www888holdingsplccom
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888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011 
annual report  accounts 2011 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2010
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2127304  05042012 proof 18
welcome to 888 one of the world’s most 
popular online gaming entertainment and 
solutions providers
888 is one of the world’s most popular online gaming entertainment companies
888 is a global gaming entertainment destination with localised offerings providing 
players the games they want in the language they speak with significant functionality  
and interactivity
the 888 gaming experience is now available in 19 languages to over 150 countries and 
provides something for players of all abilities our highly sophisticated marketing suite of 
tools identifies the best way to target people with the offering that will be of most interest 
to them
dragonfish 888’s standalone business to business arm continues to offer clients a best in 
class total gaming services solution the quality of the offering coupled with a refocus of 
this business has given us a strong position in which to enter newly regulating jurisdictions
888 is a leader in corporate responsibility with specialist websites dedicated to both 
responsible gaming and corporate responsibility so that customers can play in a safe and 
secure environment
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
enjoy casino www888holdingsplccom
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1
www888holdingsplccom
highlights
 01  highlights
 02  chairman’s statement
 04  chief executive’s review
 08  enhanced business review
   08  financial review
   11  b2c
   15  dragonfish
   17  t echnological infrastructure
   18  customer support and service
   19   regulation and general 
regulatory developments
 22   corporate social responsibility
responsible gaming
 25  risk report
 26  board of directors
 27  corporate governance
 31  directors’ remuneration report
 38  directors’ report
 
contents
 41  independent auditors’ report
 43  consolidated income statement
 44  consolidated statement of comprehensive income
 45  consolidated balance sheet
 46  consolidated statement of changes in equity
 47  consolidated statement of cash flows
 48  notes to the consolidated financial statements
 82  company balance sheet
 83  company statement of changes in equity
 84  company statement of cash flows
 85  notes to the company financial statements
 87  shareholder information
revenue 
331
262
2011 2010
up26

us million
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
revenue — b2c
284
222
2011 2010
up28
us million
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
revenue — b2b
47
40
2011 2010
up16
us million
0
10
20
30
40
50
revenue — b2c 
casino
148
117
2011 2010
up27
us million
0
30
60
90
120
150
revenue — b2c
poker
61
38
2011 2010
up58
us million
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
revenue — b2c
bingo
54
50
2011 2010
up8
us million
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
ebitda
1
56
29
2011 2010
up94
us million
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
real money registered 
customer accounts
2
106
87
2011 2010
up22
million
0
2
4
6
8
10
12

 percentages are calculated on actual figures
1
  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010 us23 million goodwill impairment charges of us207 million h1 2010 nil and restructuring costs of 
us49 million 2010 us22 million
2
 casino poker and sport 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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chairman’s statement 
 
2011 has been a year of significant change both for 888 as 
a business and in the evershifting landscape in which we 
operate changes made to the focus of the business and 
ongoing improvements to our marketleading offering 
have helped to increase player numbers build revenues and 
produce this excellent set of results european regulation 
continued apace and there are a number of exciting 
initiatives in the united states seeking to regulate internet 
poker at both a federal and a state level which route will 
be undertaken and exactly when this will happen remains 
unclear but the wheels are in motion and 888 is positioned 
to take advantage of any and all outcomes
there were a number of changes to the board and the 
senior management team in the period under review  
gigi levy stepped down as ceo in april and i would like 
to thank gigi for the contribution he made to the business 
during his tenure the board invited brian mattingley our 
deputy chairman to step into a more handson role within 
the business to help provide more focus on key areas of 
performance and deliver on our immediate objectives 
following the outstanding achievements of the group and 
his excellent performance during this period i am delighted 
that brian mattingley has in march 2012 been appointed 
as our full time chief executive officer i look forward to 
continuing to work closely with him in his new role
it was also appropriate to undertake a review of the 
business requirements in terms of personnel and restructure 
the senior management team as part of that restructuring 
we appointed itai frieberger as chief operating officer  
itai has a wealth of experience in the online world and 
has spent the last seven years with 888 in various senior 
management roles covering the full spectrum of disciplines 
within our company
after the macroeconomic shocks of the previous financial 
year and the business challenges that accompanied them 
the operating environment for 888 improved during 2011 
there were also a number of notable strategic achievements 
which we believe will underpin our growth in the coming 
years the finding of suitability by the nevada gaming 
control board and the nevada gaming commission 
in respect of our relationship with caesars interactive 
entertainment caesars the significant upgrade to our 
back office systems and the expansion of our agreement 
with caesars to enter the us market when regulation is 
enacted in addition the launch of poker 6 which won 
industry accolades fuelled tremendous growth in our  
poker business
we have refocused the business and in doing so created a 
strong and sustainable base for longterm growth  
by continuing our customercentric approach and offering 
innovative products and services that are both exciting and 
relevant we expect to continue to be successful and deliver 
benefit to you our shareholders
financial results
group revenue increased significantly by 26 to us331 
million 2010 us262 million driven in the main by the b2c 
performance of casino and our stand out poker offering 
poker 6 ebitda was us56 million 2010 us29 million 
as at 31 december 2011 the group had us82 million of cash 
and cash equivalents of which us45 million represented 
liabilities to customers in february 2012 the group prepaid 
£20 million of the wink deferred consideration to reduce 
interest costs this resulted in a balance of £38 million 
payable on 21 may 2012
we will continue to review the dividend policy with a view 
to reinstating payment of dividends as appropriate
b2c
as part of our strategic refocus we have concentrated on 
our core product groups of casino poker and bingo  
this includes focusing our attention on our b2c customers 
ensuring we deliver a ‘best in class’ product excellence in 
customer service and a true valueformoney proposition 
this compelling offering supported by highly successful 
targeted marketing campaigns has resulted in a strong 
trading performance across our b2c division
  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010  
us23 million goodwill write off us207 million 2010 nil 
and restructuring costs of us49 million 2010 us22 million www888holdingsplccom
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poker has had an exceptional year and since the launch of 
our awardwinning poker 6 platform we have significantly 
outperformed the industry new player recruitment in poker 
has increased by 77 compared to last year and we now rank 
4th in the global liquidity rankings
casino has also enjoyed a strong performance and this year 
we have made a significant investment in our back office 
systems in july we launched into the newly regulated italian 
market and have already gained more than 5 market share 
we also developed an exciting new casino product casino 
50 which was launched in february 2012
whilst the bingo market is maturing we continue to focus 
on our core strengths of product innovation and promotion 
initiatives
dragonfish
this year has seen a change of approach as we have 
worked on fewer deals concentrating on those which are 
substantially revenue and profit enhancing
in march 2011 we became the first ever foreignbased 
internet gaming operator to come before the nevada 
gaming control board and the nevada gaming commission 
when following a year long process and public hearings 
they approved the suitability of our commercial relationship 
with caesars this enabled us to continue working with 
caesars one of america’s preeminent gaming groups in 
the uk since the year end we have announced an extension 
of the caesars agreement to cover the us this is the first 
strand of our us online strategy and gives us a strong 
platform to develop the us and sign with further potential 
partners we are amongst the first applicants for the new 
class of licence in nevada as an internet gaming service 
provider
in july 2011 the italian regulated market opened for casino 
following which we launched our own casino offering and 
the dragonfishpowered casinos of several customers in 
that market
dragonfish continued to receive industry accolades and won 
two of the most prestigious awards at the egaming review 
b2b awards poker software of the year and bingo supplier 
of the year
board
at the year end one of our independent nonexecutive 
directors michael constantine retired from the board  
i would like to express on behalf of the board and all at  
the company our appreciation of michael’s contribution  
to 888 for over five years we are actively seeking new  
nonexecutive directors with the experience and skillset  
to help the group continue its next phase of growth
outlook
2012 is set to be a year of major opportunity for 888 with 
the opening of several newly regulated markets across 
europe and the us potential the group intends to invest in 
these markets in order to establish and build market share 
and whilst the impacts of regulatory changes are difficult 
to predict we believe that we have now created a great 
platform for the future and are confident about the group’s 
full year prospects
richard kilsby
chairman 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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introduction
we have enjoyed a highly successful year of trading driven 
by continuous improvements in our offering and renewed 
focus on our core strengths resulting in a 26 increase in 
group revenue to us331 million 2010 us262 million
2011 was about going back to basics and i have reiterated  
in this statement our refocused strategy
from a financial perspective we delivered a record 
performance ebitda

 reached us56 million 2010  
us29 million with our ebitda

 margin increasing to 
168 2010 109 as at 31 december 2011 the group had 
us82 million of cash and cash equivalents of which us45 
million represented liabilities to customers on 23 february 
2012 the group prepaid £20 million of the wink deferred 
consideration to reduce interest costs this resulted in a 
balance of £38 million payable on 21 may 2012
as online gaming evolves 888 continues to innovate and 
change with it by providing players of all ability with 
a compelling offering and promoting the offering with 
targeted marketing campaigns we have grown our active 
b2c casino and poker customer numbers to almost half 
a million — an increase of 69 since q4 2010 further 
improvements are in the pipeline and potential significant 
regulatory opportunities leaving us very well positioned for 
the future
strategy
as i set out in our interim results last august following a 
review of the business we reaffirmed our commitment to 
maximising revenues and taking the company forward  
this strategy is made up of a number of key strands
first we will concentrate on our core product groups  
which are casino poker bingo and to a lesser extent sport 
where we depend upon partners to operate a sportsbook 
in a highly competitive market these products will be 
delivered via our b2c offering and through our dragonfish 
to b2b clients
second we will continue to focus our attention on our b2c 
customers ensuring we deliver a ‘best in class’ product 
excellence in customer service and a real valueformoney 
proposition our backoffice is a key asset of the company 
and truly world class ensuring maximum returns on 
investment from our marketing and customer recruitment 
campaigns monitoring and improving lifetime value of 
our customers whilst fulfilling high standards of social and 
corporate responsibility moreover this is done using world 
class fraud detection player monitoring and excellent crm 
practices we will continue to develop this key asset as it is 
a true competitive advantage that benefits both customers 
and clients alike
third we have appraised our dragonfish b2b contracts and 
where they were sub optimal renegotiated or terminated 
them we will continue to develop a pipeline of new 
opportunities which will be fewer but have a greater positive 
impact on our revenues and profit
fourthly we will work to improve margins by maximising 
operational efficiencies and driving volume and where 
necessary cutting costs there was some impact on the 2011 
results but we have yet to see the full benefit of savings 
made to head count and other operational efficiencies it is 
our shortterm goal to return to levels of margin achieved in 
2009 and then to further improve on these
chief executives review 
 
  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010  
us23 million goodwill write off us207 million 2010 nil 
and restructuring costs of us49 million 2010 us22 million www888holdingsplccom
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finally it is a clear strategic imperative that we concentrate 
on locally regulated markets we view these markets in three 
specific categories which have individual characteristics
● ● implementational — for example in italy and france 
where regulation has been introduced and we have 
already commenced trading
● ● formational — as in spain where governments have 
announced regulation and are working towards a 
framework here we will decide on a trading strategy 
start dialogue with local partners either for b2c or b2b 
tie ups and lobby governments in an attempt to assist 
in shaping the framework
● ● developmental — where there is a strong indication 
that at some time in the near future the market will 
open here we talk to local enterprise with a view to 
forming partnerships with whom we can jointly explore 
opportunities and attempt to influence the regulatory 
framework currently we are focusing primarily on 
the usa
we have already delivered against and realised the benefit 
of this renewed focus our focus on driving key product 
areas has significantly increased player signups leading 
to significant growth in volumes we will continue to focus 
on maximizing the potential of our existing core offering 
augmented with innovations in both product and customer 
interaction and service
b2c
the b2c offering remains our core area and the bedrock of 
the success of the business performance across the offering 
has been excellent in 2011 with revenue up 28 to us284 
million 2010 us222 million as a result of our focused 
investment in order to provide the best possible customer 
experience and improved and targeted marketing we have 
pursued a volumeled strategy aimed at attracting a large 
number of players through providing an entertaining and 
accessible platform on which customers enjoy playing the 
strategy has lead to customer lifetime value preserved over 
time with retention programmes performing well so that 
churn rate is lower than it has been in the past
2011 was a phenomenal year for 888’s poker business with 
revenue increasing 58 to us61 million 2010 us38 
million our poker 6 platform has transformed our poker 
network and we have risen from 13th to 4th in the global 
liquidity rankings in little over 12 months in q4 alone the 
number of active poker customers increased by 58
the poker 6 network is carefully managed we aim to attract 
players in to enjoy the game which has a more recreational 
feel with players placing smaller initial stakes we have 
worked hard over the last year on the software suite which 
is dedicated to targeted marketing — almost targeting 
players individually with specific incentives and promotions 
and we are now reaping the benefits of that investment
in casino this ‘smart marketing’ also worked for us with 
revenues up 27 to us148 million 2010 us117 million 
the success of casino has been driven both by the highly 
successful marketing campaigns and significant back
office improvements our efforts were recognised with 888 
winning best online casino of the year at the ice totally 
gaming awards 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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as i said above a key focus for us is newly regulated 
markets our fully localised casino helps penetration into 
new markets we launched into the italian market in july 
with more than 30 games and with the introduction of the 
first live casino in italy — live dealer on 888 initial trading 
has been encouraging and we have already achieved more 
than 5 market share
we have just launched a new casino offering a stateof
theart platform similar to poker 6 with a number of new 
features and we will continue to invest in functionality 
customisation and localisation of features such as payment 
methods
bingo is becoming a mature market but we continue to 
hold our own we added 15 new instant games on our 
bingo platform including a number of global brands we 
will continue to invest in new features such as progressive 
jackpots new games and mini games to keep the platform 
refreshed and relevant
888sport while relatively small is an important part of the 
customer offering particularly around significant sporting 
events which in 2012 will be dominated by the london 
olympics and football’s euro 2012
dragonfish
this year we undertook a widespread appraisal of the 
dragonfish business — reviewing existing contracts and 
evaluating the right deals to pursue revenue was up 16 
at us47 million 2010 us40 million as a result we 
also have a more profitable b2b business by successfully 
renegotiating and terminating suboptimal contracts
the most significant step this year was the nevada gaming 
control board and the nevada gaming commission 
voting unanimously to grant a finding of suitability of 
the commercial agreement between caesars interactive 
entertainment and dragonfish this finding which was 
the result of a rigorous and lengthy process of scrutiny 
underlines the integrity sophistication and professionalism 
that the company maintains as its core tenets of its 
business model
after the period ended we announced an extension of our 
agreement with caesars into the us — the first strand of 
our us strategy dragonfish is now in a very strong position 
to explore the potential of the us market we have a strong 
platform to roll out our cutting edge turnkey solution to 
other potential partners as the market opens
people
it’s not just the offering that makes 888 stand out it is our 
people i am a true believer in teamwork and we have a 
fantastic team of people working at 888 there is no doubt 
we have some of the most gifted technological staff in 
the industry i would like to take this opportunity to thank 
everyone for their hard work this year the more i get to 
know the employees the more impressed i am with their 
enthusiasm and commitment to the business it is their 
drive innovation and effectiveness that has helped deliver 
such a successful year
regulation
regulation of online gaming continued to present both 
opportunities and challenges to the group during 2011 
and this is likely to be the case during 2012 a growing 
number of jurisdictions most notably in europe have 
adopted legislation regulating the group’s business often 
in widely divergent manners while regulation in various 
jurisdictions has the effect of providing legal certainty 
contributing to stability and bolstering the longterm 
value of the group’s various markets it is also inevitably 
accompanied by the burden of local taxation and costly 
compliance requirements the group continues to remain 
actively engaged in regulatory developments worldwide and 
continues to seek opportunities for growth presented by 
regulation while facing the accompanying challenges
chief executives review 
  www888holdingsplccom
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
two notable regulatory developments that are likely to 
have a significant impact on the group during 2012 are the 
possible reform of the uk online gaming regime with the 
imposition of uk gaming duty on foreign operators and the 
emergence of a us online poker market initially in nevada 
where the group continues to pioneer the developing online 
market 888 is investing effort to averting or minimise the 
potentially adverse impact of a uk reform taking all steps to 
maximise the benefit of the potential for growth presented 
by a regulated us online poker market
responsible gaming
as a global leader in online gaming entertainment 888 is 
committed to a proactive policy of corporate and social 
responsibility conducting our business responsibly is 
fundamental to our future success and the sustainability 
of our business our values place the community and 
the customer at the centre of our endeavours we are 
constantly exploring new and innovative ways to create 
a caring responsible gaming environment and to ensure 
under age addictive or other inappropriate customers 
are unable to access our gaming sites we work closely 
with organisations such as gamcare and gambling 
therapy to enhance the training of our customers support 
representatives
current trading and outlook
2011 marked a new chapter in 888’s history we have 
realigned the business to focus on its core strengths under 
a team that is steeped in online gaming we are more than 
ready to take advantage of liberalisation in the industry and 
we are well positioned to achieve first mover advantage  
we have a unique position in the us to allow the launch of a 
real money offering promptly in either federal or state based 
once regulation is finalized by gaming authorities  
our markets are changing and evolving and we are moving fast 
to ensure we continue to innovate and expand our horizons
while market liberalisation offers new growth opportunities 
for regulated businesses such as ours it also means 
investment in marketing to position the brand and acquire 
customers we will continue to invest in regulated markets 
to secure our future for the long term
we continue to exceed our customers’ expectations both 
in terms of offering and service we will continue to pursue 
our strategy of focusing on recreational players and as well 
as major product enhancements during the year such as 
the launch of our new casino offering we will focus on the 
continuous improvement of the customer experience at 
every point
brian mattingley

