Growth prospects in online poker came under fresh scrutiny today as Empire Online said the market was almost flat in the third quarter.
"I don't think the market went up much in this period," Empire's chief executive, Noam Lanir, told Reuters after the firm, one industry's largest, reported a 24 per cent increase in new players and revenues between its second and third quarters.
"We're much ahead of the market," he said. "From what I'm hearing, the overall market was more like flattish."
But Empire's shares were down 24 per cent at 139 pence this morning due to signs of increased competition after PartyGaming said it was separating its own poker players from those directed to its site by partners such as Empire.
PartyGaming's shares were down 7.5 per cent at 74 pence this morning in what was the biggest fall on the FTSE 100 index.
Empire and PartyGaming have always been strongly intertwined, with Empire Online's EmpirePoker Web site driving customers to PartyGaming's software platform.
But recently Empire bought online gamer Noble Poker and it has started moving its customers across from the PartyGaming software platform to Noble Poker's Playtech system.
The unease spread throughout the sector and even Sportingbet, the owner of the Paradise Poker website, which is expected to report strong trading on Wednesday, fell 3.1 per cent to 297 pence.