Harrah's confirms hiring of Mitch Garber, for Harrah's Interactive Entertainment

It’s becoming more and more apparent that Harrah’s is poising themselves to enter the online gambling market by confirming the rumors made in April about the hiring of Mitch Garber, the ex-CEO of PartyGaming; who resigned from that post last year.

Garber will be in charge of Harrah’s newly-formed subsidiary company, HIE (Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment,) which will work to expand their World Series of Poker and other online gambling ventures. It’s believed that they will seek to enter the European online gaming market in the near future, and once the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Act) is overturned, I see them entering the USA market, as well.Interestingly enough, Harrah’s spent $405,087 during the first quarter of this year in supporting Barney Frank’s bill to regulate and license online casinos and poker rooms, and even hired a lobbyist to help with their efforts.

The 2009 WSOP is set to kick off today, and is the 40th anniversary of this great event! On May 28th, they are holding a special 40th anniversary tournament, which has a buy-in of $40,000. For complete schedule information and to find out which events will be televised, head on over to the official site of the World Series of Poker.

I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled on this and other news regarding online gambling returning to the USA, and keep everyone updated.

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