Friends Become Online Poker Entrepreneurs

LONDON – As reported by the Reuters: "Two technology entrepreneurs from India set to realise fortunes from floating the world's biggest online poker site are friends who met at university and took a risk on a new gambling venture eight years ago.

"Anurag Dikshit, 34, owns 40 percent of PartyGaming, worth over $3 billion if the company realises its expected valuation of $8-10 billion.

"Vikrant Bhargava, 32, owns 15 percent, which should be worth at least $1 billion when the stockmarket flotation takes place by the end of this month in London.

"Dikshit founded PartyGaming in 1997 and was the driving force behind developing its user-friendly platforms, which attract more online poker players than all rival sites combined.

"…Bhargava, its marketing director, masterminded the strategy for pulling in players.

"…Dikshit and Bhargava aggressively marketed PartyPoker from its early days -- they launched a global tournament where players compete online before finalists meet on a cruise and the winner takes home as much as from big casino competitions. This year the winner scooped $1.5 million…"