at the player on their Bally technology. We’re excited about that, and so are our customers.

Haddrill doesn’t envision overnight explosive growth once Web poker becomes legalized, however, at least as it pertains to his company.

We think it’s going to be important, but it’s not going to be an overnight explosion for most of our customers.  Internet poker is a great game that’s highly competitive. Based on what’s happening in other jurisdictions where it is legal, casino-style games and sports betting are even bigger than poker. For us, our strategy is to provide great technology for our customers so they can participate with the best-of-breed platforms for poker, casino games and sports wagering and social gaming. We do have our own platform for mobile, hand-held gaming and we have our own Internet gaming platform that they plug into with their best-of-breed solution.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com