chief executive
 brian mattingley was appointed ceo on 27 march 2012 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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financial resul ts
general
888 delivered record financial performance in 2011 total 
revenue increased 26 to us331 million 2010 us262 
million ebitda
1
 increased 94 to us56 million 2010 
29 million and ebitda
1
 margin expanded to 168 2010 
109 profit before tax
2
 was us13 million 2010 us15 
million and basic earnings per share
1
 was 87¢ 2010 37¢ 
net cash generated from operating activities was us79 
million 2010 us16 million
1  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010 us23 
million goodwill impairment charges of us207 million 2010 nil 
and restructuring costs of us49 million 2010 us22 million
2  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010 us23 million 
and restructuring costs of us49 million 2010 us22 million
888’s financial position remains strong with cash and cash 
equivalents at year end at us82 million out of which 
us45 million represented liabilities to customers at the 
year end the group still had a deferred consideration liability 
of us37 million relating to the wink bingo acquisition on 
23 february 2012 the group paid ahead of contractual due 
date £20 million of this liability resulting in a balance of £38 
million payable on 21 may 2012
financial review 
financial summary 
year ended
31 december
2011
1
 million
year ended
31 december
2010
1
 million
revenue
b2c
 casino 1480 1169
 poker 606 384
 bingo 540 501
 emerging offering 216 162
total b2c 2842 2217
b2b 469 404
revenue 3311 2621
operating expenses
23
1086 972
gaming taxes and duties 73 14
research and development expenses
3
299 218
selling and marketing expenses 1023 915
administrative expenses
34
275 216
ebitda
34
556 286
exchange losses and net finance costs 131 12
depreciation and amortisation 130 123
impairment charges 207 —
release of contingent consideration 42 —
profit before tax
35
130 151
1  figures may not cast due to rounding
2  excluding depreciation of us90 million 2010 us85 million and amortisation of us40 million 2010 us38 million
3   excluding restructuring costs totalling us49 million 2010 us22 million us10 million from operating expenses and us39 million from 
administrative expenses 2010 us12 million from operating expenses us06 million from research and development and us04 million from 
administrative expenses
4  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010 us23 million and impairment charges of us207 million 2010 nil
5 excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010 us23 million
enhanced business review 
  www888holdingsplccom
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revenue by geographical market
year ended 31 december
revenue
2011
us000
2010
us000
uk 153090 127371
europe excluding uk 124187 96759
americas 26488 17110
rest of world 27385 20873
total revenue 331150 262113
expenses
geographical segmentation
888’s turnover by geography is set out in the table below 
growth was achieved in each of the geographies and uk 
still remains our largest market with 46 of total revenues 
2010 49 revenue generated in europe excluding uk has 
also increased this year by 28 driven primarily by poker 
and casino
1  excluding depreciation of us9 million 2010 us85 million amortisation of us4 million 2010 us 38 million and restructuring costs of 
us1 million 2010 us12 million
over the last twelve months we have continued to invest in 
our platforms and our offering as well as investing in newly 
regulated markets
operating expenses
1
 which include mainly employment 
costs and volumedriven expenses such as chargebacks and 
payment service providers’ commissions totalled 109 million 
2010 us97 million representing a lower proportion to 
revenue of 33 compared to 37 in 2010 chargebacks ratio 
remained stable at 10 2010 11 and psp commissions 
ratio increased slightly to 59 2010 55 as a result of the 
inclusion of the mytopia business for the entire year which 
incurs a higher cost proportion than the core business
research and development expenses increased in 2011 
to 30 million 2010 22 million as we invested in our 
technological platform and in product adaptation to 
regulated markets nevertheless this expense remained at a 
stable ratio to revenue at 90 2010 83
gaming duties incurred during the year were us7 million 
2010 us1 million primarily in respect of the activities in 
spain during the second half of the year and italy from q4
marketing expenses during the year were us102 million 
2010 us92 million this was a result of an increased 
number of highprofile campaigns aimed to drive record 
numbers of players to our new offerings despite the 
increase in marketing spend marketing ratio reduced to 31 
in 2011 compared to 35 in 2010 demonstrating enhanced 
marketing efficiency 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
10
2127304  04042012 proof 17
in 2011 the group continued to focus on attracting and 
retaining customers and optimising the recruitment channel 
to cost during the year 888’s marketing team recruited 
more than 330000 new casino and poker first time 
depositors “ftds”
administrative expenses
1
 increased to us28 million 2010 
us22 million this increase is primarily associated with 
professional expenses arising from regulated markets and 
the refocusing of the b2b business
impairment review — mytopia
given the financial performance of mytopia the social 
games development business acquired in 2010 a prudent 
accounting decision was taken to fully impair the mytopia 
goodwill which has resulted in a full impairment charge of 
us207 million
share benefit charges
share benefit charges were us29 million 2010 us23 
million the increase was primarily a result of us05 million 
of accelerated share benefit charges arising on termination 
following the departure of the former chief executive on 30 
april 2011
finance income
given the low interest rate environment net interest income 
was us02 million 2010 us02 million
finance expenses
finance expenses during the year totalled us133 million 
2010 us15 million this amount comprises a us37 
million 2010 nil interest paid to the wink bingo vendors 
in relation to the deferred consideration b us37 million 
2010 us11 million a non cash charge representing the 
difference between the discounted present value and future 
nominal value of the wink deferred consideration c us16 
million 2010 nil representing fair value adjustment in 
respect of the open forward contract entered into in 2011 
in order to hedge the sterling denominated wink deferred 
consideration following the march 2011 agreement and d 
us43 million 2010 us03 million representing the result 
of closing forward contracts entered into during the year 
aimed to hedge costs which are not denominated in us 
such as ils euro and sterling and revaluation of various 
balance sheet assets which are not denominated in us
ebitda
ebitda
2
 reached a record us56 million 2010 us29 
million representing an increase of 94 ebitda
2
 margin 
increased significantly to 168 from 109 in 2010
taxation
the tax charge for 2011 was us39 million 2010 us27 
million reflecting the group’s efficient tax position out 
of this amount us09 million 2010 nil was payable in 
respect of the new corporation tax in gibraltar
earnings per share
basic earnings per share was 06¢ in 2011 2010 23¢ 
adjusted basic earnings per share excluding share benefit 
charges restructuring costs impairment charges and release 
of contingent consideration better reflects the underlying 
performance of the business and assists in providing a 
clearer view of the performance of the group adjusted basic 
earnings per share was 74¢ in 2011 2010 36¢
dividend
given our cash requirements we did not pay a dividend 
in 2011 however we will continue to review the dividend 
policy with a view to reinstate payment of dividends as 
appropriate
cash flow
the group’s profitability during the year was matched 
by strong cash generation with net cash generated from 
operating activities reaching us79 million 2010 us16 
million this surplus cash was used primarily to pay wink 
and mytopia earnouts at us 40 million and us6 million 
respectively
balance sheet
the group’s cash position as at 31 december 2011 was 
us82 million 31 december 2010 us62 million liabilities 
owed to customers were us45 million 2010 us35 
million this increase reflects the natural healthy growth 
of the business in terms of customer numbers and revenue 
during 2011
enhanced business review 
 
1 excluding restructuring costs of us39 million 2010 us04 
million share benefit charges of us 24 million 2010 us23 
million and impairment charges of us 207 million 2010 nil
2 excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010 us23 
million goodwill write off us207 million 2010 nil and 
restructuring costs of us49 million 2010 us22 million www888holdingsplccom
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
b2c
888 is a global gaming entertainment destination with 
localised offerings providing players the games they want in 
the language they speak the 888 gaming experience is now 
available in a total of 19 languages to over 150 countries
casino
888’s casino offering is a significant growth driver for the 
business and has benefited from ongoing improvements 
in the customer experience and successful marketing to 
deliver record results
our focus has been on player acquisition and we have been 
very successful in this area by continuing to offer the best 
possible online gaming experience we aim to continue to 
drive record player numbers and revenues while building 
brand loyalty and successfully increasing lifetime value as 
we go forward
a key way to build this loyalty is by ensuring that the 888 
offering remains at the forefront of the online gaming 
experience to do so means continuously providing new 
content and innovative ways of playing the games that 
customers want
the evergrowing portfolio of top notch games offered was 
bolstered through the addition of more than two dozen 
third party games to our suite of casino products dedicated 
teams were built to make integration more streamlined as 
we start to release more games into the market 
optimisation of the live platform has seen the introduction of 
additional tables for high rollers and vips more types of games 
london roulette with uk dealers venetian roulette with 
italian dealers auto roulette and an enhanced user interface
a key focus continues to be newly regulated markets and 
our fully localised casino helps penetration into these new 
markets in august 888 launched in the italian market with 
more than 30 games that passed certification by the italian 
regulator the introduction of live dealer on 888it was  
the first live casino in italy following increased marketing 
spend in italy 888 now enjoys market share of over 5  
in 2012 888 will look to build on this position in italy while 
also opening in spain which has the potential to be a 
significant market and a licence has also been applied for to 
offer online gaming in the smaller danish market
the first quarter of 2012 saw the launch of our revamped 
casino offering casino 50 which reconstructs the casino 
platform to provide an industry leading casino product 
utilising stateoftheart web and design technology the 
new 888casino software is simpler and faster than ever 
before from easy tabbased navigation to opening multiple 
games in parallel 888casino provides a sleek smooth 
transition which now includes a higher screen resolution 
and allows a perfect platform for crisp vibrant graphics 
and clear wide  hd screen viewing with personalisation 
at the heart of the new design 888casino allows players to 
create the lobby of their choice and create shortcuts to their 
favourite games the intuitive features of the new 888casino 
adapt to each individual player allowing players to play 
online casino ‘their way’
itai friberger
chief operating officer 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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in addition 888 has also entered into the mobile gaming 
sector with the launch of our first android application 
for 888roulette and further mobile opportunities are in 
development
the success of the 888casino platform was publicly 
acknowledged with 888 winning best online casino  
of the year at the ice totally gaming awards
poker
poker has had an exceptional year achieving significant 
growth despite a declining online poker market through 
effectively pursuing our strategy of focusing on recreational 
players the launch of poker 6 in june 2010 has been 
transformational and we have reaped the rewards across 2011
888’s poker offering is now an accepted industry leader 
with an intuitive usability that targets the casual player  
and innovative features that appeal to a broad demographic 
the increase in number of active customers in 888poker led 
the industry in 2011 with 318000 active customers in q4 
this has moved 888poker up to fourth from thirteenth  
in the public liquidity rankings
this surge in activity has been the result of constant 
investment in our poker strategy to build a platform that 
appeals to players of all abilities 888 has developed a 
diverse network in which players can enjoy the game 
regardless of skill level and offers customized promotions 
and communications targeted for every stage of a 
players journey this leads to higher player retention and 
in turn increased lifetime value poker 6 is a technically 
sophisticated product that can manage a host of activities 
matching marketing campaigns monitoring product 
performance and delivering bespoke customer interfaces
we are continually improving our poker offering and during 
the year we introduced some additional innovative features 
these included pokercam a feature that allow players to 
interact via webcam while playing on the 888poker tables 
and more social features such as teamplay and private 
games where players can personalize their own private 
poker games and invite their friends to join the game
the success of 888poker was recognised at awards 
ceremonies with 888 being awarded the 2011 poker 
operator of the year at the egaming review awards  
and 888poker being named best online gaming product  
of the year at the ice totally gaming awards
bingo
it has been a challenging year for 888bingo the market is 
maturing and is highly competitive nonetheless we saw 
year on year improvement as 888 continues to provide 
our customers with a first class offering including regular 
promotions attractive prizes and a host of interactive features
instant games remain a key revenue stream dramatically 
enhancing the gaming experience customer retention and 
yield these were embellished throughout 2011 with more than 
a dozen new instant games launched on the bingo platform 
games include brands such as ‘roland rat’ progressive 
jackpots games and mini games
other notable features introduced throughout the year 
included enhanced ‘invite a friend’ capabilities — whereby 
friends from facebook gmail hotmail and social networks  
can be invited to join games — and side bets — enabling bingo 
players to place a bet on an event that will happen during  
a bingo game
enhanced business review 
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we will continue to launch innovative new products 
and look for new ways to bring new customers to the 
business in partnership with endemol big brother bingo 
was exclusively launched in the uk at the end of 2011 to 
take advantage of the highprofile celebrity big brother 
series the performance of this product has been very 
encouraging with promotions for exclusive big brother 
prizes including behindthescenes access task props  vip 
passes to eviction nights attracting new customer numbers
sport
888sports is a small percentage of our total business but 
is nevertheless important for our customers particularly at 
the time of significant sporting events and we will continue 
to invest in this offering in order to drive more revenue and 
improve margins
in 2011 the focus was on retaining those high value 
customers that have been acquired during recent high
profile events and in promoting casino and poker to our 
888sports customers via the ability to share wallet across 
888’s core platforms
following prominent and successful marketing campaigns 
the business grew year on year — this is especially pleasing 
as 2010 saw the impact of the fifa world cup with both 
the london olympics and football’s euro 2012 taking place 
in the summer and offering significant opportunity for 
growth marketing activities are being prepared to take 
advantage of these major events 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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marketing and promotions
the 888 offering provides something for players of all 
abilities and requirements and our marketing suite identifies 
the best way to target people with the offering that will be 
of most interest to them
a significant area of investment in 2011 was in backoffice 
systems 888’s marketing suite is now amongst the best 
in the business and allows us to better target offers and 
promotions this helped boost conversion ratios and 
allowed marketing campaigns to be more focused in turn 
campaigns such as free spin and millionaire were highly 
successful 
888poker is a different type of destination and the 
communication of this has been integral to the surge in 
numbers over 2011 our marketing campaigns reflect the 
focus of our offering with our poker advertising targeted 
at the casual player and emphasising the enjoyment factor 
shane warne continues to successfully front our campaigns 
in several parts of the world and has helped us to begin 
to build on an ambassadorled marketing strategy as we 
enter into new markets using prominent sports players and 
celebrities rather than professional poker players as the face 
of our campaigns presents our brand to a larger audience 
and reinforces 888poker as a recreational fun destination 
our advertisement campaigns and marketing in 2012 
will continue to build on the positioning slogan ‘we play 
different’ as we continue to offer players an entertaining 
poker experience that is unique from our competitors and 
enjoyable for all players
in 2011 888casino executed a very successful marketing 
campaign across several markets focusing on 365 spins 
to win a million dollar jackpot to continue to capitalise 
on this success campaigns in 2012 will continue to build 
strong brand awareness of 888casino as a leading casino 
where players can win big and have fun with the support 
of innovative personalised software and a continually 
improving customer communication protocol customer 
acquisition from these campaigns should see optimum 
conversion with increased player values and retention
consistent with our strategy we continued to invest heavily 
in marketing marketing spend in 2011 was larger in absolute 
terms than in 2010 but equalled only 31 of revenue 
compared to 35 in 2010 as our marketing improves and 
becomes more intelligent and targeted we are achieving dollar 
for dollar growth in terms of marketing spend year on year
customer relationship management
strong customer relationships are the bedrock of our 
success whilst eyecatching promotions help to drive 
customer acquisition customer retention comes from 
engendering loyalty through building bonds with players 
this leads to people playing more games more often for 
more time
888’s ongoing commitment to localisation strengthens 
relationships worldwide through speaking to people in their 
language and culture while the marketleading usage of 
social features and interactivity with players strengthens 
brand loyalty
as the backoffice suite improves and allows all players to 
use a personalised product with promotions targeted to 
their requirements churn rate has reduced across 2011
search engine optimisation ‘seo’
the specialist search and web optimisation technologies 
‘swot’ team continue to give 888’s websites prominence 
on worldwide search engines maximising the impact of the 
product offering successful use of swot has helped to 
drive players to 888 brands helping customer acquisition 
and ongoing growth
2012 focus
we will continue to focus on our core strengths and build 
on the excellent results achieved in 2011 following the 
success of poker 6 our new casino offering has significant 
potential and we will invest across our product line in order 
to provide players with cuttingedge games and innovative 
ways in which to play them
targeted marketing campaigns will support our products 
with the aim of attracting and retaining customers growing 
lifetime value and reducing churn rate we will also explore 
innovative avenues and ways to play on 888 gaming 
platforms in order to drive growth
enhanced business review 
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dragonfish
dragonfish 888’s standalonebusiness to business arm 
continues to offer clients a best in class total gaming 
services solution the quality of the offering coupled with 
a renewed focus has given us a strong position in which to 
enter newly regulating jurisdictions
in 2011 dragonfish successfully launched casinoflex in italy 
in conjunction with some of the most popular established 
online italian brands and focused on future regulated us 
markets by entering discussions with major us partners in 
january 2012 dragonfish extended its deal with caesars 
interactive entertainment to include the us
dragonfish further undertook a widespread appraisal of all 
its contracts and looked to renegotiate or terminate deals 
that did not have the desired effect on the bottom line the 
pipeline of new opportunities continues to develop towards 
deals that are more enhancing to revenue and profit
the strength of the offering coupled with increased 
marketing efforts by our partners helped drive revenue up 
16 to a record us47 million
we were delighted to see dragonfish’s position as a leading 
b2b provider recognised through the awarding of two of the 
most prestigious awards at the egaming review 2011 b2b 
awards — poker software of the year and bingo supplier  
of the year
the total gaming services offering
new entrants to the online gaming market require 
diverse gaming content delivered over a high performing 
technology platform operational expertise and above all 
knowledge of how to leverage their assets and target the 
gaming consumer
the stateoftheart poker 6 platform provides a contemporary 
look and feel for poker clients with enhanced usability 
functionality and playability on the tables the platform is 
a proven success and has been a driving force behind the 
exceptional performance of 888’s global poker offering
the casino offering continues to reflect 888’s 14 years 
of experience as a leading online casino operator this 
enables dragonfish to provide a suite of games that 
helps its partners’ casino brands appeal to beginners and 
experts alike through the provision of a vast range of 
games a userfriendly casino lobby with intuitive buttons 
for communicating promotions tutorials 247 customer 
help wins and bonuses in 2011 the successful launch of 
the casinoflex modular product specifically designed for 
regulated markets allowed partners to choose to operate 
their own backoffice under their own licence
the bingo platform achieved an important milestone in 
2011 with the launch of the bingoflex modular platform 
providing full integration with partners’ backoffice systems 
the new platform enables the offering of individual platform 
components to potential partners and thus significantly 
strengthens the bingo sales proposition by creating a 
broader spectrum of potential partners
technology operations marketing epayments
casino poker bingo sport quickplay
   
