Zynga Acquires PokerTableRatings Team

Zynga should soon be well aware of my sick rungood in their $5/$10 \”cash\” games.

Continuing its rollout as serious new kid on the online poker block that is simply too big to be ignored … Zynga has acquired Poker Table Ratings, a Texas-based web-op that challenges current online poker Terms of Service with what technology and a legally enforceable free flow of information allow them to do.

PTR has also proved a key player in issues of online poker security for what their database can reveal not just about individual players, but site trends overall. According to Zynga:

The team’s experience and deep knowledge of the online poker industry will be invaluable as we work together to build out cutting-edge features and further enhance Zynga Poker.

However, Zynga goes on to specify that this acquisition of PTR parent company, MarketZero, a 16-person company in Austin, is not about taking over PTR, but rather about hiring their talent, who apparently will still own and operate MarketZero\’s main website, PokerTableRatings.com.

Zynga has been on a hiring and acquisition spree of late — 11 acquisitions in the past 11 months — having obtained massive financing for expansion in the social media and gaming sectors, with estimates ranging from $180 million to $500 million.

Meanwhile, in presumably unrelated political news that may well someday be very related … a California state senator unveiled a \”Do Not Track\” bill yesterday — which would require all internet companies doing business in that state to allow users to opt out of any tracking or datamining capabilities.