Not a big deal at all, I\’m sure … just a little report about a new company coming to Canada — Harrah\’s. The new CEO of Harrah\’s Interactive Entertainment, Mitch Garber, will be setting up shop in his old hometown of Montreal … which, of course, is kinda like a suburb of the Kahnawake (Online Poker) Nation.
Furthermore, it seems to be less and less of a secret that the WSOP, which retakes control of its own website later this year and not too long ago successfully fought a court battle for control of WSOP.com, has plans to take its brand of poker tables online.
From the Montreal Gazette:
Harrah\’s agreed that he could manage the World Series of Poker teams already in Las Vegas and England out of a Montreal office and still focus on growing the 40-year-old Vegas-based competition.
\”There is a hunger for World Series of Poker events, like PGA golf, with events taking place everywhere, whether it is Moscow, Montreal, Rome. Our intent is to deal with government and licensing authorities in every jurisdiction to grow the World Series of Poker,\” he said yesterday.
Garber already has a Montreal office in the core of the city and about 10 people, mostly business-development types, working there. Should all go according to plan, the office will expand to \”hundreds\” of people, mostly customer-service employees and a scattering of Web designers.
The business plan has two main goals, said Garber, who has invested \”substantially\” in the privately held Harrah\’s.
The first is \”to offer online gaming in the U.K. and potentially elsewhere in Europe where it is legal and government-licensed.\”