 r u o y r o f t l i u b
  
d l r o w e n i l n o 
wwwdragonﬁshtechcom 
•
 salesdragonﬁshtechcom     
have you cracked the regulated market yet
with a breadth of offering unique to dragonﬁsh you’ll 
be able to pick from our total gaming services to create 
your own bespoke solution
you can combine any number of our products and 
services to complement your own from as little as one 
gaming product with no back ofﬁce to a full managed 
service just choose from our games  technology 
marketing operations and epayments assets or go  
for the full white label solution 
whatever your needs dragonﬁsh provides you  
with ﬂexible gaming solutions to help you capture 
regulated markets
we’re ready for your online world the question is  
are you
dragonﬁsh total gaming services
freedom to enter
new markets
customisable online gaming solutions
optimise your offering expand your business 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
each of our products is tailored for individual markets and 
can take advantage of multiplatform compatibility
with the launch of our exciting new casino 50 platform the 
product offering to clients will remain at the forefront of the 
online gaming experience
our proprietary backoffice services continue to be a core 
part of our proposition our partners enjoy the benefits of 
our industryleading payment solutions and optimisation 
services fraud and risk management business analytics 
crm services and multilingual proactive and reactive 
customer operations
regulated markets
choosing the right partner is critical for success in 
regulated markets and dragonfish offers flexible best
ofbreed solutions that have been rigorously tested to 
meet the regulatory requirements across the international 
jurisdictions such as italy and spain we have developed 
a methodology which drives our solutions for regulated 
markets tracking the new laws through drafting and 
publication adapting testing and certifying our products 
and operations in parallel to the first new licences being 
issued we also have the strength and depth to spread 
our focus across multiple jurisdictions so we maintain our 
leading position in all the largest markets as the regulations 
take effect this means that dragonfish licencees are first 
in line to receive their egaming licences in newly regulated 
territories
we have also adapted our products to meet the new 
tax requirements of each market we provide integral 
taxcompliant acquisition and retention tools bonuses 
and crossselling that maximise costeffectiveness for 
our partners while increasing the lifetime values of their 
players
our track record is second to none and we have already 
clocked up invaluable experience launching hundreds of 
brands on our regulated gaming solutions
888 is well placed to continue harnessing the many 
opportunities that the changing regulatory environment 
will bring our reputation as a trusted leading international 
operator was demonstrated in march 2011 with the nevada 
gaming control board and the nevada gaming commission 
suitability finding for the commercial relationship between 
caesars interactive entertainment and dragonfish this the 
first deal ever approved between a statelicenced gaming 
company and a foreignbased internet gaming operator 
was a significant development enabling us to continue to 
work with caesars to offer support for its uk product
the partnership with caesars already covered a realmoney 
world series of poker casino offering to the uk market and 
a world series of poker free play poker site in the united 
states
more significantly in january 2012 the partnership was 
extended into the united states the first strand of 888’s 
us strategy the agreement will allow the launch of a real 
money offering as soon as either federal or state based 
regulation is finalised upon licencing by gaming authorities
dragonfish is in pole position for the us market and we 
have a strong platform on which to roll out our cutting 
edge turnkey solutions to other potential partners as the 
market opens
another notable market in which dragonfish is well 
positioned is italy following certification of 888 products 
by the amministrazione autonoma dei monopoli di stato 
aams the italian regulatory authority we launched 
our casino offering into the italian market in august the 
dragonfish italian casino offering includes both download 
and nodownload instant play clients with a customized 
and enhanced proposition presenting the italian player with 
the most compelling and engaging gaming experience in 
the regulated market
2012 focus
dragonfish will continue to focus on leveraging new 
opportunities in significant newly regulating markets 
focusing on utilising the compelling offering to sign 
agreements that will enhance revenue and profit
enhanced business review 
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technol ogical infr a structure
888’s success is built on the strength of its technological 
infrastructure which provides the platform for the cutting
edge innovation for which we are renowned the cutting
edge offering provided for our players including the ground
breaking poker 6 is all a result of the behindthescenes 
expertise that is at the heart of 888
the right technology for regulated markets
having the right technology is crucial to operating in newly 
regulated markets as the platform must be tailored to 
conform to all specific requirements during h2 2011 888 
launched a regulated casino offering in italy both for b2c 
888it and for b2b partners in q4 our platform was 
adjusted to support gibraltar aml regulation for the com 
brands
the ability to quickly make changes to our platform while 
also ensuring that the customer experience remains at the 
cutting edge of online gaming stands us in good stead to 
gain market share as new geographies are regulated based 
on the changes we made to our gaming systems to comply 
with italian regulations in 2012 we will adjust the platform in 
order to launch in spain
subject to successful conclusion of the licencing process 
in nevada tentatively expected in 2012 we are perfectly 
positioned with the required infrastructure and platform 
changes in order to launch
the right technology for our customers
the record numbers of concurrent users on 888 sites in 2011 
demonstrate the robustness of our platform preparations 
to serve these incoming users began in q2 and over the 
course of 2011 the data center was redesigned to improve 
the availability of the network infrastructure in the server 
room and allow for faster installations of new hardware 
the networking hardware was also reconfigured to improve 
availability and network stability this was done smoothly and 
ensured that all it operating parameters were maintained
the backup software and hardware were also upgraded to 
support the increasing size of data reduce backup window 
time frame and improve data retention the updated systems 
and procedures were awarded level 1 pci certification in the 
yearly audit performed by the qualified security assessors
the successful updating of systems meant all service 
level agreement performance parameters were met and 
surpassed
other notable improvements to 888’s backoffice systems  
in 2011 included
● ● unified offering infrastructure during 2011 b2c casino 
poker and sport brands were transferred to the new 
unified offering infrastructure which includes support  
of the new bonus structure
  in addition the “my account” site was launched which 
includes tabs on bonuses and personal details to ensure 
that all customers are able to easily manage their 888 
accounts more content will be added to this site during 
2012
● ● gaming infrastructure improvements in order to support 
the growing load on our gaming infrastructure caused 
by the significant increase in player numbers steps were 
taken in order to improve performance and enable a 
more robust and stable platform
● ● registration process improvements optimising the 
usability of the registration process can be a major boost 
to 888 through maximizing the number of deposits 
made from visitors to the site in 2011 we introduced an 
enhanced registration form with amongst other things 
an improved look and feel more meaningful validations 
and new password length requirements for increased 
security
● ● real time segmentation queue manager 
improvements during 2011 we added new abilities to 
the queue manager tool including the ability to retrieve 
population data based on data mining models and 
the ability to perform automatic actions in addition to 
manual actions that are already supported
● ● affiliate system improvements a number of 
improvements to 888s internal affiliates system were 
introduced during 2011 supporting the growing number 
of affiliates enhancing reporting capabilities and 
optimising the billing process 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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unique casino games
an essential part of 888’s strategy is its focus on the player 
experience to fulfil this goal a new robust gaming platform 
— the generic gaming platform or ggp was introduced
888’s ggp offers a simple way to develop or integrate 
casino games it is built over existing infrastructure and 
backoffice systems and contains a number of games 
engines core casino games like blackjack and roulette 
as well as unique video slots 888 plans to utilise this 
platform to offer unique games in parallel to the already 
wellestablished games integration channel via the 888 
integration platform
during 2011 a new french roulette and american roulette 
was launched over the ggp and we are planning to add a 
number of additional games and unique features during 2012
ggp supports flash games and also new technologies such 
as html5 this enables 888casino to deliver and integrate 
games easily on mobile platforms
epayments
the comprehensive total payment services offering 
includes payment processing tailored for local markets 
fully managed fraud detection and prevention services and 
customer support
the ability for players to deposit and withdraw in their local 
currency via their preferred payment option is key to 888’s 
personalisation and localisation of the products offered in 
2011 we introduced new currencies and seven new payment 
options in key countries
fraud prevention was also bolstered through the addition 
of major tools including 3d secure code offered as verified 
by visa and mastercard securecode to visa and mastercard 
card users respectively and the payment platform was 
amended to be compliant with those jurisdictions in which  
a new regulatory regime was introduced
introducing new features and capabilities in the payment 
platform helped us to better convert customers in the 
cashier these capabilities allow much shorter login time to 
the system from all over the world and much more effective 
and reliable ways to process payments
customer support and ser vice
customer relationship management
strong customer relationships are the bedrock of 888’s 
success and the group remains committed to its goal  
of providing the best customer support and service in the 
global online gaming industry
first class customer support is offered for each of the 
group’s brands and white labels via telephone email 
and chat to customers around the world in 10 different 
languages 888’s ongoing commitment to localisation 
strengthens relationships worldwide through speaking to 
people in their language and cultural context while the 
marketleading usage of social features and interactivity 
with players strengthens brand loyalty
the launch of 888it a tailormade product for the newly 
regulated italian market in august 2011 marked a milestone 
for 888 to support this venture a wholly new customer 
support team was recruited and trained to for the first time 
handle all aspects of the operation successfully establishing 
a range of new processes and procedures
in 2011 888’s support teams on average converted 20 
of all incoming phone calls and 10 of relevant incoming 
chats to deposits maintaining this convenient service to 
players and continuing to benefit the business we see 
the forthcoming expansion of live telephone and chat 
deposit capabilities to our bingo customers as exciting new 
developments this feature was launched as a pilot project 
at the end of 2011 and is expected to boost revenues and 
open new marketing opportunities
the telemarketing and proactive chat department 
continued to deliver excellent performance as measured 
by the deposits generated by interaction with customers 
the department has increased its performance for the 
third successive year in all three key metrics — efficiency 
productivity and revenue generated
the implementation of an easytouse newly customised 
layout and improved design of the online web selfservice 
tool along with the continual evaluation and refinement 
of content resulted in an increased usage of this tool by 
customers improvements helped to reduce customer 
issues while increasing people’s ability to find answers to 
their queries themselves enabling 888 to further reduce its 
operational expenditure improve agent efficiency and more 
effectively manage its resources
enhanced business review 
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as a result of wellreceived amendments to our offering  
the overall volume of queries coming in to our support 
centres decreased by 6 in 2011 this result is especially 
pleasing as it was achieved despite the significant increase 
in active casino and poker customers and despite a 20 
increase in b2b bingo contact volumes
total contact volumes handled at our support 
centres — all b2cb2b brands and languages
2010 contacts handled via phone email and chat  960095
2011 contacts handled via phone email and chat 900741
the main gibraltar contact centre focuses on providing 
support for 888’s principal markets in europe asia pacific 
and latin america while the antiguan contact centre focuses 
on supporting the english speaking markets in europe 
australia asia pacific and canada the fully established 
contact centre in romania is providing mainly telemarketing 
and proactive chat activities in several languages for 888  
and dragonfish
support teams in all operational locations aim to close the 
majority of issues during the first contact as exemplified in 
the service level achievement reached in 2011 throughout 
the year we further improved the handling of customer 
interactions by prioritising inbound queries according to 
customer statuses and specified business priorities
customer satisfaction
888 monitors customer satisfaction at key points 
throughout their lifetime cycle in order to assist 
stakeholders in the group to identify and understand habits 
and expectations of loyal players as well as to design 
service initiatives and ongoing refresher training based on 
the results
in 2011 the customary annual study conducted to 
benchmark 888’s service level within its primary markets 
included english german and spanish speaking casino and 
poker players as well as english speaking sport customers 
888 is pleased that for the third year running respondents 
from our main language markets gave their highest rating to 
the level of professionalism of our support representatives
the survey also sought insight into customer awareness and 
usage of the online selfhelp facility available to english 
german and spanish customers in 2011 80 of respondents 
were aware of the online web selfservice tool vs 73 in 
2010 71 of customers who are aware of the tool reported 
using it
review forums customer surveys and feedback analysis 
assisted in the continual evaluation and refinement of the 
online help content in 2012 we plan to enhance the visual 
representations of supplied information to reduce textual 
materials adapting to customer needs and increasing  
user satisfaction
regula tion and gener al regula tory 
devel opments
the regulatory framework governing online gaming in 
different countries around the world remains as dynamic 
and rapidly evolving as ever while some jurisdictions 
have moved to curtail the activities of online gaming 
sites many others including many european jurisdictions 
and even some us states are currently contemplating 
liberalisation and regulation of the industry and several have 
already taken this route the group remains committed to 
monitoring closely and addressing regulatory changes as 
they occur and to fostering so far as possible the trend 
towards liberalisation and regulation of online gaming 
throughout the world
eu
as the hopes for paneuropean harmonization of online 
gaming laws waned during 2011 a growing number of eu 
member states have introduced or are in the process of 
introducing local legislation governing the offering of online 
gaming several eu member states are either contemplating 
or have already put in place a liberalised or partially 
liberalised gaming regime the uk france italy spain 
denmark belgium estonia greece hungary romania and 
others have already adopted a regulatory regime governing 
online gaming other eu member states including ireland 
germany bulgaria the netherlands and sweden are also 
considering or are already in the process of revising their 
gaming laws possibly to include liberalization of the online 
gaming market the proliferation of varying regulatory 
regimes throughout the eu internal market has inevitably 
resulted in increased regulatory constraints and compliance 
challenges impacting the group’s european business
in march 2011 the european commission published a long
awaited green paper on online gaming the green paper 
launched a public consultation between eu member states 
eu institutions and other stakeholders regarding the legal 
and technical challenges arising from the activities of both 
“lawful” and “unlawful” online gambling operations  888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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enhanced business review 
 
