Las Vegas-based slot machine manufacturer Bally Technologies announced last week that it has purchased the business-to-business platform of ChiliGaming, which lets customers offer online casino games, poker, and sportsbetting in both real-money and play chip formats.
Bally plans to integrate the ChiliGaming technology into its existing slots and casino management products, giving its casino clients a chance to offer a full range of gambling options to their guests, whether playing online or at a brick-and-mortar casino.
In a press release concerning the deal Bally also spoke to other attractive elements of the deal: “Bally Technologies has also obtained an experienced team of industry veterans from within the online gaming industry, which will help our customers optimize their use of this platform,” said John Connelly, Vice President of Business Development at Bally.
ChiliGaming had recently been in the news when it announced it had struck a deal with the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas to offer free online poker to US residents, with an eye towards offering real money games if US laws change to allow for it.
The Bally deal is just one of several different acquisitions and partnerships announced as brick-and-mortar casinos and gambling companies position themselves to take advantage of the laws in the US regarding online gambling changing. Despite anti-gambling laws passed in late 2006 to try to stamp out online gambling, many operators remain highly interested in the US market, one of the world's largest for gambling.
Shuffle Master is rumored to be in advanced talk to buy Ongame Network from bwin.party while IGT previously purchased Entraction Network to bolster its own online offerings. Caesars signed a deal with 888 in early 2011 and MGM and Boyd entered in to an agreement with bwin.party later in the year to work together to provide a wide range of online gambling products.