CHILI GAMING AND GOLDEN NUGGET PARTNER UP

02/10/2012 :  French-founded online poker company in US deal
 
Golden Nugget has selected Chiligaming as its online gaming partner in the US.  The partnership will kick-off with the launch of a free-to-play website due for launch within the next quarter.
 
Chiligaming’s proprietary iGaming platform enables connection with any poker platform or gaming content provider and forms the central feature of the US proposition.
 
The platform will facilitate a swift entry into the market, maximizing options for Golden Nugget as the regulatory situation develops.
 
"Chiligaming is thrilled to partner with Golden Nugget, which has a very strong brand presence across the US," said Alexandre Dreyfus, Chiligaming's chief executive officer and founder.
"With its Las Vegas, Laughlin and Atlantic City properties, it is ideally and uniquely positioned for all of the online developments that lie ahead."
 
Golden Nugget's chairman and owner, Tilman J. Fertitta added, "We started an intensive process approximately nine months ago and looked at more than a dozen internet gaming companies and selected Alex and Chiligaming because they were experienced in online gaming in Europe and demonstrated incredible passion, talent and knowledge which our team found to far exceed their competitors.
 
“We believe that online gaming is inevitable in the United States and that the Golden Nugget will be well positioned to compete when US laws allow for online gaming."
 
Tilman Fertitta, through various wholly-owned affiliates, operates three Golden Nugget Hotels and Casinos.  He is an American businessman who also holds a large stake in Landry’s Restaurants and is a cousin of Station Casinos owners Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta who announced their application for an online poker licence in Nevada this week (see previous InfoPowa Report).
 
In related news, ChiliPoker has taken umbrage at its inclusion on the Belgian Gaming Commission’s blacklist.  Chief executive officer Alexandre Dreyfus stated its inclusion was unwarranted as the company did not or had stopped accepting customers from Belgium.