in this context rather than strongly advocating 
harmonization of gaming laws across the eu internal market 
the paper notes the existence of the two regulatory models 
adopted by eu member states — a liberalized licencing 
model and the restrictive national monopoly model as 
with the declaration adopted in late 2010 by the eu council 
of ministers the green paper recognizes that the online 
gaming market has not been the subject of paneuropean 
regulation indicating that this state of affairs is unlikely to 
change in the immediate future the green paper highlights 
the need to identify ways in which cooperation between 
national regulatory authorities at eu level will assist member 
states in achieving more effectively the objectives of their 
gambling policy in line with the principles of the eu internal 
market 888 responded to the green paper consultation 
process by filing a detailed position paper supporting pan
european regulation of the industry
the end of 2011 saw france evaluating the online gaming 
regime put in place by a 2010 law which introduced 
a licencing regime for online poker sports betting and 
horserace wagering it remains unclear whether and to 
what extent this evaluation will lead to amendments of the 
french legal regime possibly including further liberalization 
of the market or changes to the tax structure
also in 2011 denmark launched the regulatory regime 
established under a 2010 law after a state aid claim against 
this regime was rejected by the european commission 
under this new regime the 888 group has been issued an 
online gaming licence by the danish gambling commission
spain also adopted a new regulatory and licencing regime 
for online gambling during 2011 and issued a timerestricted 
call for applications by the end of the year following 
national general elections issuance of licences has been 
postponed to 2012 and an overall review of the 2011 regime 
by the new administration cannot be ruled out until 
such time the group’s spanish business continues to be 
governed by an interim regime put in place by the 2011 law
italy where the group holds an online gambling concession 
introduced new legislation in 2011 expanding the scope of 
licencable online activities and significantly easing access to 
the market by eubased operators the group has updated 
its italian licence concession in accordance with this new 
legislation further expansion of the licencable online 
activities may occur during 2012
the regulation of online gaming in germany continued to be 
characterized by legal ambiguity and chaos during 2011 and 
early 2012 the interstate gambling treaty struck down 
in 2010 by the european court of justice was scheduled 
to expire at the end of 2011 at that time 15 of the german 
federal states lander not including the state of schleswig
holstein extended the treaty by six months to allow for 
the adoption of a new treaty expected to introduce a very 
limited online sportsbetting regime allowing for no more 
than 20 licencees the new treaty awaits the approval 
of the individual states’ parliaments in a letter issued by 
the european commission in march 2012 the commission 
expressed serious doubts over the compliance of the new 
draft treaty with eu law echoing criticism voiced regarding 
the previous treaties on earlier drafts of the new treaty the 
ec indicated that it stood to the lander to demonstrate how 
the proposed treaty could be considered compliant with eu 
law or risk having it struck down as the previous treaty had 
been this position by the ec is likely to further contribute 
to the legal uncertainty already characterizing the german 
gaming market
in contrast the german state of schleswigholstein 
introduced its own regulatory and licencing regime for 
online casino games including poker but excluding 
roulette baccarat and blackjack and online betting lottery 
games remain under state monopoly despite granting 
certain advantages to the incumbent landbased gambling 
operators the schleswigholstein regime was generally 
approved by the european commission the licencing 
process for online gaming operators was scheduled to begin 
in march 2012 but has been delayed as secondary legislation 
specifying the technical requirements is yet to be enacted
there remains a certain degree of legal uncertainty 
surrounding the ability of schleswigholstein licencees 
to accept players from throughout germany while the 
schleswigholstein law does not prohibit the acceptance 
of players nationwide and while strong legal arguments 
are available to support the right of schleswigholstein 
licencees to operate in such a manner the issue is likely to 
be the subject of legal debate once the schleswigholstein 
regime has been fully launched
as part of a broader austerity package and with the 
undisguised aim of generating significant tax revenue from 
online gaming greece adopted a regulatory and licencing 
regime governing online gaming regime during 2011  www888holdingsplccom
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the new greek legislation which has not yet been fully 
launched has come under severe criticism due to its 
incompatibility with eu law this is primarily due to the 
fact that applicants for an online gaming licence must be 
established in greece locate their gaming infrastructure 
and store data in greece and conduct payment processing 
in greece the law also subjects applicants to retroactive 
taxation
belgium’s licencing regime for online gaming activities  
became effective on february 2012 after a year of “temporary 
test permits” granted to selected operators belgian licences 
may only be issued to terrestrial operators already operating  
a casino or gaming arcade in addition servers containing  
as a minimum the data pertaining to belgian operations  
are to be located in belgium for these reasons the european 
commission has declared the belgian regulatory regime  
to be incompatible with eu law
hungary also amended its gambling law during 2011 
introducing a limited regulatory regime governing online 
gaming the implementation of these new regulatory regimes 
awaits publication of secondary legislation and is anticipated 
during 2012
in august 2011 romania adopted secondary legislation 
necessary to implement the online gaming portion of its 
2010 gaming legislation though formally in force the regime 
established by this legislation has not yet been practically 
implemented by the romanian authorities and it is presently 
unclear when such implementation will commence
uk
following a review of the current online gaming licencing 
regime the dcms is considering reforming the existing regime 
in march 2012 the chancellor of the exchequer formally 
announced a consultation process aimed at introducing 
legislation in the form of a new finance act which would 
subject all online operators accepting uk customers to uk 
gaming duty presently at 15 of gross gaming revenue  
the announcement explicitly refers to december 2014 as the 
target date for implementation of the aforementioned reform 
which would require a change of primary legislation 
usa
late in 2011 the us department of justice released a 
memorandum reversing the department’s longstanding 
position regarding the scope of the wire act the department 
of justice concluded that the wire act does not apply to non
sports betting and hence does not prohibit the intrastate sale 
online of lottery tickets by licenced state lotteries 
several legislative initiatives at state level seek to regulate intra
state online gaming including in new jersey iowa connecticut 
massachusetts california ohio and washington dc
these initiatives come after the state of nevada implemented 
during 2011 a new regime governing intrastate interactive 
poker the newly introduced nevada regime allows licenced 
terrestrial gaming operators to offer online poker to patrons in 
nevada including through partnership with online operators  
in possession of an appropriate service provider licence  
the group has already applied for a licence as an interactive 
gaming service provider and manufacturer in nevada  
in so doing the group continues to pioneer the nevada online 
gaming market
early in 2012 the new jersey state legislature began debating 
a bill seeking to allow the offering of online gaming by atlantic 
city licencees possibly through partnerships with established 
online operators
similar bills are being debated by the state legislatures of 
california iowa mississippi and hawaii under the california 
bill terrestrial licencees and indian tribes could obtain an 
online poker licence pursuant to which they could operate 
through partnership with online operators subject to the 
condition that such operators did not accept wagers from 
the united states after 31 december 2006 similar bills have 
been proposed in iowa and mississippi in hawaii a proposed 
bill seeks to establish a single state online gaming operator 
monopoly
other us jurisdictions including illinois maryland and new 
york are considering launching online platforms for the sale 
of lottery products these developments could all present 
potential business opportunities for the group which could act 
as service provider to licencees and lottery corporations in the 
various states
federal legislation governing online gaming most likely online 
poker initially remains a possibility in 2012 late 2011 saw 
consensus between senator harry reid longtime supporter 
of online poker legislation and senator jon kyl who has 
traditionally objected to federal legislation condoning online 
poker this newly formed alliance greatly increases the 
odds in favour of federal legislation regulating online gaming 
though the complex political landscape resulting from the 
2012 general election may impact the likelihood of such 
development during 2012 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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corporate social responsibility 
 
as a global leader in online gaming entertainment 888 is 
committed to a proactive policy of corporate and social 
responsibility that reflects the high professional and ethical 
standards we have set for ourselves
conducting our business responsibly is fundamental to the 
future success of 888 and the sustainability of the business 
at 888 we understand that our responsible approach is 
both the correct way to do business and one that enhances 
our credibility thereby supporting the development of the 
business
our philosophy
we aim to contribute to the global community in which  
we operate
● ● we sponsor and participate in activities in the 
neighbourhoods in which we live and work
● ● we create collaborative and rewarding work 
environments where new ideas can flourish and 
employees can grow
● ● we encourage responsible gaming practices to avoid 
the dangers of problem gambling and we have taken 
rigorous steps at all our online sites to prevent under
age gambling
our values
at 888 we place the community and the customer at the 
centre of all our endeavours we are constantly looking at 
new and innovative ways to create a caring responsible 
gaming environment and to ensure that minors are unable 
to access our games for any customers who suspect they 
have a problem our director of responsible gaming and 
our welltrained staff provide individual assistance that is 
considerate supportive and helpful
community
community involvement
888 is committed to supporting both the various local 
communities in which it operates and also the broader 
global community our community investment program 
includes cash donations and longstanding community 
involvement in our key areas across the world
in addition 888 employees are actively involved with the 
local community in the first part of the year employees 
in the gibraltar office volunteered to raise money for the 
alzheimers foundation 
our employees in the israel office also continue with their 
longstanding relationship with the national derech haetgar 
charity which focuses on enhancing the education of 
disadvantaged teenagers the program allows volunteers 
to assist with homework and studies by combining fun and 
educational indoor and outdoor activities and workshops 
according to various public festivals
as has been the case for the past few years employees 
in israel also joined the “day of good will” national 
volunteering organization and for the third year 888 
employees dedicate this day to host sudanese kids for  
a day of fun activities
charity and our customers
the annual 888 charity weekend was hosted on 912 
december 2011 for the fifth consecutive year 888com 
donated 8 of the house profits during the entire weekend 
from across the business — casino poker bingo  sport  
the charity donations were shared between three well know 
and deserving charities breast cancer care uk bliss and 
sport relief
as well as this general promotion during the 888 charity 
weekend individual brands allowed players to contribute 
more through promotions like 888casino’s santastic video 
slot 888poker’s charity challenge and 888ladies £200 
good cause www888holdingsplccom
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
environment
as an online business 888’s activities have a relatively small 
impact on the environment but 888 continues to develop its 
commitment to environmental issues
● ● green it recycling it all 888’s redundant it equipment 
is now recycled virtualisation vdi project more than 
120 stations were transformed from a pc to the vdi 
system enabling us to use less hardware
● ● energy consumption alongside these projects we 
continuously monitor our energy consumption to help 
us ensure we are being as energy efficient as possible
● ● recycling we recycle as much as possible paper 
bottles and cans are collected from all of our sites
● ● water we use only ecological detergents in our offices 
and use water saving devices in all our locations
● ● travel to minimise the impact of travel on the 
environment we encourage employees to either cycle 
to work and in certain locations provide buses for 
commuters we also continue to invest in stateofthe
art technology to help meetings occur remotely
responsible gaming
we are constantly creating new and innovative ways to 
create a caring responsible gaming environment and to 
ensure children are unable to access our gaming sites
888 aims to provide responsible adults with the best 
online gaming entertainment experience however we 
acknowledge that gaming poses a potential danger to a 
small minority of people we continuously train our staff 
in how to provide a safe gaming experience our training 
program incorporates methods and techniques to help our 
employees to recognise and take appropriate actions if they 
identify compulsive or underage gambling
protecting customers
● ● as a responsible regulated gaming company we 
comply with both the gamcare and the ecogra 
guidelines
● ● gamcare is the leading authority on the provision of 
counselling advice and practical help in addressing the 
social impact of gambling in the uk
● ● ecogra ensures that approved online casinos are 
properly and transparently monitored to provide player 
protection
● ● our site has links to helping agencies and we have 
placed many safeguards for those who need help with 
controlling their gaming
● ● selfassessment test for gamblers who are worried 
about their gambling habits and want to know more 
about the signs of compulsive gambling
● ● controlling deposit limits should clients feel the need 
to they can control their gambling by self limiting the 
amounts they deposit per day per week or per month
● ● self exclusion a customer can request to be self 
excluded for a chosen period due to different concerns 
based on internal studies we decided to increase time 
periods available for clients to cool off clients can 
choose from six different exclusion periods from one 
day to six months during this period 888 blocks the 
account and no promotional emails are sent to the 
client
in 2011 888’s director of csr and responsible gaming 
worked with gambling therapy and gamcare aiming 
to enhance the training of our customer support 
representatives in order to help them identify potential 
compulsive players’ profiles and the most effective way  
that they can be helped before a problem arises
protecting minors
underage gambling on our sites is prohibited and 888 
takes the prevention of underage gaming extremely 
seriously
our offering is not designed to attract minors we make 
every effort to prevent minors from playing on our sites 
and use sophisticated verification systems as well as a third 
party verification supplier to identify and track minors if 
they log into our software the verification process today 
consists of two verification systems both 192com and uru
we train our staff to be highly sensitive to the possibility of 
underage gambling and make sure we suspend any account 
suspected to be an underage account 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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888responsible
since 2007 a dedicated website www888responsible
com has been available providing information regarding 
all aspects of responsible gaming the site is available in 
english french spanish and german
this year we upgraded and expanded the site so that 
the content reflects our holistic csr approach while the 
updated platform allows for greater flexibility in content 
changes as well as supporting more languages
united nations global compact ungc
during 2009 888 entered into in the united nations  
global compact
the ungc is the largest global initiative to promote the 
social responsibility of businesses it is a voluntary initiative 
which brings together thousands of businesses across 
more than 100 sectors worldwide representatives confirm 
their commitment to the ungc in order to promote ten 
universally accepted principles in the field of human rights 
workplace standards and anticorruption
we believe that the activities of 888 are in line with the 
principles of the global compact and it therefore seemed 
appropriate that we should publicly declare our support and 
ensure greater exposure to a wider public by joining the 
un global compact we are now in line with an established 
and globally recognised policy framework of environmental 
social and governance policies and practices
employee care at 888
888 values its employees’ opinions and conducts regular 
pulse checks to gain an understanding regarding employees’ 
working experiences this year we conducted an online 
staff opinion survey which included some of the following 
topics ‘me as an employee’ ‘my manager’ ‘my team’ and 
‘888 management’ the survey findings proved high levels of 
employee satisfaction and provided excellent guidelines for 
ongoing efforts
l earning and development
at 888 we invest in our employees’ professional 
development with regular and ongoing training and 
development programs this year a number of new learning 
opportunities were devised and offered to our employees 
including an internal learning program ‘up2date with  
888’ teaching about our various products and offerings  
a new training initiative for our sales team in antigua  
which included new online marketing methods as well as  
a number of leadership developmental courses including  
a new program for general managers in our israel office 
and a supervisory skills program for team leaders in our 
gibraltar office
all 888 employees receive feedback about their work 
performance during the annual talking888 process this 
year we incorporated an interactive feedback scheme which 
allowed managers to collect feedback online from different 
stakeholders across the business including employee’s 
colleagues and indirect managers a companywide grading 
scale was utilized to allocate scores and feedback sessions 
were then carried out
corporate social responsibility 
  www888holdingsplccom
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
risk report
 
the group operates in a dynamic business environment  
in addition to the daytoday commercial risks faced by 
most enterprises the online gaming industry faces particular 
challenges in respect of regulatory risk reputational risk 
information technology risk and taxation risk each of which 
is detailed below
regulatory risk
the regulatory framework of online gaming is dynamic 
and complex change in the regulatory regime in a specific 
jurisdiction could have a material adverse effect on business 
volume and financial performance in that jurisdiction  
a detailed regulatory review is set out in the regulation and 
general regulatory developments section above the group 
manages its regulatory risk by routinely consulting with legal 
advisors in the jurisdictions where its services are offered or 
are accessible where necessary obtaining formal legal opinions 
from local counsel furthermore the group obtains frequent 
and routine updates regarding changes in the law that may 
be applicable to its operations working with local counsel to 
assess the impact of any changes on its operations the group 
constantly adapts and moderates its services to comply with 
legal and regulatory requirements finally the group blocks 
players from certain ‘blocked jurisdictions’ at various stages 
and using various technological methods
reputational risk
underage and problem gaming are inherent risks 
associated with the online gaming industry the group 
devotes considerable resources to putting in place 
prevention measures coupled with strict internal procedures 
designed to prevent underaged players from accessing 
its real money sites in addition the group promotes a 
safe and responsible gaming environment to its customers 
supplemented by its corporate culture the group has a 
dedicated director of csr  responsible gaming tasked 
with the responsibility of implementing such policies 
further details about the group’s responsible gaming 
initiatives are set out in previous pages
information technology risks
as a leading online business the group’s it systems 
are critical to its operation the group is reliant on the 
performance of these systems
cuttingedge technologies and procedures are implemented 
throughout the group’s technology operations and designed 
to protect its networks from malicious attacks and other 
such risks these measures include traffic filtering anti
ddos distributed denial of service devices and antivirus 
protection from leading vendors physical and logical network 
segmentation is also used to isolate and protect the group’s 
networks and restrict malicious activities the it environment 
is audited by independent auditors such as pci dss security 
audit and ecogra audit these audits ensure proper it 
procedures and a high level of security in order to ensure 
systems are protected properly and effectively external 
security scans and assessments are carried out in a timely 
manner the group has a redundant storage solution to 
ensure storage availability and performance all critical data 
is replicated to another storage device for disaster recovery 
purposes and all data is stored offsite on a daily basis
in order to minimise dependence on telecommunication 
service providers the group invests in network infrastructure 
redundancies whilst regularly reviewing its service providers 
the group has two internet service providers in gibraltar in 
order to minimise reliance on one provider
as a part of its monitoring system the group deploys set 
user experience tests which measure performance from 
different locations around the world networkrelated 
performance issues are addressed by rerouting traffic using 
different routes or providers 888 operates a 247 network 
operations centre noc the noc’s role is to conduct 
real time monitoring of production activities using state
oftheart systems these systems are designed to identify 
and provide alerts regarding problems related to systems 
key business indicators and issues surrounding customer 
usability experience
the it environment tracks changes incidents and sla 
kpis in order to ensure that client experience is consistent 
and well managed as part of these procedures capacity 
planning takes place and infrastructure is built accordingly 
systemwide availability and businesslevel availability is 
measured and logged in the it information systems
taxation risk
the group aims to ensure that each legal entity within 
the group is a tax resident of the jurisdiction in which it 
is incorporated and has no taxable presence in any other 
jurisdiction while the group’s customers are located 
worldwide certain jurisdictions may seek to tax the 
group’s activity which could have a material adverse 
effect on the amount of tax payable by the group or on 
customers’ behaviour furthermore jurisdictions in which 
online gambling is regulated may impose gaming duties on 
licenced operators the group actively monitors taxation 
risk in the relevant jurisdictions and takes such steps as it 
considers necessary to minimize such risks 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
board of directors
 
