PEMBROKE PINES, Fla., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AngelCiti
Entertainment's (OTC Bulletin Board: AGEL) wholly owned subsidiary Worldwide
Management announced that it will split off its online poker operations into a
separate unit to more fully exploit the meteoric growth of the online poker
industry. While online gaming itself continues to grow at a dramatic pace,
the online poker industry has more than tripled in the past year according to
statistics provided by PokerPulse.com, with an estimated $16 billion to be
wagered at online poker websites this year.
The Travel Channel's 13-week "World Poker Tour" series has been a ratings
success on television, quickly becoming the highest-rated programming on the
network in 2003, highlighting poker's growth and popularity. The show
continues to capture new fans, as well as to captivate many of the nation's 50
million poker enthusiasts. This year's World Series of Poker attracted a
record 839 players and $2.5 million was won by a player who qualified by
winning an online tournament at PokerStars.com.
"The prospective growth opportunity in online poker is extensive,"
remarked AngelCiti president George Gutierrez, "and we have succeeded in
successfully positioning our online casino operations into a high-growth mode.
It is now time to take that same mandate into our online poker operations,
whereby they will begin to provide a greater percentage of our overall
operations and profits. Management is also considering splitting the online
poker unit off into its own separate public company, as and when business
continues to develop, to more fully exploit the opportunity for our
investors."
The Industry
A Bear Stearns report for the industry pegged annual revenue at
$4.2 billion for 2003, while Christiansen Capital Advisors predicts a slightly
more rosy picture pointing to an estimated $4.5 billion in revenue for
calendar year 2002, saying 2005 revenue could exceed $10 billion.
PokerPulse.com estimates that approximately $46,237,221 is wagered at online
poker sites during any given 24 hour period.
The Company
AngelCiti's wholly owned subsidiary Worldwide Management provides gaming
software to numerous online casinos including SharkCasino.com, SharkPoker.com
and TheHouseWins.com, and currently services casinos in English, Spanish,
German, Chinese and Japanese.
