Amaya Gaming, parent company of PokerStars, announced that Rafi Ashkenazi will be their permanent CEO. In March 2016, Rafi Ashkenazi was tapped to become the interim CEO of Amaya after former CEO David Baazov resigned amidst an insider trading scandal. The news about the permanent CEO was made in conjunction with Amaya's quarterly earnings report and an announcement about a special PokerStars tournament series hosted at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey in late October. In case you own any Amaya stock, PokerStars had a very good fiscal quarter. Overall revenue is up 10% and online-gaming revenue is up 11%.
In today's poker business news… Amaya made a splash with a special announcement regarding their leadership. Looks like the former part-time CEO Rafi Ashkenazi is now currently a full-time CEO. Following the resignation of former CEO David Baazov, Amaya had installed Rafi Ashkenazi as the interim CEO in late March 2016. After holding the position for serval months, Amaya officially handed over the keys to the castle to Rafi Ashkenazi full-time. It's official! Rafi Ashkenazi is the permanent CEO of Amaya Gaming.
This announcement coincided with a quarterly earnings report. I know what you're thinking… when were the frozen concentrated orange juice report is not due until the end of the month! But Amaya Gaming used this opportunity to tell the world about its new head honcho and how they've been killing it at the tables.
According to a report by Seeking Alpha (h/t @KevMath), total revenues for Amaya increased by 10.2% and real-money online revenue is up 11.2% over the year. Meanwhile, according to the report, "Real-money online poker revenues for the quarter were virtually flat year-over-year at $215.6 million." Read the full report here.
Amaya's new CEO also held a quarterly conference call. CEO Rafi Ashkenazi began the meeting by stating: “I am pleased with our second quarter performance and with a continued focus on strong execution of our operations and management teams. The successful execution of our strategy so far this year is fueling positive trends in our core poker business and continued growth in our newer product offerings, casino and sportsbook. Q2 showed strong year-over-year increases in revenue, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net earnings per share in our key customer metrics as we continue to attract new customers and retain them longer. In particular, Q2 revenue increased 10% to $286 million.”
PokerStars used the press conference to also announce that they will also host a tournament in Atlantic City in conjunction with PokerStars NJ. This will be the first PokerStars branded event on U.S. Soil since Black Friday 2011 and the NAPT went defunct. The event will be hosted at Resorts Casino in AC at the end of October. The tentative dates are October 29 thru November 6.