History
The business was founded by Avi and Aaron Shaked and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak in May 1997 as Virtual Holdings Limited. Casino-on-Net was launched at that time and an administrative centre was established in Antigua. In 2002 Reef Club Casino and Pacific Poker were launched. In 2003 its administrative center was moved to Gibraltar. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2005.
In late 2006 Ladbrokes and 888.com announced merger discussions. However in April 2007 the companies announced that due to recent changes of Tax laws in the UK and fears of legal actions by the US government, both parties had amicably agreed not to continue discussions.
In March 2007 888 announced its acquisition of Bingo business of Globalcom Limited for up to $43.4 million in cash.
After some downswings in terms of player volume from February 2010 to July 2010, one could finally see signs of recent investments paying off. 888.com overtook the 4th place on the poker network list in April 2012 after almost having tripled their peak number of players from July 2010 to February 2012.
Read more about this topic: 888 Holdings
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Throughout the history of commercial life nobody has ever quite liked the commission man. His function is too vague, his presence always seems one too many, his profit looks too easy, and even when you admit that he has a necessary function, you feel that this function is, as it were, a personification of something that in an ethical society would not need to exist. If people could deal with one another honestly, they would not need agents.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“It’s not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)