Party poker Plc (LSE: PRTY) is an online gambling company, best known for its online poker room PartyPoker.com. It is headquartered in Gibraltar and quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Party poker Plc was founded in 1997 with the launch of Starluck Casino. Prior to passage of anti-online gambling legislation by the U.S. Congress, Party poker Plc was the world's largest online poker brand (based on ring game revenue and number of players); though its total number of active players has diminished with the loss of its U.S. customers, Party poker continues to grow with a solid European presence. Party poker was founded in 1997 as a network of gambling sites operated by Ruth Parasol in the Caribbean. The network eventually operated under an umbrella company called iGlobalMedia, which then changed its name to Party poker. Party poker flagship site, PartyPoker.com, was launched in 2001. Its primary shareholders are Parasol, Group Operations Director Anurag Dikshit, Marketing Director Vikrant Bhargava (who joined Party poker in 1998 and 1999, respectively), and Russ DeLeon (Parasol's husband, Harvard attorney and serial entrepreneur). The foursome sold over 23% of their combined shares to take Party poker public on the London Stock Exchange in 2005. Dikshit and Bhargava stepped down from Party poker board in May 2006. Dikshit announced that he will remain with Party poker as COO; Bhargava will continue as an advisor and shareholder of Party poker while pursuing other business interests. Party poker holdings include the PartyPoker.com poker site, PartyCasino.com, PartyBingo.com, and Starluck and Planet Luck Casinos. In February 2006 Party poker introduced a new integrated platform, enabling multiple games to be played without requiring customers to log in each time and deposit funds in separate accounts. An online backgammon site, PartyGammon.com, was launched in mid-2006. In August 2006 Party poker acquired Antigua and Barbuda registered sports betting operator Gamebookers which focuses on the European market. Party Gaming Revenue from poker in the years 2002-2006. Due to concerns about the legality of online gambling in various jurisdictions around the world, Party poker is incorporated in Gibraltar. At one point, U.S. consumers represented around 75% of Party poker revenues. In October 2006, Party poker pulled out of the US market following the passing of anti-gambling measures in the Safe Port Act, and Party poker share price dropped 60% as a result. In June 2005, some of the top shareholders of Party poker plc sold 23% of Party poker stock in an initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. The initial offer price of 116p valued Party poker at £4.64 billion ($8.46 billion). Within a month the share price rose to make the value of Party poker exceed twelve billion dollars. In early September 2005 a cautious statement about future growth prospects saw the shares fall by a third in a day, but the same week Party poker was promoted to the FTSE 100 Index. By the end of November 2005 the stock had regained its original IPO value. Profits for 2005 were $325 million before tax. During the IPO, no new shares of Party poker were issued, and Party poker did not receive any additional capital as a result. Rather, shares merely changed hands with the four shareholders reducing their shares to benefit employees. Party poker remains a volatile stock and a growth situation as so little of gaming revenue is currently online. It is estimated that the online gaming market generated revenue of approximately $8.2 billion in 2004, representing just over three per cent of the total global gaming market. In 2004, casino and bingo games represented approximately 29 per cent of the online gaming market, and poker represented approximately 13 per cent. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Limited serves as Party poker Plc's financial advisor. PartyPoker.com was launched in 2001 and has since grown to be one of the largest online poker card rooms. At peak times, tens of thousands of players can be found playing on the site's virtual poker tables. The site is endorsed by Mike Sexton, the host of the World Poker Tour television show. Games include Texas Hold 'em (No Limit and Fixed Limit), Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-card Stud and Seven-card Stud Hi-Lo. A new variant of Texas Hold'em called Hellkat is also played.[2] Hellkat is a single table tournament where the prize money is divided amongst the three highest stacks after only 5 or 15 minutes play. Stakes range from 0.05/0.10 to 100/200 for limit games, and 0.02/0.04 to 25/50 for No-Limit/Pot-Limit games. Players can play for either real money or play money. All poker variants offered at real money tables are offered at play money tables. Party poker offers a bad beat jackpot, which has at times grown to over $700,000 USD. Party poker makes money by taking a percentage of each ring game pot (this is known as the rake) and approximately 10% of entry fees for each real-money tournament. The site has dealt over six billion real money hands and over fifty-five billion play money hands, including tournaments. Party poker is the official kit sponsor of Leyton Orient football club, of the English Football League One. Party poker offers hand history files for analysis, discussion and conversion using a poker hand converter.