richard kilsby
nonexecutive chairman
richard kilsby has been chairman since march 2006 
having previously been deputy chairman of the group 
from august 2005 since 2002 he has held several board 
and management positions in various private and venture 
capital funded companies in 2004 he acted as independent 
monitor for the sec and usa department of justice in 
connection with adecco from 1999 to 2002 he was chief 
executive of trade point and subsequently executive 
vicechairman of virtx plc from 1995 to 1998 he was an 
executive director of the london stock exchange prior to 
which he was a managing director for bankers trust from 
1992 to 1995 he was also vicechairman of charterhouse 
bank from 1988 to 1992 and spent the early part of his 
career with price waterhouse now pwc where he was  
a partner from 1984 to 1988 age 60
brian mattingley
chief executive officer
brian mattingley has been chief executive officer since 
march 2012 having previously been deputy chairman of the 
group and senior independent nonexecutive director since 
march 2006 he joined the board in august 2005 he was 
previously chief executive of gala regional developments 
limited until 2005 from 1997 to 2003 he was group 
finance and strategy director of gala group plc prior to 
which he was chief executive of ritz bingo limited he has 
held senior executive positions with kingfisher plc and dee 
corporation plc age 60
aviad kobrine
chief financial officer
aviad kobrine has been chief financial officer of the 
group since june 2005 and was appointed to the board in 
august 2005 from october 2004 he was a consultant to 
888 previously he was a banker with the media telecoms 
investment banking group of lehman brothers and prior  
to that he was a senior associate with slaughter and may 
he holds a masters in finance from the london business 
school distinction a ba in economics and an llb from  
tel aviv university age 48
john anderson
nonexecutive director
john anderson was the chief executive officer of the group 
from september 2000 to december 2006 he is currently 
nonexecutive chairman of burford holdings plc and was 
chief executive officer of burford holdings plc from 1996 
to 2000 he is chairman of the interactive gaming council 
chairman of 10 tech holdings limited nonexecutive 
director of swiftstake technologies limited and non
executive director of probability gibraltar limited which  
is a wholly owned subsidiary of probability plc previously 
he was a board member of ladbrokes plc from 1990 to 
1996 age 63
amos pickel
independent nonexecutive director
amos pickel was appointed in march 2006 formerly the 
chief executive officer of atlas management company 
limited and chief executive officer and member of the 
board of directors of red sea hotels ltd previously a  
nonexecutive director of gresham hotel group plc he is  
a nonpractising solicitor holding a masters in law from  
new york university and an llb from tel aviv university 
since september 2010 he has been the chairman of the 
board of directors of berggruen residential limited age 45
gigi l evy
nonexecutive director
gigi levy was chief executive officer of the group from 
january 2007 until 30 april 2011 prior to his appointment 
gigi worked for amdocs one of the world’s largest software 
providers and systems integrators in the telecoms market 
nyse dox most recently as division president managing 
amdocs’ activity in europe except eastern europe  
central and latin america before joining amdocs  
gigi held several interim management and consulting roles 
with various companies in israel and the uk gigi also 
headed giltek a telecommunication systems integrator 
and girit telecommunications an israeli information and 
communications technology systems integrator he holds 
an mba from the kellogg school of management  
at northwestern university age 40
michael constantine
independent nonexecutive director
michael constantine was appointed in august 2005 
from 1996 to 1998 he was deputy superintendent of the 
turks and caicos islands financial services commission 
and in 1995 was head of the financial supervision unit 
of the mauritius offshore business activities authority 
from 1991 to 1995 he was inspector of licencees at the 
gibraltar financial services commission latterly acting 
commissioner he is a chartered accountant and for many 
years a partner in the firm of spain brothers  company  
he served in the royal naval reserve reaching the rank  
of commander mr constantine stepped down from the 
board as of 31 december 2011 age 73 www888holdingsplccom
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
corporate governance
 
888 holdings plc is admitted to the uk official list and its 
shares are traded on the london stock exchange under 
a premium listing as such despite being incorporated in 
gibraltar the uk corporate governance code the ‘code’ 
applies to the company
statement of compliance
the board remained committed to high standards of 
corporate governance which it considers to be central to the 
effective management of the business and to maintaining 
the confidence of investors during the year the board 
considers that it and the group have complied with all 
relevant provisions of the uk corporate governance code
business model
a discussion of the basis on which the company generates 
and preserves value over the longer term together with 
its strategy for delivering its objectives is set out in the 
chairman’s statement and chief executive’s review on 
pages 2 to 7
the board
the directors consider it essential that the company should 
be both led and controlled by an effective board
composition
during 2011 the board consisted of seven directors as 
follows three independent nonexecutive directors two 
nonindependent nonexecutive directors a nonexecutive 
chairman and one executive director being the chief 
financial officer one of the former executive directors 
gigi levy stepped down from his role as chief executive 
officer as of 30 april 2011 but has remained on the board as 
a nonexecutive director from that date brian mattingley 
took on certain chairman duties brian mattingley was 
appointed fulltime chief executive officer in march 2012 
following such appointment the composition of the various 
committees on which mr mattingley was a member is under 
review in addition one of the independent nonexecutive 
directors michael constantine stepped down from the 
board as of december 31 2011 the biographical details of 
all of the directors are given on page 26 the company 
is actively seeking new nonexecutive directors with the 
experience and skillset to help the group continue its next 
phase of growth
strategic approach
the board focuses upon the group’s longterm objectives 
strategic and policy issues and formally and transparently 
considers the management of key risks facing the group 
as well as determining the nature and extent of significant 
risks it will take in achieving its strategic objectives 
maintaining sound risk management and internal control 
systems and reviewing annually the effectiveness of the 
company’s risk management and internal control systems 
the board is responsible for acquisitions and divestments 
major capital expenditure projects and considering group 
budgets and dividend policy the board also determines 
key appointments the board receives regular updates 
on shareholders’ views the board has established a 
calendar of business this covers the financial calendar 
strategic planning annual budgets and performance self
assessments as well as the conduct of standing business 
the calendar forms the basis for effective integration of 
business activities as between the board and its principal 
committees see page 29 which individually consider their 
own operating frameworks against the board’s business 
programme the board intends to establish a formal process 
for the annual evaluation of its performance its committees 
and individual directors the evaluation process is to cover 
a range of issues such as board processes board roles and 
responsibilities board agendas and committee processes 
whilst no evaluation was carried out in 2011 the board 
intends to carry out such an evaluation in 2012 the board 
plans to meet six times a year during 2011 the board 
met five times set out below are details of the directors’ 
attendance record at board and committee meetings  
in 2011 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
the chairman has responsibility for ensuring that agendas 
for board meetings are set in advance board papers are 
issued to directors sufficiently in advance of meetings to 
facilitate both informed debate and timely decisions
nonexecutive review and performance 
appraisal
the chairman holds meetings at least once per year with 
the nonexecutive directors without the executive directors 
being present led by the senior independent director the 
nonexecutive directors meet once per year without the 
chairman present in order to appraise the performance of 
the chairman the directors have wideranging business 
experience and no individual or group of individuals 
dominates the board’s decision making
the board considers that brian mattingley and amos pickel 
satisfy the independence criteria of the code in 2011 the 
board is satisfied that upon his appointment as chairman 
richard kilsby met the independence criteria of the code 
the other significant commitments of the chairman during 
2011 are detailed in his biography on page 26 it is noted that 
mr kilsby resigned as a nonexecutive director of tullett 
prebon plc in 2011 the board considers that mr kilsby’s 
other commitments do not interfere with the discharge 
of his responsibilities to the group and is satisfied that 
he makes sufficient time available to serve the company 
effectively
reserved powers and delegation
a schedule of matters reserved to the board has been 
adopted and its content is reviewed to align it with 
operational needs and the board’s preference to monitor 
and where appropriate approve matters of substance to 
the group as a whole senior executives have given written 
undertakings to ensure compliance within their business 
operations with the board’s formal schedule of matters 
reserved to it for decision or approval
division of responsibilities
the responsibilities of the chairman are clearly and formally 
defined with the chairman being responsible for the 
effective operation of the board as a whole leadership of 
the board in achieving a culture of constructive challenge 
by nonexecutives regularly agreeing and reviewing each 
director’s training and development needs and supporting 
key external relationships
other issues
all directors have access to the advice and services of the 
company secretary and the company’s nominated advisers 
who are responsible for ensuring that board procedures 
are followed directors are able to seek independent 
professional advice if required at the company’s expense 
provided that they have first notified their intention to do so
the appointment or removal of the company secretary is a 
matter for the board as a whole
the board accepts that there should be a formal rigorous 
and transparent procedure for the induction of new 
directors which has been formulated with the guidance of 
the nominations committee
the opportunity to hold office as nonexecutive directors of 
other companies enables directors of 888 to broaden their 
experience and knowledge which will benefit the company 
executive directors may be allowed to accept non
executive appointments with the board’s prior permission 
so long as these are not likely to lead to any conflict of 
corporate governance
 
t otal number of meetings held during the year ended 
december 2011 and the number of meetings 
attended by each director
board
audit 
committee
remuneration
 committee
nominations
 committee
total held in year
richard kilsby 4 na na 1
gigi levy 2 na na na
aviad kobrine 5 na na na
john anderson 4 na na na
michael constantine 5 3 3 1
brian mattingley 5 3 3 1
amos pickel 4 3 3 na
 michael constantine stepped down from the board with effect from 31 december 2011 www888holdingsplccom
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2127304  04042012 proof 17
interest executive directors may be required to account for 
fees received from such other companies
the company has arranged insurance cover in respect of 
legal actions against its directors to the extent permitted by 
gibraltar law the company also indemnifies the directors 
neither the insurance nor the indemnity provides cover 
where a director has acted fraudulently or dishonestly
reelection of directors
all directors are subject to reappointment by shareholders 
on an annual basis
a udit committee
the audit committee comprised three independent 
nonexecutive directors brian mattingley chair until 
30 april 2011 michael constantine chair from 30 april 
2011 and amos pickel the board is satisfied that both 
brian mattingley and michael constantine have sufficient 
recent and relevant financial experience to chair the audit 
committee michael constantine stepped down from the 
board as of 31 december 2011 and the audit committee 
is presently considering appointment of a new chair 
normally by invitation the chairman chief executive 
officer and chief financial officer and where appropriate 
representatives of the company’s external auditors attend 
the audit committee meetings
the audit committee’s terms of reference are available on 
request to the company secretary and are included on the 
company’s website www888holdingsplccom
in summary the audit committee assists the board in 
discharging its responsibilities with regard to financial 
reporting external and internal audits and controls including 
reviewing 888’s annual financial statements considering 
the scope of annual audit and the extent of nonaudit work 
undertaken by external auditors approving 888’s internal 
audit programme advising on the appointment of external 
auditors and reviewing the effectiveness of internal control 
systems
nominations committee
during the year the nominations committee comprised 
three independent nonexecutive directors michael 
constantine chair brian mattingley and amos pickel 
as well as richard kilsby chairman the nominations 
committee met in 2011 to discuss amongst other matters 
the departure of gigi levy from his position as chief 
executive officer of the company and the recruitment 
of a new chief executive officer of the company brian 
mattingley was appointed chief executive officer in march 
2012 michael constantine stepped down from the board 
as of 31 december 2011 and the nominations committee is 
presently considering appointment of a new chair
the nominations committee assists the board in discharging 
its responsibilities relating to the composition of the board 
the nominations committee is responsible for reviewing 
from time to time the structure of the board determining 
succession plans for the chairman and chief executive 
officer and identifying and recommending suitable 
candidates for appointment as directors the nominations 
committee’s terms of reference are available on request to 
the company secretary and are included on the company’s 
website www888holdingsplccom
remuneration committee
during the year the company’s remuneration committee 
comprised three independent nonexecutive directors brian 
mattingley chair until 30 april 2011 michael constantine and 
amos pickel chair from 30 april 2011 michael constantine 
stepped down from the board as of 31 december 2011
the board has overall responsibility for determining the 
framework of executive remuneration and its cost it is 
required to take account of any recommendation made 
by the remuneration committee in determining the 
remuneration benefits and employment packages of the 
executive directors and senior management and the fees  
of the chairman
the directors’ remuneration report which outlines the 
remuneration committee’s work and details of directors’ 
remuneration is on pages 31 to 37 the remuneration 
committee’s terms of reference are available on request to 
the company secretary and are included on the company’s 
website www888holdingsplccom
risk management and internal control
the directors acknowledge that they are responsible for the 
company’s system of internal control for setting policy on 
internal control and risk management and for reviewing the 
effectiveness of internal control and risk management it is 
management’s role to implement board policies on risk and 
control including reporting the system of internal control 
is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of 
failure to achieve business objectives and can only provide 
reasonable and not absolute assurance against material 
misstatement or loss
 
 
1807 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
30
2127304  04042012 proof 17
the board has delegated responsibility to the audit 
committee to review the appropriateness and adequacy of 
systems of internal control and risk management in relation 
to the financial reporting process on an ongoing basis and 
to make recommendations to the board the company has 
an internal auditor who reports to the audit committee 
the company’s internal auditor resigned with effect from 
14 december 2011 and the company is in the process of 
appointing a suitable replacement
888’s payment risk management team based in gibraltar 
has developed stringent payment risk management and 
fraud control procedures the team makes use of external 
and internal systems to manage the payment risks detailed 
procedures exist throughout the company’s operations and 
compliance is monitored by operational management and 
the internal auditor
the directors periodically review the effectiveness of the 
group’s systems of internal control and risk management 
the review considers individual risk control responsibilities 
reporting lines and qualitative assessments of residual risks
relations with shareholders and key financial 
a udiences
the company maintains an active and regular dialogue 
with principal and institutional shareholders and sellside 
analysts through a planned programme of investor relations 
and financial pr activity the outcome of these meetings 
is reported to the board the programme includes formal 
presentations of full year and interim results quarterly 
release of interim management statements analysts’ 
conference calls and periodic road shows
shareholders are free to contact any nonexecutive director 
to address any issues where contact with the chairman and 
chief financial officer is inappropriate or where such contact 
has failed to resolve the issue
all shareholders are welcome to attend the 2012 annual 
general meeting scheduled to be held on 16 may 2012 
and private investors are encouraged to take advantage 
of the opportunity given to ask questions the chairmen 
or nominated members of the audit remuneration and 
nominations committees will attend the meeting and be 
available to answer questions
compliance with statutory provisions
as the company is registered in gibraltar it is subject to 
compliance with gibraltar statutory requirements the main 
legislation relevant to companies in gibraltar is the gibraltar 
companies act which is based on the uk companies act 
1929 the company is in full compliance with the gibraltar 
companies act
going concern
after careful review of the group’s budget for 2012  
its mediumterm plans liquid resources and all relevant 
matters the directors are confident that the company and 
the group have adequate financial resources to continue in 
operational existence for the foreseeable future they have 
therefore continued to adopt the going concern basis in 
preparing the financial statements
the principal risks and uncertainties faced by the group  
are disclosed in the risk report above
corporate social responsibility statement
the group’s chief executive officer is the director 
responsible for monitoring corporate social responsibility 
within 888 the board receives periodic reports on the 
group’s activities in this area from the chief executive 
officer further details are set out in the corporate social 
responsibility report on pages 22 to 24
diversity policy
diversity is important to us as we believe that only through 
access to the most diverse pool of talent will we recruit and 
retain the most talented individuals to serve our customers 
presently women comprise approximately 30 of the 
group’s senior management and we actively seek to recruit 
and advance women into our top management
1807
corporate governance
  www888holdingsplccom
31
2127304  04042012 proof 17
the board has delegated responsibility to the audit 
committee to review the appropriateness and adequacy of 
systems of internal control and risk management in relation 
to the financial reporting process on an ongoing basis and 
to make recommendations to the board the company has 
an internal auditor who reports to the audit committee 
the company’s internal auditor resigned with effect from 
14 december 2011 and the company is in the process of 
appointing a suitable replacement
888’s payment risk management team based in gibraltar 
has developed stringent payment risk management and 
fraud control procedures the team makes use of external 
and internal systems to manage the payment risks detailed 
procedures exist throughout the company’s operations and 
compliance is monitored by operational management and 
the internal auditor
the directors periodically review the effectiveness of the 
group’s systems of internal control and risk management 
the review considers individual risk control responsibilities 
reporting lines and qualitative assessments of residual risks
relations with shareholders and key financial 
a udiences
the company maintains an active and regular dialogue 
with principal and institutional shareholders and sellside 
analysts through a planned programme of investor relations 
and financial pr activity the outcome of these meetings 
is reported to the board the programme includes formal 
presentations of full year and interim results quarterly 
release of interim management statements analysts’ 
conference calls and periodic road shows
shareholders are free to contact any nonexecutive director 
to address any issues where contact with the chairman and 
chief financial officer is inappropriate or where such contact 
has failed to resolve the issue
all shareholders are welcome to attend the 2012 annual 
general meeting scheduled to be held on 16 may 2012 
and private investors are encouraged to take advantage 
of the opportunity given to ask questions the chairmen 
or nominated members of the audit remuneration and 
nominations committees will attend the meeting and be 
available to answer questions
1807
directors’ remuneration report
 
