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Poker.co.uk - Poker News Archive
Wednesday 10th June 2009 Harrah’s Online Calling Montreal Home
The world’s largest land-based gaming company, Harrah’s Entertainment Incorporated, has announced that its new online subsidiary will be based in Montreal at the insistence Mitch Garber.
A native of the Canadian metropolis, Garber is the former boss for leading online gaming operator PartyGaming and was hired in April as the Chief Executive Officer for the new Harrah's Interactive Entertainment Incorporated business.
According to a report from The Montreal Gazette, Garber stated that he had received employment offers from firms in the US and Europe after leaving Gibraltar-based PartyGaming last year but wanted ‘an opportunity’ that would return his family to his hometown.
'I'm really happy to bring Harrah's to Montreal,' Garber told the newspaper.
Garber revealed that his mandate is to take the 40-year-old World Series Of Poker (WSOP) brand online while looking for new partnerships with land-based casinos around the world. He will manage the WSOP teams already in Las Vegas and the UK from his Montreal office, which currently employs ten business development professionals. However, should all go to plan, he revealed that the operation could expand to employ ‘hundreds’ in customer service and web design.
'There is a hunger for WSOP events, like PGA golf, with events taking place everywhere, whether it is Moscow, Montreal or Rome,” said Garber.
“Our intent is to deal with government and licensing authorities in every jurisdiction to grow the WSOP.'
Garber revealed that he has invested heavily in the new online Harrah’s venture while his business plan has two main goals. The first is to ‘offer online gaming in the UK and potentially elsewhere in Europe where it is legal and government-licensed’. Although Harrah's holds an interactive gaming licence from Alderney, Garber stated that no decisions or commitments had yet been made in that or any other jurisdiction.
The second part of Garber's strategy is to ‘explore partnerships with governments that will offer online poker in their lotteries or would invite the WSOP and Harrah's’ to their poker operations. This could, for example, see a WSOP tournament managed by Harrah's but hosted by a Loto-Quebec casino.
Source: OnlineCasinoNews
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