As record profit announcements become the norm for online gaming organisations, speculation is mounting regarding potential mergers within the industry.

The growth in people playing poker online is good news for The City and financial institutions around the world; and technological advances have meant operators can rake in more and more cash as punters spend their money across different state-of-the-art gambling products.

Sportingbet PLC, the owners of Paradise Poker have racked up profits of £27m for the last quarter, and the daily rake on Paradise has more than doubled within the last six months. In addition the number of their players sitting down to play is up 12%, so new poker players are constantly joining and existing account holders are playing more often, and for more money.

With interest in online poker at a high, the bigger companies are looking to increase their market share, and smaller, private businesses are the target.