in accordance with the listing rules the company presents its 
report on the remuneration of its directors for the year ended 
31 december 2011 the company is incorporated in gibraltar 
and therefore is not required to comply with the directors’ 
remuneration report requirements in schedule 8 to the uk 
large and medium sized companies and groups accounts 
and reports regulations 2008 but in order to comply with 
the listing rules has prepared this remuneration report on 
the basis of those requirements as appropriate
the report sets out the structure and details of the 
remuneration of the directors for the year ended 31 december 
2011 it also describes the board’s policy and approach to 
the principles of good governance relating to directors’ 
remuneration bdo llp and bdo limited have audited the 
sections headed ‘directors’ remuneration summary’ and 
‘directors’ interests in share awards and share options’
a resolution to approve the directors’ remuneration report 
is proposed annually to shareholders for approval  
this remuneration report will be put to shareholder vote at 
the 2012 annual general meeting
remuneration committee
during the year the remuneration committee consisted 
solely of independent nonexecutive directors brian 
mattingley chair until 30 april 2011 michael constantine 
and amos pickel chair from 30 april 2011 michael 
constantine stepped down from the board as of 
31 december 2011 details of attendances at committee 
meetings are contained in the statement on corporate 
governance on page 28 the remuneration committee has 
formal terms of reference which are available on request 
in writing to the company secretary and on the company’s 
website www888holdingsplccom
independent a dvice
the board intends that executive remuneration policies be 
both formal and transparent it further acknowledges the 
importance of taking into consideration independent advice 
in setting remuneration policies and benefit levels in 2011 
the remuneration committee took advice from compvision 
with regard to remuneration of israeli executives together 
with a remuneration survey as well as from hewitt new 
bridge street with regard to acceleration of share awards
remuneration policy
executive directors
remuneration packages must be sufficient to attract retain 
and motivate directors of the calibre appropriate to a global 
business in a competitive environment  
the remuneration committee is mindful that most of the group’s 
competitors are not uk listed companies and acknowledges 
the unique risk profile associated with online businesses of the 
nature of the group’s and takes these matters into account in 
determining appropriate remuneration levels the components of 
the remuneration structure are set out below
at least half of the total potential remuneration of the 
chief executive officer and the chief financial officer 
is represented by a variable element dependent on the 
performance of the group the remuneration committee 
considers that these represent achievable and motivational 
levels of personal rewards commensurate with stipulated 
levels of corporate performance
the remuneration committee is mandated by the board 
to satisfy itself that the level of the directors’ and senior 
management’s remuneration is appropriate having 
regard to pay and conditions throughout the sectors in 
which the group operates it will further satisfy itself that 
such remuneration aligns with the risks and rewards to 
shareholders in this context the remuneration committee 
will regularly review individual and corporate performance 
targets in the current economic climate executive 
leadership is more important than ever the remuneration 
committee will continue to use careful and rigorous 
judgement to match remuneration to achievements
the remuneration committee applies a remuneration policy 
which has at its core the following objectives
● ● to align the interests of executives with those of 
shareholders
● ● to focus on topline growth and margin improvement
● ● to link a significant proportion of remuneration to 
financial and individual performance both in the short 
term and long term
● ● to provide strong linkage between remuneration and 
performance
● ● to ensure total remuneration is marketcompetitive in 
the industry and helps attract and retain executives  
of the highest calibre
it is the company’s policy to take into account the pay 
and conditions of employees throughout the group when 
determining directors’ remuneration in this respect the 
remuneration committee takes note of both the average 
pay and conditions of employees and the range thereof and 
gives substantial weight to the maintenance of a reasonable 
proportionality between the directors’ remuneration and 
that of other employees of the group 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
32
2127304  04042012 proof 17
nonexecutive directors
the chairman and the nonexecutive directors receive fees 
only and are not eligible to participate in any bonus plan 
pension plan share plan or longterm incentive plan of the 
company the chairman and the executive directors determine 
the fees paid to the nonexecutive directors the chairman’s 
fees are determined by the remuneration committee
fees paid to the nonexecutive directors are set by 
reference to an assessment of the time commitment and 
responsibility associated with each role levels take account 
of additional demands placed upon individual nonexecutive 
directors by virtue of their holding particular offices such 
as committee chairman andor deputy chairman and 
travel time to board meetings at the group’s headquarters 
in gibraltar the fees paid to each nonexecutive director 
during 2011 are disclosed in the directors’ remuneration 
summary on page 35
resignation of gigi l evy as ceo
mr gigi levy stepped down from his role as chief executive 
officer of the company with effect from 30 april 2011  
in connection with the termination of his employment the 
company agreed to make payments to mr levy totalling 
2981400 comprising 2368000 in lieu of salary and 
contractual benefits during mr levy’s notice period 113400 
in lieu of pension contributions during his notice period and 
an ex gratia payment of 500000 of this amount mr levy 
has to date received 1981400 a further 1000000 will 
be paid on 22 may 2012 provided that mr levy remains a 
member of the company’s board of directors on that date
the company also agreed to make a conditional payment 
of 80000 to mr levy on 22 may 2012 representing the 
amount of salary which mr levy waived in respect of his 
salary for 2010 the company agreed to continue to provide 
health insurance and life assurance cover to mr levy until 
30 april 2012 and allowed mr levy to retain his company 
car until 30 april 2012 with the company bearing the 
costs of insuring repairing and maintaining the car and in 
addition agreed to redeem mr levy’s accrued but untaken 
leave days by way of a payment made on 11 april 2011 in the 
amount of 45000 in connection with mr levy’s unvested 
awards under the 888 allemployee plan the remuneration 
committee exercised its discretion to treat mr levy as 
a good leaver such that his awards over 167352 shares 
granted on 8 april 2008 and over 10500 shares granted on 
14 january 2009 vested on 30 april 2011 the remuneration 
committee also agreed that the award over 167351 shares 
made on 8 april 2008 should vest in accordance with the 
terms of mr levy’s service agreement
following the termination of his employment mr levy 
continued to provide services to the company pursuant  
to an agreement with effect from 1 may 2011 in return for  
a monthly fee of 50000 this arrangement terminated  
on 31 october 2011
mr levy agreed to remain as a nonexecutive director of 
the company after the termination of his employment his 
services as a nonexecutive director are made in return for 
an annual fee of £66000 this arrangement took effect on 
and from 1 may 2011 and will continue for a period of three 
years provided that mr levy is reelected at each annual 
general meeting mr levy is not eligible to receive a bonus or 
to participate in the company’s share incentive arrangements 
in connection with his role as a nonexecutive director
special indemnity for certain directors and 
key personnel
in connection with the group undergoing various 
compliance and licencing procedures relating to its 
contemplated business in the united states it has 
requested and may in future request that each of brian 
mattingley aviad kobrine and itai frieberger and each 
of their spouses provide various personal information 
documentation consents indemnities and waivers to 
various united states federal or state regulatory authorities
 
in this respect the company has executed on 23 march 
2012 in favour of each such disclosing party an undertaking 
pursuant to which such parties shall be indemnified 
including advancement of expenses in the event of any 
civil criminal administrative or investigative proceeding 
arising from the aforementioned disclosures and related 
documentation provided the disclosing party acted in 
good faith in a manner reasonably believed to be in or not 
opposed to the best interests of the company and had 
no reasonable cause to believe the indemnitee’s conduct 
was unlawful the undertaking is limited such that in no 
event shall the company be liable to any disclosing party 
taken together with such person’s spouse in an aggregate 
amount exceeding us528000
remuneration structure
base salary and benefits
the executive directors’ base salaries are subject to annual 
review gigi levy’s salary until his departure from office as 
ceo in april 2011 was maintained at us756000 and aviad 
kobrine’s salary was increased with inflation from april 2011 
to gbp315000 benefits provided to aviad kobrine include 
a car allowance and health disability and life insurance
  part of which is paid by the company and part by cassava 
enterprises gibraltar limited
directors’ remuneration report
  www888holdingsplccom
33
2127304  04042012 proof 17
annual cash bonus
aviad kobrine is entitled to an annual cash bonus of up  
to 120 of annualised salary subject to the achievement  
of predetermined targets the remuneration committee  
sets bonus targets and levels of eligibility each year  
for the 2011 financial year the performance target was 20 
growth in revenue compared to 2010 and provided that 
the ebitda margin for 2010 was maintained the payout 
levels were set at 50 of base salary for 80 performance 
increasing on a linear basis up to 100 where targets were 
fully satisfied in the event that revenue growth exceeded 
20 the percentage bonus entitlement increased by 4 
for every 1 additional revenue growth up to a maximum 
bonus entitlement of 120 the predetermined targets 
were achieved and aviad kobrine was entitled to his full 
annual cash bonus having considered the extraordinary 
achievements of the group in 2011 the remuneration 
committee considered that it was appropriate to make 
an additional bonus payment such that the total bonus 
payment payable will be 170 of annualised salary 30 of 
the bonus payment will be deferred and payable in january 
2013 should mr kobrine still be employed by the company 
and not in a notice period on 1 january 2013
pensions
aviad kobrine is entitled to a cash payment in lieu of an 
annual contribution to his personal pension scheme of 15 
of his base salary
l ongterm incentives
the company has two employee share incentive plans i 
the 888 allemployee share plan and ii the 888 long
term incentive plan the company currently only grants 
awards under the 888 allemployee share plan
performancedependent options and awards were granted 
under the 888 allemployee share plan to the executive 
directors on 8 april 2008 and 24 may 2011 in addition on 14 
january 2009 an award was made to the executive directors in 
lieu of their waiver of a part of their annual cash bonus details 
of these awards and options are set out on pages 35 to 36 
other than the award in lieu of cash bonus no equity awards 
have been made to executive directors since april 2008
888 allemployee share plan
all employees exclusive consultants and executive directors 
of the group who are not within six months of their normal 
retirement age are eligible to participate in the 888 all
employee share plan at the discretion of the remuneration 
committee
awards under the 888 allemployee share plan can either 
be granted for no consideration or with a nil exercise price 
for options or at an exercise price that will normally be 
no less than the market value of an ordinary share at the 
time of grant or average share price during a period as 
determined by the remuneration committee at time of 
grant in countries where an award or option involving real 
shares is not appropriate or feasible for legal regulatory or 
tax reasons a phantom award may be used
the maximum number of ordinary shares that an eligible 
employee may acquire pursuant to share awards or options 
granted to such person in any calendar year under the 888 
allemployee share plan and the 888 longterm incentive 
plan may not have an aggregate market value as measured 
at the date of grant exceeding 200 of such person’s 
annual base salary or such higher limit as the remuneration 
committee may determine is appropriate in any individual 
case awards vest over a fixed period of up to four years 
the remuneration committee may determine that the 
vesting and release or exercise of share awards and options 
under the 888 allemployee share plan are subject to 
performance conditions imposed at the time of grant
888 l ongterm incentive plan
all employees and executive directors of the group who 
are not within six months of their normal retirement age are 
eligible to participate in the 888 longterm incentive plan 
at the discretion of the remuneration committee as at the 
date of this report no awards have been granted pursuant 
to the 888 longterm incentive plan as set out above the 
company has given longterm incentive awards to executive 
directors under the 888 allemployee share plan
scheme limits
awards and options granted under the 888 allemployee 
share plan and the 888 longterm incentive plan may be 
satisfied through the issue of new shares it is intended that 
grants of options and awards are to be planned so as not 
to exceed 5 of the issued ordinary share capital in any 
rolling ten year period for the 888 longterm incentive plan 
and 10 of the issued ordinary share capital in any rolling 
ten year period for the 888 allemployee share plan and 
the 888 longterm incentive plan in the aggregate the 
committee intends to have regard to appropriate annual 
flowrates so as to ensure that these limits are not breached
 excluding share benefit charges goodwill write off and restructuring costs 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
34
2127304  04042012 proof 17
employee trusts
the company established two trusts to further the 
interests of the company its subsidiaries and shareholders 
by providing share incentives to employees including 
executive directors of any group company to enable the 
group to attract retain and motivate employees
the 888 ipo share award trust and the 888 holdings plc 
share plan trust were created pursuant to trust deeds dated 
14 september 2005 the 888 ipo share award trust was 
terminated on 17 august 2010 the 888 holdings plc share 
plan trust currently holds 46432 ordinary shares in the 
company
director appointments — service contracts 
and directors’ fees
executive directors
it is the company’s policy that each executive director’s 
service agreement is terminable on no more than 12 months’ 
written notice by either party each executive director’s 
employment can be terminated by making a payment equal 
to the salary and pension contributions and the value of 
other contractual benefits due to the executive director in 
lieu of any unexpired notice period the executive directors 
continue to be entitled to be paid a bonus during any 
unexpired part of the notice period even if the employment 
is terminated by making payment in lieu of notice a share 
award granted under the 888 allemployee share plan 
to aviad kobrine pursuant to his service agreement on 15 
january 2008 continues to vest during any unexpired part 
of the notice period and he shall be treated as a ‘good leaver’ 
under the terms of the 888 allemployee share plan where 
his employment has been terminated by making a payment 
in lieu of notice furthermore certain share awards granted 
under the 888 allemployee share plan to aviad kobrine on 
24 may 2011 are subject to accelerated vesting in the event his 
employment with the group is terminated other than for cause 
prior to 24 may 2012 no other benefits upon termination of 
employment are payable an executive director’s entitlement 
to share awards and share options under the 888 allemployee 
plan on termination of employment will be governed by the 
terms of that plan and in the case of the initial awards made 
to aviad kobrine by the relevant provisions of his service 
agreement as set out above
name position contracting party service contract date
gigi levy
1
chief executive officer the company 1862006
aviad kobrine chief financial officer the company 1492005
aviad kobrine chief financial officer
cassava enterprises
gibraltar limited
2
1492005
1 mr levy resigned as chief executive officer of the company as of 30 april 2011 and since such date has served as a nonexecutive director
2 wholly owned subsidiary of the company 
chairman and nonexecutive directors
the chairman and the nonexecutive directors do not have service contracts but have signed letters of appointment
nonexecutive directors’ appointments which are for a term of three years may be terminated by the company without 
notice in accordance with the company’s articles of association and the gibraltar companies act except for the chairman 
who is required to be given six months’ prior written notice of termination no compensation is payable on the termination  
of the appointment
as set out above gigi levy has served as a nonexecutive director since 1 may 2011 following the termination of his 
employment as chief executive officer of the company
name position contracting party letter of appointment date
richard kilsby chairman the company 1432009
brian mattingley
1
chief executive officer the company 1432009
john anderson nonexecutive director the company 1432009
michael constantine
2
nonexecutive director the company 1432009
amos pickel nonexecutive director the company 1432009
gigi levy
3
nonexecutive director the company 152011
1 mr mattingley became chief executive officer on 27 march 2012
2 mr constantine stepped down from the board as of 31 december 2011
3 mr levy resigned as chief executive officer of the company as of 30 april 2011 and since such date has served as a nonexecutive director
directors’ remuneration report
  www888holdingsplccom
35
2127304  04042012 proof 17
directors’ remuneration summary
the cash emoluments or fees receivable by the directors for 2011 are shown below
base salary
fees
us000
1
bonus
us000
1
benefits
us000
1
pensions
allowance
us000
3
compensation
 for loss of 
                 office
us’000
total
2011
us000
t otal
2010
us000
executive
gigi levy
4
597 46 34 3106 3783 958
aviad kobrine
2
474 833 41 71 1419 510
nonexecutive
richard kilsby 353 17 370 357
brian mattingley 286 482 768 136
michael constantine
5
106 106 102
john anderson 124 124 119
amos pickel 106 106 102
total 2046 1315 104 105 3106 6676 2284
1  where directors’ remuneration is denominated in sterling amounts have been converted into us at the average rate of exchange for the 
relevant month
2  part of mr kobrine’s remuneration is paid by one of his employers cassava enterprises gibraltar limited a wholly owned subsidiary of the 
company
3 in 2010 pension allowance amounted to us103000 for gigi levy and us62000 for aviad kobrine
4  mr levy resigned as chief executive officer of the company as of 30 april 2011 and since such date has served as a nonexecutive director 
the figure for base salaryfees includes us226800 in respect of his salary to 30 april 2011 us70452 in respect of his fees as a non
executive director and us300000 in respect of fees for services provided between 1 may 2011 and 31 october 2011
5 mr constantine stepped down from the board as of 31 december 2011
directors’ interests in ordinary shares
the notified interests of executive and nonexecutive directors in the issued share capital of the company are
ordinary shares
31 december
2011
31 december
2010
executive
gigi levy
1
2663548 2318345
aviad kobrine 443183 443183
nonexecutive
richard kilsby 114285 114285
brian mattingley
2
142857 142857
michael constantine
3
22857 22857
john anderson 588869 588869
amos pickel 100000 —
1 mr levy resigned as chief executive officer of the company as of 30 april 2011 and since such date has served as a nonexecutive director
2 mr mattingley became chief executive officer on 27 march 2012
3 mr constantine stepped down from the board as of 31 december 2011
unless otherwise stated all interests were held beneficially
 1807 1807 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
36
2127304  04042012 proof 17
directors’ interests in share a wards and share options
the number of shares subject to share awards or share options granted to the executive directors and outstanding as at 
31 december 2011 is set out below
date
of award
earliest
exercise
vesting
date
exercise
period
end date
exercise
price
awards
at
31 dec
2010
awarded
2011
vested
in 2011
market
price at
vesting
date
lapsed
in 2011
awards
at
31 dec
 2011
gigi levy
1
842008 842011 na nil 167351 167351 046p
888 allemployee 
share plan
2456
842008 3042011 na nil 167352 167351 038p
888 allemployee 
share plan
26
14012009 30042011 na nil 10500 10500 038p —
aviad kobrine 15012008 15012011 15012018 nil 42500 42500 055p
888 allemployee 15012008 15012012 15012018 nil 42500 42500
share plan
3
15012008 15012011 15012018 nil 7500 7500 055p
15012008 15012012 15012018 nil 7500 7500
888 allemployee
share plan
3
14012009 13012012 14012019 nil 7126 7126
888 all employee 24052011 24052012 24052021 nil 235075 235075
share plan
3
24052011 24052012 24052021 nil 423134 423134
24052011 24052013 24052021 nil 235075 235075
24052011 24052013 24052021 nil 23507 23507
24052011 24052014 24052021 nil 235074 235074
24052011 24052014 24052021 nil 23508 235508
24052011 24052015 24052021 nil 235075 235075
888 allemployee 
share plan
345
24052011 24052014 24052021 nil 1175373 1175373
all awards were made through the 888 allemployee share plan during the year
1  date of appointment being 18 june 2006 for gigi levy mr levy resigned as ceo of the company as of 30 april 2011 and since such date has 
served as a nonexecutive director
2 awarded as a share award
3 awarded as a nil cost option
4 vesting subject to performance conditions as described on pages 33 and 34
5 the performance conditions were partly or not met with respect to the portion of the award capable of vesting in 2011
6  in connection with mr levy’s unvested awards under the 888 allemployee plan the remuneration committee exercised its discretion to treat 
mr levy as a good leaver such that his awards over 167352 shares granted on 8 april 2008 and over 10500 shares granted on january 2009 
vested on 30 april 2011 the remuneration committee also agreed that the award over 167351 shares made on 8 april 2008 should vest in 
accordance with the terms of mr levy’s service agreement
the closing price of one ordinary share was 43p at 31 december 2011 the highest closing price during 2011 was 6325p  
and the lowest was 285p
no director was materially interested during the year in any contract which was significant in relation to the business  
of the company
the parts of the directors’ remuneration report from directors’ remuneration summary to this point have been  
audited in accordance with schedule 8 to the large and mediumsized companies and groups accounts and reports 
regulations 2008
directors’ remuneration report
  www888holdingsplccom
37
2127304  04042012 proof 17
total shareholder return
the chart below shows the value of an investment of £100 sterling in the company’s shares and in the ftse 250 index over a 
five year period ended 31 december 2011 the directors have chosen the ftse 250 index as the most appropriate comparator 
index the company has been a member of this index at various times over the past six years
value of £100 sterling in 888 o ver five year period ended 31 december 2011 v  ftse 250 index
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
122007
422007
722007
1022007
122008
422008
722008
1022008
122009
422009
722009
1022009
122010
422010
722010
1022010
122011
422011
722011
1022011
 
