Ups and Downs after UIGEA

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (UIGEA) has definitely made a huge impact on two well known online poker networks in the last year.

Playtech, owner of the iPoker Network and Cryptologic had very contrasting financial reports for their third quarter. With Playtech showing a fantastic quarter in October, and Cryptologic's poker network reporting that their profits have been down since 2006.

After Cryptologic no longer had the USA market, following UIGEA, they were hit very hard. Going from a reported poker income of $8.3 million last year, down to a poker income of $4.8 million this year. The total revenues reported for all gambling networks went from $85 million this time last year, down to $53 million this year.

Cryptologic, still remaining optimistic says that they still have good news. Even with their revenue down, they've managed to decrease operating costs.

Showing positive reports is iPoker Network, with a large jump in revenue since losing the US market after UIGEA. They reported $2.1 million in revenue this time last year, and this year reported being up at $7.5 million in revenue.

Both companies have shown an increase in focus on the European and Asian markets, which has proven to be beneficial in surviving UIGEA.