(PRESS RELEASE) -- RAY and
Win2Day have signed a ground-breaking agreement to share cross-border poker liquidity on Playtech's iPoker-powered network.
In an industry-first, the respective Finnish and Austrian gaming brands will join forces to launch a joint poker network using liquidity from both player bases. This will instantly double the number of customers playing the widest variety of omni-channel poker products via the Playtech-powered network.
This is the first time that two regulated entities have joined forces to share cross-border poker liquidity. Following
Win2Day meeting the responsibility standards imposed by RAY and the Finnish authorities, the liquidity sharing agreement was approved by the Finnish Ministry of Interior on 8 December. RAY has previously had to limit its online poker to Finnish players only.
Playtech has worked with both brands for several years. RAY, Finland's Slot Machine Association, has partnered with Playtech since 2010, setting the benchmark in the Nordic region and establishing the country's leading gaming operation, while Playtech has worked closely with win2day since 2015, providing the Austrian Lotteries and Casinos Austria-owned brand with a new poker network.
Playtech has invested significant development resources in poker in 2016, enhancing its award-winning iPoker client by introducing a new lobby and home tab, completing a full overhaul of the software's poker tables and launching a series of new game views, enabling easier and fully personalized access to a wide variety of players' favorite games.
Shimon Akad, COO, Playtech, said: "We have been pioneers in the gaming industry for many years and are extremely proud to be the first company to provide two great brands with a poker network and series of leading products that will combine to form the first ever cross-border poker network.
"Playtech has long been the largest and most successful poker network in the industry so we're delighted to be part of this new venture."
Jan Hagelberg, VP of Digital channels, RAY, said: "Working with Win2Day has been an extremely smooth process and today's announcement significantly improves the game selection in both Finland and Austria. We expect the change to considerably increase the interest towards both operators' poker games. As we have progressed our co-operation, we have also developed the online poker customer experience together with Playtech."
Martin Jekl, Managing Director, Win2Day said: "It is with great pleasure that we welcome the opportunity to sustainably expand our offering as the leading online poker
provider in Austria with the joint network and thereby improve the customer experience for our users. With RAY, we have found a strong and highly professional partner that shares our commitment to responsible gaming."
Timo Kiiskinen, Senior Vice President, Business Operations, RAY, added: "We are extremely happy that the Ministry of the Interior accepted the merger of the poker networks. We hope that in the future we can expand the network together with other operators that meet our responsibility standards."