Harrah's Goes with 888 for Poker Platform

I know a lot of people assumed that with former Party Gaming CEO Mitch Garber taking the helm at Harrah’s WSOP Online division that Party was as good as owned by Harrah’s now that Party has received a clean bill of health from the US government. I was always somewhat skeptical about that line of thinking and it seems my suspicions were confirmed as it was recently announced that 888’s independent B2B division, Dragonfish, would be supplying Harrah’s with online poker and casino software, epayments, CRM systems, and customer support and VIP services. More specifically, the 888 platform would be rolled out on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and Caesars Casino brands.

It’s unclear from the announcement but it sounds as if Harrah’s is contracting the platform only and is not joining any sort of 888 network. That would also be a very telling move if accurate. It means that Harrah’s sees their brand as being big enough to stand on its own without the assistance of a pre-existing network of liquidity.

Likewise, if Harrah’s is going it alone, it might also signal what Garber and Co. might be thinking over the next few years. While 2010 might be too soon, it’s not completely improbable that Harrah’s would only allows qualifiers from their WSOP poker site at some point in the future. With all of the hassles that are created by the .net vs. .com advertising, technically not accepting buy-ins from rooms operating in the US while those same companies have hospitality suites at hotels right across the street, etc. it might be the long-term view of Harrah’s that they want to avoid the slippery slope altogether by holding all qualifiers themselves and then enforcing their trademark on the WSOP name to make it difficult for competitors to offer any sort of WSOP satellite.

Of course, that’s all just speculation. But the decision to go with 888 does lead one to start asking what Garber’s plans are for the future and exactly how Harrah’s plans on leveraging their strong gaming brand on the internet.