888 ftse all share
approval
this report was approved by the board and signed on its behalf by
amos pickel
chairman of the remuneration committee 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
38
2127304  04042012 proof 17
directors’ report
 
the directors submit to the members their annual report 
and accounts of the group for the year ended 31 december 
2011 the report on corporate governance and the directors’ 
remuneration report on pages 27 and 31 respectively form 
part of this directors’ report
principal a ctivities
during 2011 the group’s principal activities were the 
provision of online gaming entertainment to customers and 
business partners a review of the business is given in the 
chairman’s statement on pages 2 to 3 the chief executive’s 
review on pages 4 to 7 and the enhanced business review 
on pages 8 to 21
the principal subsidiary undertakings are listed on page 73
results
the group’s profit before tax for the financial year 
excluding impairment charges of us 207 million release 
of contingent consideration of us42 million share benefit 
charges of us24 million and restructuring costs of us49 
million of us296 million is reported in the consolidated 
income statement on page 43 the directors do not 
recommend a dividend in respect of the financial year
directors and their interests
biographical details of the current board of directors are 
shown on page 26 the directors who served during the 
year are shown below all directors retire at each annual 
general meeting and being eligible offer themselves for re
election on an annual basis
richard kilsby first appointed 30 august 2005
gigi levy first appointed 18 june 2006
aviad kobrine first appointed 30 august 2005
brian mattingley first appointed 30 august 2005
john anderson first appointed 30 august 2005
michael constantine first appointed 30 august 2005 
retired from the board as of december 31 2011
amos pickel first appointed 14 march 2006
the beneficial and nonbeneficial interests of the directors 
in shares of the company are set out in the directors’ 
remuneration report on pages 31 to 37
except as noted above none of the directors had any 
interests in the shares of the company or in any material 
contract or arrangement with the company or any of its 
subsidiaries
share capital
changes in the company’s share capital during the financial 
year are given in the consolidated statement of changes in 
equity as at 31 december 2011 the company’s issued share 
capital comprised 347687468 ordinary shares of 0005p 
each
rights a ttaching to ordinary shares
the rights and obligations attaching to ordinary shares are 
set out in the company’s articles of association holders of 
ordinary shares are entitled to attend and speak at general 
meetings of the company to appoint one or more proxies 
and to exercise voting rights holders of ordinary shares 
may receive a dividend and on liquidation may share in 
the assets of the company holders of ordinary shares are 
entitled to receive the company’s annual report subject 
to meeting certain thresholds holders of ordinary shares 
may requisition a general meeting of the company or the 
proposal of resolutions at general meetings
deadlines for exercising voting rights
electronic and paper proxy appointment and voting 
instructions must be received by the company’s registrars 
not later than 48 hours before a general meeting
restrictions on transfer of shares and 
limitations on holdings
there are no restrictions on transfer or limitations on the 
holding of ordinary shares other than under restrictions 
imposed by law or regulation for example insider trading 
laws or pursuant to the company’s share dealing code
substantial shareholdings
as at 31 december 2011 the company had been notified of 
the following interests in 3 or more of its share capital
principal shareholder trust
number
of shares
 issued
 share capital
e shaked shares trust 86283534 2482
o shaked shares trust 86283534 2482
benyitzhak family shares trust 37122358 1068 www888holdingsplccom
39
2127304  04042012 proof 17
shareholder a greements and consent 
requirements
there are no known arrangements under which financial rights 
are held by a person other than the holder of the shares
a relationship agreement governing the relationship 
between the above principal shareholder trusts and 
the company was entered into in connection with 
the company’s flotation the relationship agreement 
provides that all transactions between the group and the 
principal shareholder trusts will be on a normal business 
basis that the group will be allowed to carry on business 
independently of them and that the principal shareholder 
trusts will not cause the company to contravene the 
combined code unless required by law or as contemplated 
in the relationship agreement it further provides that 
each of the principal shareholder trusts will not solicit 
group employees without consent that only independent 
directors can vote on proposals to amend the relationship 
agreement that the principal shareholder trusts will consult 
the group prior to disposing of a significant number of 
shares in order to maintain an orderly market and shall 
not disclose confidential information unless required to 
do so by law or relevant regulation or having first received 
the company’s consent the relationship agreement also 
includes restrictions on the principal shareholder trusts 
power to appoint directors and includes obligations on the 
trusts to ensure that the majority of the board excluding the 
chairman is independent the principal shareholder trusts 
can nominate a nonexecutive director for appointment 
to the board in the event that this right is exercised 
and it results in fewer than half the board excluding the 
chairman of the board being independent directors 
such appointment shall only become effective upon the 
appointment to the board of an additional independent 
director acceptable to the nominations committee 
such restrictions and obligations apply in respect of the 
e shaked shares trust and o shaked shares trust whilst 
they collectively hold not less than 75 of the issued share 
capital of 888 and in respect of the benyitzhak family 
shares trust whilst it individually holds not less than 75  
of the issued share capital of 888
change of control
other than the group’s gaming licences where change of 
control is subject to prior consent and the wink earn out 
amendment announced in march 2011 there are no material 
contracts to which the group is a party which would allow 
the counterparty to terminate or alter those contractual 
arrangements in the event of a change of control of the group
charitable contributions
contributions for charitable purposes were made during  
the year amounting to us198726 2010 us223075
directors’ responsibility statement
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting 
records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any 
time the financial position of the company for safeguarding 
the assets for taking reasonable steps for the prevention 
and detection of fraud and other irregularities and for the 
preparation of a directors’ report which complies with the 
gibraltar companies accounts act 1999 the gibraltar 
companies consolidated accounts act 1999 and the 
gibraltar companies act
financial statements are published on the group’s website 
in accordance with legislation in the uk governing the 
preparation and dissemination of financial statements  
which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions  
the maintenance and integrity of the group’s website is the 
responsibility of the directors the directors’ responsibility 
also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial 
statements contained therein
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual 
report and the financial statements the directors are 
required to prepare financial statements for the group 
in accordance with international financial reporting 
standards ifrss and have also chosen to prepare financial 
statements for the company in accordance with ifrss
corporate governance
the corporate governance statement is on pages 27 to 30 
and is incorporated in this directors’ report by reference 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
40
2127304  04042012 proof 17
group and parent company financial 
statements
company law requires the directors to prepare financial 
statements in accordance with the gibraltar companies 
accounts act 1999 the gibraltar companies consolidated 
accounts act 1999 and the gibraltar companies act
international accounting standard 1 requires that financial 
statements present fairly for each financial year the group 
and company’s financial position financial performance 
and cash flows this requires the faithful representation of 
the effects of transactions other events and conditions in 
accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria 
for assets liabilities income and expenses set out in the 
international accounting standards board’s ‘framework for 
the preparation and presentation of financial statements’ 
in virtually all circumstances a fair presentation will be 
achieved by compliance with all applicable ifrss a fair 
presentation also requires the directors to
● ● consistently select and apply appropriate accounting 
policies
● ● present information including accounting policies  
in a manner that provides relevant reliable comparable 
and understandable information and
● ● provide additional disclosures when compliance with 
the specific requirements in ifrss is insufficient to  
enable members to understand the impact of particular 
transactions other events and conditions on the  
entity’s financial position and financial performance
we confirm to the best of our knowledge
a the financial statements prepared in accordance 
with international financial reporting standards as 
adopted by the eu give a true and fair view of the 
assets liabilities financial position and profit or loss 
of the group and the undertakings included in the 
consolidation taken as a whole and
b the enhanced business review includes a fair review of 
the development and performance of the business and 
the position of the group and the undertakings included 
in the consolidation taken as a whole together with a 
description of the principal risks and uncertainties that 
they face
a uditors
a resolution for the reappointment of bdo llp and bdo 
limited as auditors of the company will be proposed at the 
2012 annual general meeting
during the year ended 31 december 2011 bdo llp were 
appointed auditors for the purposes of the company 
preparing financial statements as required pursuant to 
the listing rules of the uk listing authority bdo limited 
have been appointed to act as auditors for the purposes 
of issuing an audit report pursuant to section 10 of the 
gibraltar companies accounts act 1999 to be filed with 
the gibraltar companies registry on behalf of the board
brian mattingley
chief executive officer
27 march 2012
directors’ report
  www888holdingsplccom
41
2127304  04042012 proof 17
independent a uditors’ report to the members of 
888 holdings plc 
we have audited the financial statements of 888 holdings 
plc for the year ended 31 december 2011 which comprise 
the consolidated income statement the consolidated 
and company balance sheets the consolidated and 
company statements of changes in equity the consolidated 
statement of comprehensive income the consolidated and 
company statements of cash flows and the related notes 
the financial reporting framework that has been applied 
in their preparation is applicable law and international 
financial reporting standards ifrss as adopted by the 
european union
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a 
body in accordance with our engagement letter our audit 
work has been undertaken so that we might state to the 
company’s members those matters we are required to state 
to them in an auditors report and for no other purpose 
to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or 
assume responsibility to anyone other than the company 
and the company’s members as a body for our audit work 
for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and 
auditors
as explained more fully in the statement of directors’ 
responsibilities the directors are responsible for 
the preparation of the financial statements and for 
being satisfied that they give a true and fair view our 
responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the 
financial statements in accordance with applicable law and 
international standards on auditing uk and ireland those 
standards require us to comply with the auditing practices 
board’s apbs ethical standards for auditors 
888 holdings plc has complied with the requirements of 
rules 986 and 988 of the listing rules of the uk financial 
services authority and in accordance with section 421 of 
the uk companies act 2006 in preparing its annual report 
as if it was incorporated in the united kingdom as auditors 
we have agreed that our responsibilities in relation to the 
annual report will be those as set out below
we report to you our opinion as to whether the financial 
statements give a true and fair view and whether the 
financial statements have been properly prepared in 
accordance with the gibraltar companies consolidated 
accounts act 1999 the gibraltar companies accounts 
act 1999 and the gibraltar companies act 1930 as 
amended and the part of the remuneration report to be 
audited has been properly prepared in accordance with 
section 421 of the uk companies act 2006 we also report 
to you whether in our opinion the information disclosed 
in the directors’ report is consistent with the financial 
statements if the company has not kept proper accounting 
records if we have not received all the information and 
explanations we require for our audit or if information 
specified by the listing rules and gibraltar legislation 
regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is 
not disclosed
scope of the audit of the financial statements
a description of the scope of an audit of financial 
statements is provided on the apb’s website at wwwfrcorg
ukapbscopeprivatecfm 
opinion on financial statements
in our opinion 
● ● the financial statements give a true and fair view of the 
state of the group’s and the company’s affairs as 
31 december 2011 and of the group’s profit for the year 
then ended
● ● the group and parent company financial statements 
have been properly prepared in accordance with ifrss 
as adopted by the european union
● ● the financial statements have been properly prepared in 
accordance with the gibraltar companies consolidated 
accounts act 1999 the gibraltar companies 
accounts act 1999 and the gibraltar companies act 
1930 as amended
● ● the part of the directors’ remuneration report to be 
audited has been properly prepared in accordance with 
section 421 of the companies act 2006 42
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
opinion on other matters prescribed by legal 
and regulatory requirements
in our opinion information given in the directors’ report 
for the financial year ended 31 december 2011 for which 
the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the 
financial statements
matters on which we are required to report by 
exception
we have nothing to report in respect of the following
under gibraltar legal and regulatory requirements we are 
required to report to you if in our opinion
● ● the company has not kept proper accounting records 
if we have not received all the information and 
explanations we require for our audit or if information 
specified by law regarding directors’ remuneration and 
other transactions is not disclosed
under the listing rules we are required to review
● ● the directors’ statement in relation to going concern 
● ● the part of the corporate governance statement 
relating to the company’s compliance with the nine 
provisions of the uk corporate governance code 
specified for our review and
● ● certain elements of the report to shareholders by the 
board of directors’ remuneration 
bdo llp
chartered accountants
55 baker street
london
w1u 7eu
27 march 2012
desiree mchard statutory auditor
for and on behalf of 
bdo limited
registered auditors
po box 1200
regal house
queensway
gibraltar
27 march 2012
bdo llp is a limited liability partnership registered in 
england and wales with registered number oc305127
bdo limited a gibraltar limited company is registered in 
gibraltar with company number 52200
independent a uditors’ report to the members of 
888 holdings plc  www888holdingsplccom
43
2127304  04042012 proof 17
consolidated income statement
for the year ended 31 december 2011
note
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
revenue 3 331150 262113
operating expenses 122634 110696
gaming taxes and duties 7319 1449
research and development expenses 29908 22356
selling and marketing expenses 102262 91501
administrative expenses including goodwill impairment of 207 million 2010 nil 4 54441 24301
operating profit before impairment charges restructuring costs and share benefit charges 42582 16338
impairment charges 20673 —
restructuring costs 4949 2219
share benefit charges 2374 2309
operating profit 5 14586 11810
finance income 233 197
finance expenses 7 13281 1462
release of contingent consideration 21 4225 —
share of posttax profit of equity accounted joint ventures 14 84 19
profit before tax before impairment charges release of contingent consideration 
restructuring costs and share benefit charges 29618 15092
impairment charges 12 20673 —
release of contingent consideration 12 4225 —
restructuring costs 4949 2219
share benefit charges 24 2374 2309
profit before tax 5847 10564
taxation 8 3912 2701
profit after tax for the year attributable to equity holders of the parent 1935 7863
note
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
earnings per share
basic 9 06¢ 23¢
diluted 06¢ 23¢
the notes on pages 48 to 81 form part of these financial statements 44
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
consolidated statement of comprehensive income 
for the year ended 31 december 2011
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
profit for the year 1935 7863
actuarial losses on defined benefit pension plan 443 366
total comprehensive income for the year attributable to equity holders of the parent 1492 7497
the notes on pages 48 to 81 form part of these financial statements www888holdingsplccom
45
2127304  04042012 proof 17
consolidated balance sheet
at 31 december 2011
note
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
assets
noncurrent assets
intangible assets 12 141900 162291
property plant and equipment 13 17059 21547
investment in equity accounted joint venture 14 1243 1297
available for sale investment 15 175 175
deferred taxes 16 435 586
160812 185896
current assets
cash and cash equivalents 17 81852 61520
trade and other receivables 18 26468 24344
108320 85864
total assets 269132 271760
equity and liabilities
equity attributable to equity holders of the parent
share capital 19 3163 3145
share premium 65 65
capital redemption reserve 24 24
retained earnings 118067 113716
total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 121319 116950
liabilities
current liabilities
trade and other payables 20 65462 37814
customer deposits 22 44954 34725
