The latest gaming group to post second quarter earnings was Ladbrokes, who earlier this week showed disappointing figures for its online poker division. All other gambling sectors, including online casino gambling and sports betting were in the green, helping to offset the drop in poker revenues from the previous quarter. Primarily known for their land-based betting shops, Ladbrokes may still have a thing or two to learn about player retention in the dog-eat-dog of online poker touranaments.

Largely due to increased competition in the British and Scandinavian poker sectors, which are blossoming at a fast rate, Ladbrokes lost approximately 15% of their active players, as well as 10.6% drop in total yield per player. This amounted to overall net poker revenues of £15.7 million, which was £2.7 million less than the previous quarter. However, due to continued strong performance from their sportsbook and online casino, Ladbrokes' overall gross web revenues rose nearly 9% from the same time last year to end the quarter at £72.5 million.

Ladbrokes' total profits before taxes and non-trading items were up by £6 million to close out at £161 million, while gross win increased by £101 million and operating profits increased by £44 million to settle at £195 million, which was largely fueled by an unexpected record-breaking run from their telephone betting division.

Chief Executive Officer of Ladbrokes, Christopher Bell, said he was pleased with the "satisfactory" performance of Ladbrokes online gaming division, especially the sports betting division, which experienced nearly a 14% increase in revenue to £27 million, as well as online casino revenue, which grew to £22.2 million - a 14.4 % increase from last year. Regarding Ladbrokes' entry into the Italian betting market, the official word is that the company will indeed be opening up their allotted licensed betting shops in Italy.