Mor Weizer Playtech CEO

When it comes to aggressive expansion there are few companies in the poker industry that have been able to match the quick-fire ambitions of gaming software provider Playtech. Since its conception in 1999 it has quickly moved from being a small online casino provider to being the largest publicly traded online gambling company in the world. Its partnerships extend to some of the most trusted names in the industry including William Hill, Scientific Games and Bet365. Over the last 12 months, its rampant acquisition process has continued in earnest, striking multi-year, multi-game deals with the likes of Gala Coral and Paddy Power, taking over leading mobile betting provider Mobenga and shelling out £23 million to purchase online gaming developer Ash Gaming.

Crucially Playtech has made significant inroads in regulated markets across Europe especially in Italy, launching cash games in July. One of the company's most significant moves in 2011 was a 'return to American operations' (its first since the UIGEA was passed in 2006) by teaming up with the California Online Poker Association (Copa) to provide it with 'fun' poker until the law permits real money online poker in the state. Playtech outbid bwin.party to secure the potentially lucrative market and secure a crucial foothold if and when legislation gets the green light.

The Bold Leader

Playtech's bold ambitions are in no small part down to its enterprising CEO Mor Weizer. Prior to his appointment in 2007, Weizer was CEO of Techplay Marketing, one of Playtech's subsidiaries and has previously consulted for both Oracle and PricewaterhouseCoopers. 'In the past five years, Weizer has overseen no less than eight acquisitions and sees this expansive policy as a key part of the company's success. 'Acquisitions allow us to extend beyond the reach that we have now into areas that can create additional revenue streams for the company but also for the operators,' he says

Although Weizer has not been able to prevent a year-on-year decline in poker revenues, the strength in the depth of products offered by Playtech has meant the company still posted a revenue increase of 31% for Q3 2011. If that wasn't impressive enough, revenues are set to grow at an impressive compound rate of 14% for the next three years. InsidePoker Business spoke at length to Weizer about another successful year at Playtech and where he hopes to take the company in 2012.

InsidePoker Business  How do you feel the business has performed in 2011?

Mor Weizer The second half of the year was very good, one of the best third quarters ever. All in all the business performed very well. I'm happy to say this has continued into the fourth quarter. We are very pleased with our performance in 2011. Going forward, we are expecting to launch new licensees including Gala Coral so these are big opportunities for further growth. Playtech is well-positioned and one of the only companies in our sector that can refer to growth in 2012 in the first week of January.

IPBHow important is poker to Playtech in 2012?

MW I think if you look at the liquidity pools, a lot of players still play and it's still a very attractive game. Like in other businesses we've seen accelerated growth in the first years of poker between 2002 and 2004. Then it stabilised, there was growth in the business but the market became quite tough due to the fact the playing field was not level because certain operators were still accepting players from the US. They managed to create liquidity pools that were unparalleled and liquidity is obviously very important to the success of poker in general. I'm happy to say that the regulated markets (and I include what happened in the US as part of the regulated markets) have created a more balanced playing field.

IPB Where does poker fit in the online gaming business? Is it an acquisition channel, a key product or just another vertical a business must have?

MW You have to divide it into two, dot com and regulated markets. In dot com it's an important vertical, a necessary vertical. Some operators are making a lot of money from casino side games within poker. I don't see poker as an acquisition tool but I think it's an important vertical within the offering of operators, necessary to extend lifetime value of the players. Playtech has a lot of sportsbook operators and I think for them it is a great way to convert players from the landing page of the sports side to poker. In regulated markets it's a bit different. Because there is a big skill element, it is one of the products to be introduced in regulated markets today. In Italy it started with sports and poker and extended into bingo and casino games. So in regulated markets it's a very important product which is why we’ve invested heavily into it.

IPB The acquisition of online players is becoming harder and harder. How can the industry find fresh ways to recruit new business?

MW Again I think you have to divide things into two. I think dot com still has some growth opportunities. It will be mainly organic but it won't be accelerated growth. For us, as a B2B provider we can always grow our business by gaining more market share or migrating licences from other networks to iPoker. Obviously, regulated markets present a big opportunity for everyone (including Playtech) given the fact that we’ve seen what's happened in Italy. When companies can advertise freely within the country, using mass media channels like TV and billboards it definitely brings growth. So in regulated markets we do expect accelerated growth and this is where we see the opportunities.

IPB Are there certain territories where you expect this growth to happen?

MW Within Europe, Spain, Denmark and Belgium are now in the process of regulating. Each and every market that regulates presents opportunities. Other than that I see growth even in markets which are tougher than others, like the UK.

IPB The overwhelming emphasis now seems to be on the recreational market. Do you think that is the correct approach?

MW VIP players are an important element in the success of a casino operation, but I think that in poker it was always the case that you need to find the right balance between sharks and fish. You always want a limited amount of sharks but definitely you don’t want only them. The reality is that if you think about the largest operators out there, many are sports betting operators which operate within networks. Sportsbooks want to avoid cannibalisation so they keep the players playing and the churn rate is as low as possible.

IPB What changes to software can facilitate this approach?

MW At the end of the day poker is poker is poker. If you look at the tables across various networks, I think you will see they are quite similar. Having said that, we always look for ways to differentiate ourselves and create more social environments. I think there are still some things that can be done to ensure that players get the best service. The success of social networking and the fact that many players are registered to Facebook could help to create an environment that will be very attractive.