Mike Sexton appointed Chairman of partypoker

(PRESS RELEASE) -- GVC Holdings Plc is delighted to announce that Mike Sexton has been appointed as Chairman of partypoker.

Mike was one of the founders of Party Poker in 2001, although for the last 15 years he has combined his position at World Poker Tour alongside his partypoker ambassador role. Mike was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2009 and is a WSOP bracelet winner and WPT Champion.

Mike's role as Chairman will be to represent the global poker community and guide partypoker to:

• Invest in software development to deliver an industry leading player experience.
• Improve customer services and strive to resolve player issues in the same day.
• Reward the loyalty of players who start games and keep the action going.
• Look after smaller bankroll players with value added promotions.
• Fight against the use of third party software that gives an unfair advantage.
• Invest marketing budgets within the poker community.
• Develop partypoker Live to become the largest live poker tour in the world.
• Support partners and have their backs.
• Only appoint management who get poker, who are trusted and who actually care.
• Hold hands up to the poker community when mistakes are made.

Mike Sexton, Chairman of partypoker, commented, "This is an emotional time for me, because I have decided to leave the World Poker Tour to focus on this new role. I was at partypoker from the start, before there was even a name or a single virtual card was dealt. I experienced the crazy times of the poker boom when we became the number one site in the world, I remember people sleeping on the office floor when we were all working 24/7 get the software launched, and I remember the first partypoker Million on a cruise ship which overlaid $500,000.

"It was devastating for me to see the decline of partypoker when we were forced to pull out of the U.S. and then watch from the sidelines as our competitors remained and benefited from our customer base. I am really looking forward to working with people that love the game like I do. We are not aiming for second place. We are all in. Shuffle up and deal!"

Managing Director of partypoker, Tom Waters, said, "I am absolutely delighted that Mike has decided to come on board as our Chairman. We are all dedicated to make partypoker the site for the players and having his support to make this happen gets us one step closer."