Ryan, who joined PartyGaming as CEO in 2008, has been waiting for this moment.

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To some, it seemed like PartyGaming had simply given a lucrative business away.

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Since PartyGaming exited the U.S. online poker market, it has been dominated by PokerStars and Full Tilt, a company associated with famous poker players like Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson.

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Meanwhile, a number of firms such as 888.com and Partygaming have listed on the UK market in an effort to reap the benefit of the growing popularity of online gaming.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Online gaming firms bet on tie-up

Since PartyGaming exited the U.S. online poker market because Congress passed UIGEA, the market has been dominated by PokerStars and Full Tilt, a company associated with famous poker players like Howard Lederer and Christopher Ferguson.

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Though plenty of investors deem it a good bet, its users are a fickle bunch who may be tempted away to a competitor offering a better deal than the 1-2% of pots that PartyGaming now takes.

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For years Ryan and his staff at PartyGaming, which merged with Bwin earlier this year, had to sit on the sidelines, peering across the Atlantic Ocean at the boatloads of money PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were making in the U.S. online poker market.

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