by Poker News Daily

The newly formed Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment, led by former Party Gaming CEO Mitch Garber, will be based in Montreal, Canada. An article in the Montreal Gazette revealed that an online gaming platform is in the works.

Last month, it was announced that Garber would team with current World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack to launch Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment. Its main thrust was to grow the WSOP brand worldwide and, according to the Montreal Gazette, “offer online gaming in the U.K. and potentially elsewhere in Europe where it is legal and government-licensed.” The news outlet noted that Harrah’s already has a license with the Channel Island of Alderney. Garber hails from Montreal originally and located nearby is the Kahnawake reservation, home of the famed Gaming Commission.

The Gazette added that Garber’s Montreal office has 10 staff workers and will perhaps grow to include more than 10 times that amount. He told the Canadian news agency, “There is a hunger for World Series of Poker events, like PGA golf, with events taking place everywhere, whether it is Moscow, Montreal, [or] Rome. Our intent is to deal with government and licensing authorities in every jurisdiction to grow the World Series of Poker.” Garber is an investor in the now-privately held Harrah’s Entertainment, which was removed from the New York Stock Exchange in 2008 after a private buyout.

Harrah’s Entertainment owns casinos throughout the United States. In addition to staples of Las Vegas like Caesars Palace and the Rio (the home of the annual WSOP), the massive company also owns properties in Atlantic City, Tunica, Lake Tahoe, Metropolis, and Reno, among other locales. Now, it will look to strengthen its presence abroad. Garber told the Gazette that Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment will also focus on forging “partnerships with governments that offer online poker in their lotteries or would invite the World Series of Poker and Harrah’s to their poker operations.”

In the United States, the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 sent online poker rooms with publicly traded parent companies fleeing. They included PartyPoker run by Garber’s Party Gaming, and Paradise Poker, run by Sportingbet. Now, just a handful of the world’s online poker sites accept real money customers from the United States.

Garber’s former employer, Party Gaming, inked a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Government in April. The publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange agreed to fork over $105 million by September 30th, 2012. One of its co-founders, Anurag Dikshit, admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 in a New York courtroom in December. Dikshit agreed to pay a $300 million fine and faces up to two years in prison in a 2010 sentencing.

Two weeks after the announcement of Party Gaming’s non-prosecution agreement, Garber was hired by Harrah’s. In early May, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) laid the groundwork for legalized and regulated internet gambling in the United States by introducing HR 2267. The bill, dubbed the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, establishes a comprehensive licensing framework for internet gambling operators to solicit customers from the United States. Introduced on May 6th, the measure has attracted 23 co-sponsors, including Ron Paul (R-TX), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), and Robert Wexler (D-FL).

The 2009 WSOP is currently ongoing from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In its first four events, the WSOP shattered three records. Event #2, the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP, generated the largest non-Main Event prize pool ever at $7.7 million. Event #3, a $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better tournament, attracted the largest turnout ever for that genre of poker. Finally, Event #4, the $1,000 buy-in Stimulus Special, boasted the largest non-Main Event field ever at 6,012 players. The $10,000 buy-in Main Event kicks off on July 3rd with the first of four starting days. Its final table will be pushed back until November for the second straight year.