Party Gaming has caused quite a stir in the online gambling industry recently.  In what began as a giant flotation on the London Stock Exchange, the online casino and poker room giant went on to declare that the demand for internet betting was beginning to ebb.

Yet, despite this lack of business, Party Gaming went on to develop a new software platform for their existing and new players.  Consequently, Empire Online, which has always used Party Gaming's tables via the highly popular Party Poker, has been banned from letting its players gamble on this new platform when it is released in coming months.

According to Empire Online, their expected rake revenue take for 2005 will drop 10% as a result of this move, and that at least a 10% drop in net profit will result.  Obviously, Empire Online depended heavily on the action that Party Poker generated.  Without it, stockholders foresee Empire to lose even more business, which has already been reflected in the dropping of stock share value by nearly 5%.

In the meantime, Party Gaming's own stock has dropped nearly 30%, but the company continues to operate its casino sites as usual, bringing together thousands of online gamblers and poker players at a single time.

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