The Golden Palace of Skills

Golden Palace, one of the Internet's oldest casinos, is entering the skill games space. The company announced last week that it will offer pay-to-play games of skill developed by SkillJam Technologies Corporation. The two companies had been in negotiations for five months.

The new suite of games (including solitaire, trivia contests, arcade games and word challenge contests) will be featured at a specially branded Web site alongside Golden Palace's online casino and online poker room

Golden Palace CEO Richard Rowe said the new site could be up and running within 45 days, but it could take as long as four months to work out all the details.

The growing skill games sector, until now, has been void of major online gambling brands. Rowe said he's not sure what to expect, but he's confident that the Golden Palace brand will carry some weight in this new market.

"I don't know what kind of a percentage this could make up for our business," Rowe said, "but we are striving for it to be a big part of it and for us to be the leader in the skill game space."

SkillJam is a wholly owned subsidiary of U.K.-based CES Software plc, a company specializing in skill gaming and exchange betting technology. CES operates the SkillJam Web site, which offers pay-per-play and subscription-based gaming.

The site offers server-based games as well as downloadable deluxe games and has a growing list of affiliate partners, which now includes Golden Palace.

CES chief executive Lorne Abony said the Golden Palace deal could be the first of many marriages between skill-games providers and online casinos.

"We believe that the skill gaming and casino sectors are highly complementary," Abony said. "Our partnership with Golden Palace, one of the Internet's leading online casinos, is yet another validation of the strength of our skill gaming platform."

The deal also significantly boosts SkillJam's player base.

"With the size and breadth of its player base," Abony said, "we believe that Golden Palace has the potential to add significantly to our tournament liquidity."

Rowe said many factors went into Golden Palace's decision to go with CES.

"Our key criteria in choosing a skill gaming partner was liquidity and player experience," Rowe said. "In our survey of skill gaming products in the marketplace, CES was the clear winner, especially in the key areas of tournament closing time, number of tournaments served, payout size and jackpot size."

Rowe added, "We are going to be a part of this growing trend and we feel that games of skill will see a great rise in popularity, especially among North American players, in the next two to five years."