In the online gambling industry, mergers are becoming an increasingly popular trend. After PartyGaming announced its merger with Bwin, online casino operators have been inspired to team up with others in the industry to produce their own online gaming mega powers.

Now, PlayTech is showing interest in acquiring the 888 Holdings, an online gambling brand that has been entertaining offers for the past couple of years. 888 has seen a difficult time over the last half of the decade, and the company is looking for a little help from a generous company that wants to acquire its assets.

PlayTech, which is currently worth about £1 billion, is looking at purchasing 888 for £200 million. Currently, financial analysts believe that 888 is worth just over £150 million, despite seeing some growth this year.

Unfortunately, 888 has refused the offer from PlayTech. 888 has yet to give a reason why, but we have been led to believe that they are hoping for a bit more money. Ladbrokes has also shown interest in the online gambling operator, but the company’s bids have also been refused.

The online gambling industry has always been somewhat of a dark horse in the financial world. It has always had a bad reputation, thanks to a few shady companies that made that entire industry look bad. Now, thanks to online gambling regulation in several countries across the world, financial analysts are finally giving the online gambling industry the attention it deserves.

According to a recent report, financial investors believe that 2011 will be a good year for online gambling companies that are publicly listed, such as Bwin. This company’s recent merger with PartyGaming has also put the online gambling industry in a positive light for investors. The merger, expected to be worth $5.5 billion, is one of the biggest that the online gambling industry has ever seen.

Now, with companies worth exorbitant amounts of money, the online gambling industry is finally gaining some clout with the financial sector. Many online gambling operators have now decided to follow in the footsteps of companies like Bwin and PartyGamiing, hoping to earn attention from investors.

It is also expected that more online  gambling operators will begin going public in the new year. After seeing the immense success of Party Gaming and Bwin, it would come as no surprise.

Now that Apple has started allowing users to access to all types of online gambling operators are getting their feet in the door by launching new software that is compatible with Mac devices like the iPad and the iPhone 4G. Betfair and Paddy Power were the first to jump on the gravy train, but now they must make room for one of the biggest names in online gambling: Bwin.

The popular Austrian online gambling operator has stepped onto the mobile gambling scene with a bang. It’s new application, Bwin Live, is already getting rave reviews from critics and players alike. Other mobile gambling applications are being pushed to the wayside and it’s no wonder why.

Bwin is already one of the most popular online gambling operators in the world, so it comes as no surprise that its entrance into the mobile gambling market would be a huge deal. Players who are already registered with Betfair and Paddy Power are making the switch to Bwin’s new application, and it won’t be long before the company has a large portion of the mobile gambling market share.

On Bwin Live, players can place in-game bets, an option which has risen in popularity. They can also take advantage of all of the regular betting options that Bwin has to offer.

For months, the online gambling industry was all talk about the potential merger between Bwin and PartyGaming, but it wasn’t until September that either of the companies confirmed the rumours. Now that industry professionals know the truth, however, both Bwin and PartyGaming are keeping their mouths shut about the details of the deal.

Many industry insiders have expressed concerns about this unusual silence. When things are going well for online gambling companies, there is usually a big deal made about the situation, but Bwin and Party Gaming’s secretiveness has caused professionals to believe that things are not going as planned.

However, Bwin and Party Gaming have released a statement that has confirmed that the merger is going smoothly and that everything is on track. The deal is expected to take several months to completely, simply because of the sheer size of both companies. It won’t be until 2011 that we will see a final product from the two companies.

The due date of early 2011 is not expected to be pushed back or delayed, spokespeople for Bwin and PartyGaming have stated that neither company foresees any difficulties in getting this job done.

What could possibly be the reason behind these two heavyweights merging a partnership? Well, how about the fact that the ban on online gambling in the United States has been lifted! It’s a very smart move for Austrian based Bwin to make, as UK based PartyGaming once ruled the U.S. online gambling market.

After the U.S. ban lift was announced, PartyGaming announced the next day that Bwin would become a partner.

The coupling of these two gambling giants has bookmarkers worried, as they each bring a lot to the table. Before the 2006 federal ban on online gambling in the United States was imposed, PartyGaming was ranked the number one online gambling company in the world. After the ban, many bookmarkers were forced out around the world, as well as PartyGaming.

The 2006 federal ban hit many online gambling operators hard, but hands down, PartyGaming was hit the hardest as 70% of their players resided in the United States. They went from ranking number one in the world to sliding down to fourth place.

Now that the ban has been lifted, PartyGaming will be able to come back in full swing and bounce back from their losses, and take back their number one title.

After the news that PartyGaming and Bwin would be teaming up to launch a new online gambling brand, it has been rumoured that 888 Holdings is now considering the option of launching its own merger with another well-known online casino company.

Bwin and PartyGaming’s merger will create the biggest online gambling company in the world, worth over $4 billion. That is exponentially larger than any of the online gambling operators currently in existence, even including some of the world’s biggest brands like 888 and The Palace Group. The news of the merger has put the pressure on other big names in the online gaming industry to top Bwin and PartyGaming – and 888 may be just the company to do so.

Should 888 decide to merge with another online gambling company, PartyGaming and Bwin should watch out. 888 and whomever it merges with could blow the rest of the industry out of the water. The company has stated that it has received many phone calls this week from companies who are interested in merging, but 888 is in no rush to make a decision.

“Party and Bwin took almost a year to close the deal, so we don’t see anything happening imminently”, says CEO Gigi Levy.

It will be interesting see what other online casino operators merge in the coming months. Bwin and PartyGaming undoubtedly set a trend in the online gambling world.