Thread: Harrah's Hires PartyGaming Ex-CEO to Head Up New Internet Operations

Mitch Garber to lead casino giant's Internet and WSOP operations

From the CAP News room:

April 13, 2009 (CAP Newswire) -- Land-based casino giant Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. has hired Mitch Garber, a former chief executive officer for PartyGaming, to head up its Internet operations and its World Series of Poker (WSOP) activities, raising many questions regarding Harrah’s plans for an Internet presence.

Although he was PartyGaming’s CEO only from 2006 to 2008 — a period that saw that company decline slightly from its prior top position as the world’s largest Internet poker room — Garber still garners respect for his role as an Internet gaming executive. He has had a distinguished career, holding other highly placed positions internationally in the industries of finance and gaming law.

Garber will lead a newly created division within Harrah’s that will focus on expanding the brand successfully onto the Internet. And that is creating some anxiety in the online casino industry, which is anticipating competition not only from Harrah’s but also from other large, well-financed land gambling companies in the near future as the efforts to repeal the UIGEA in the U.S. pick up steam.

Further details on Garber’s role and the new online division of Harrah’s are scarce, with only a brief mention in the Times of London’s Business pages as of today (click here to read that coverage).