contingent and deferred consideration 21 37397 78033
147813 150572
noncurrent liabilities
contingent and deferred consideration 21 — 4238
total liabilities 147813 154810
total equity and liabilities 269132 271760
the financial statements on pages 43 to 47 were approved and authorized for issue by the board of directors on 27 march 
2012 and were signed on its behalf by
brian mattingley
chief executive officer
aviad kobrine
chief financial officer
the notes on pages 48 to 81 form part of these financial statements 46
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
consolidated statement of changes in equity
 for the year ended 31 december 2011
share
capital
us’000
share
premium
us’000
capital
redemption
reserve
us’000
retained
earnings
us’000
total
us’000
balance at 1 january 2010 3152 65 — 117883 121100
dividend paid — — — 10491 10491
share buyback 24 — 24 3465 3465
share benefit charges — — — 2309 2309
issue of shares 17 — — 17 —
total comprehensive income for the year — — — 7497 7497
balance at 1 january 2011 3145 65 24 113716 116950
share benefit charges — — — 2374 2374
share benefit charges included within restructuring 
costs — — — 503 503
issue of shares 18 — — 18 —
total comprehensive income for the year — — — 1492 1492
balance at 31 december 2011 3163 65 24 118067 121319
the following describes the nature and purpose of each reserve within equity 
share capital — represents the nominal value of shares allotted calledup and fully paid for 
share premium — represents the amount subscribed for share capital in excess of nominal value 
capital redemption reserve — represents amounts transferred from the share capital reserve following the buyback  
and cancellation of equity shares
retained earnings — represents the cumulative net gains and losses recognized in the consolidated statement  
of comprehensive income 
the notes on pages 48 to 81 form part of these financial statements www888holdingsplccom
47
2127304  04042012 proof 17
consolidated statement of cash flows
 for the year ended 31 december 2011
year ended 31 december year ended 31 december
2011
us’000
2011
us’000
2010
us’000
2010
us’000
cash flows from operating activities
profit before income tax 5847 — 10564 —
adjustments for
impairment charges 20673 — — —
depreciation 9039 — 8480 —
amortization 3998 — 3796 —
interest received 221 — 197 —
interest expense 7411 — 481 —
foreign exchange differences on deferred consideration 1739 — 660 —
share of posttax profit of equity accounted joint venture 84 — 19 —
release of contingent consideration 4225 — —
share benefit charges 2877 — 2309 —
47054 — 26074 —
increase decrease in trade receivables 4865 1050 —
decrease increase in other accounts receivables 2741 3393 —
decrease increase in trade payables 23128 1060 —
increase decrease in customer deposits 10229 2845 —
increase in other accounts payables 4794 48 —
cash generated from operations 83081 19874
income tax paid 4341 3659 —
net cash generated from operating activities 78740 16215
cash flows from investing activities
acquisition of assets comprising the mytopia social games 
development studio see note 21 6000 12320 —
consideration paid for the online wink bingo business see note 21 40080 — —
purchase of property plant and equipment 4575 8610 —
investment in equity accounted joint ventures — 1131 —
availableforsale investments — 175 —
interest received 221 197 —
acquisition of intangible assets 201 341 —
internally generated intangible assets 4079 5870 —
net cash used in investing activities 54714 28250
cash flows from financing activities
interest paid 3694 — —
share buy back — 3465 —
dividends paid — 10491 —
net cash used in financing activities 3694 13956
net increase decrease in cash and cash equivalents 20332 25991
cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 61520 87511
cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 81852 61520
the notes on pages 48 to 81 form part of these financial statements 48
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
notes to the consolidated financial statements
1 general information
company description and activities 
888 holdings public limited company the ‘company’ and its subsidiaries together the ‘group’ was founded in 1997 
and originally operated as a holding company domiciled in the british virgin islands on 12 january 2000 the company 
was continued in antigua and barbuda as a corporation under the international business corporation act 1982 with 
registered number 12512 on 17 december 2003 the company redomiciled in gibraltar with the company number 90099 
on 4 october 2005 the company listed on the london stock exchange 
the group is the owner of innovative proprietary software solutions providing a range of virtual online gaming services 
over the internet including casino poker bingo sport and games to end users and also provides these services through 
its business to business independent unit dragonfish to business partners in addition the group provides payment 
services customer support and online advertising 
definitions 
in these financial statements 
the company 888 holdings public limited company
the group 888 holdings public limited company and its subsidiaries
subsidiaries companies over which the company has control as defined in international accounting standard 27 
‘consolidated and separate financial statements’ and whose accounts are consolidated with those of 
the company
related parties as defined in international accounting standard 24 — ‘related party disclosures’
2 significant accounting policies
the significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows 
basis of preparation 
the consolidated financial statements of the group have been prepared in accordance with international financial 
reporting standards including international accounting standards ‘ias’ and interpretations adopted by the 
international accounting standards board ‘iasb’ and endorsed for use by companies listed on an eu regulated market 
the significant accounting policies applied in the financial statements of the group in the prior years are applied 
consistently in these financial statements 
the financial statements are presented in thousands of us dollars us’000 because that is the currency the group 
primarily operates in 
the financial statements continue to be prepared on a going concern basis as explained in the corporate governance 
report on page 30
the consolidated financial statements comply with the gibraltar companies consolidated accounts act 1999 the 
gibraltar companies accounts act 1999 and the gibraltar companies act 1930 as amended 
the following standards and interpretations issued by the iasb or the international financial reporting interpretations 
committee ifric are effective from 1 january 2011 current financial year and have been adopted by the group with  
no significant impact on its consolidated results or financial position  www888holdingsplccom
49
2127304  04042012 proof 17
2 significant accounting policies continued
revised ias 24 — related party disclosures effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2011 
amendments to ifric 14 ias 19 — limit on a defined benefit asset minimum funding requirements and their 
interaction effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2011
improvements to ifrss this annual improvement project clarifies the requirements of ifrss and eliminate inconsistencies 
within and between standards the relevant changes included amendments to ifrs 3 — business combinations  
ifrs 7 — financial instruments disclosures and ias 1 — presentation of financial statements
the following standards and interpretations issued by the iasb or ifric have not been adopted by the group as they 
were not effective for the year 2011 the group is currently assessing the impact of these standards and interpretations will 
have on the presentation of and recognition in its consolidated results in future periods 
amendments to ias 1 — presentation of items of other comprehensive income effective for accounting periods 
beginning on or after 1 july 2012 this amendment has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu
amendments to ias 12 — deferred tax recovery of underlying assets effective for accounting periods beginning on or 
after 1 january 2012 this amendment has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu 
amendments to ias 19 — employee benefits effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2013  
this amendment has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu
amendments to ias 28 — investments in associates and joint ventures effective for accounting periods beginning on or 
after 1 january 2013 this amendment has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu
amendments to ias 32 — offsetting financial assets and financial liabilities effective for accounting periods beginning 
on or after 1 january 2014 this amendment has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu
ifrs 10 — consolidated financial statements effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2013  
ifrs 10 has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu it will supersede the consolidation requirements of ias 27 
consolidated and separate financial statements and sic12 consolidation — special purpose entities
ifrs 9 — financial instruments effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2015 ifrs 9 has not yet 
been endorsed for use in the eu 
ifrs 11 — joint arrangements effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2013 ifrs 11 has not  
yet been endorsed for use in the eu it will supersede ias 31 interests in joint ventures and sic13 — jointly controlled 
entities — nonmonetary contributions by ventures 
ifrs 12 — disclosure of interests in other entities effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2013 
ifrs 12 has not yet been endorsed for use in the eu 
ifrs 13 — fair value measurement effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2013 ifrs 13 has not 
yet been endorsed for use in the eu
the preparation of consolidated financial statements under ifrs requires the group to make estimates and judgments 
that affect the application of policies and reported amounts estimates and judgments are continually evaluated and are 
based on historical experience and other factors including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable 
under the circumstances actual results may differ from these estimates  50
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
2 significant accounting policies continued
included in this note are accounting policies which cover areas that the directors consider require estimates and 
assumptions which have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities 
within the next financial year these policies together with references to the related notes to the financial statements can 
be found below 
note
taxation 8
contingent consideration 21
intangible assets 12
impairment of goodwill and intangible assets 12
sharebased payments 24
regulatory compliance and contingent liabilities 28 
presentation of accounts
following a review of the financial statements the following amendments have been made to the consolidated statement 
of income in light of the increased regulated markets in which the group operates the directors believe it helpful to 
separately disclose those gaming duties and taxes not directly related to profit accordingly these amounts have been 
separately disclosed on the face of the consolidated income statement under the heading “gaming taxes and duties” 
and the comparatives amended accordingly foreign exchange gains and losses arising on foreign currency denominated 
assets and liabilities and settlement of forward foreign exchange contracts are now included in finance income and 
finance charges as they relate to financing decisions made by the group previously they were included in administrative 
expenses the comparative figures whilst immaterial have been amended accordingly
a comparative prior year balance sheet for 31 december 2009 has not been presented as the new presentation has no 
effect on the reported profit or loss nor on net assets
basis of consolidation
the consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the company and its subsidiaries the subsidiaries are 
companies controlled by 888 holdings public limited company control exists where the company has the power 
to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities subsidiaries are 
consolidated from the date the parent gained control until such time as control ceases 
the financial statements of the subsidiaries are included in the consolidated financial statements using the purchase 
method of accounting on the date of the acquisition the assets and liabilities of a subsidiary are measured at their fair 
values and any excess of the fair value of the consideration over the fair values of the identifiable net assets acquired is 
recognised as goodwill 
intercompany transactions and balances are eliminated on consolidation 
the financial statements of subsidiaries are prepared for the same reporting period as the parent company and using 
consistent accounting policies 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
51
2127304  04042012 proof 17
2 significant accounting policies continued
revenue 
revenue is recognised to the extent that it is probable that economic benefits will flow to the group and the revenue  
can be reliably measured revenue is recognised in the accounting periods in which the transactions occurred 
revenue consists of revenue from online gaming and revenue generated from processing customers’ cross currency 
deposits and withdrawals it comprises 
casino and bingo
winnings which are represented by the differences between the amounts of bets placed by customers less amounts  
won by customers  
poker 
ring games rake which is the commission charged from each winning hand played 
tournaments entry fees charged for participation in poker tournaments are recognised when the tournament  
has concluded 
emerging offerings 
revenue from emerging offerings mainly comprise winnings from sportsbook activity and revenue from social games
casino and bingo winnings and revenues from the poker business and emerging offerings are stated after deduction  
of certain bonuses granted to customers 
b2b 
in the case of white label activity revenue is the net commission charged
f oreign currency 
monetary assets and liabilities denominated in nonus dollar currencies are translated into us dollar equivalents using 
yearend spot foreign exchange rates nonmonetary assets and liabilities are translated using exchange rates prevailing  
at the dates of the transactions exchange rate differences on foreign currency transactions are included in financial 
income or financial expenses as appropriate 
the results and financial position of all group entities that have a functional currency different from us dollars are 
translated into the presentation currency as follows 
i assets and liabilities for each balance sheet presented are translated at the closing rate at the date of that balance 
sheet and
ii  income and expenses for each income statement are translated at an average exchange rate unless this average  
is not a reasonable approximation of the cumulative effect of the rates prevailing on the transaction dates in which 
case income and expenses are translated at the dates of the transactions 52
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
2 significant accounting policies continued
taxation 
the tax expense represents tax payable for the year based on currently applicable tax rates 
deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognised where the carrying amount of an asset or liability in the balance sheet 
differs from its tax base it is accounted for using the balance sheet liability method recognition of deferred tax assets is 
restricted to those instances where it is probable that taxable profit will be available against which the difference can be 
utilised such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the temporary differences arise from goodwill or from the initial 
recognition other than in a business combination of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the 
taxable profit nor the accounting profit the amount of the asset or liability is determined using tax rates that have been 
enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date and are expected to apply when the deferred tax liabilities
assets are settledrecovered 
intangible assets 
acquisitions 
identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities that meet the conditions for recognition under ifrs 3 are recognised 
at their fair value at the acquisition date the identified intangibles are amortized over the useful economic life of the 
assets this has ranged between three months to four years for acquisitions to date
the exception is acquisitions of trade names which have an indefinite useful economic life and therefore an annual 
impairment test is conducted 
intangible assets are reviewed annually for evidence of impairment any impairment in carrying value is charged to the 
consolidated income statement 
internally generated intangible assets 
expenditure incurred on development activities is capitalised only when the expenditure will lead to new or substantially 
improved products or processes the products or processes are technically and commercially feasible and the group has 
sufficient resources to complete development all other development expenditure is expensed subsequent expenditure on 
capitalised intangible assets is capitalised only where it clearly increases the economic benefits to be derived from the asset 
to which it relates the group estimates the useful life of these assets as between three and five years except for certain 
licence costs which are considered to have indefinite useful life and are reviewed annually for evidence of impairment
goodwill 
goodwill represents the excess of the cost of a business combination over the interest in the fair value of the identifiable 
assets liabilities and contingent liabilities acquired cost comprises the fair value of any assets transferred liabilities 
assumed and equity instruments issued plus for acquisitions completed prior to 1 january 2010 any direct costs 
associated with the acquisition 
goodwill is capitalised as an intangible asset with any impairment in carrying value being charged to the consolidated 
income statement where the fair value of identifiable assets liabilities and contingent liabilities exceed the fair value of 
consideration paid the excess is credited in full to the consolidated income statement on the acquisition
for business combinations completed prior to 1 january 2010 changes in the estimated value of contingent consideration 
post acquisition are treated as an adjustment to cost and therefore change the carrying value of goodwill for business 
combinations completed after that date changes in the fair value of the contingent consideration are charged or credited 
to the income statement in addition for those business combinations completed after 1 january 2010 the direct costs of 
acquisition are treated immediately as an expense
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
53
2127304  04042012 proof 17
2 significant accounting policies continued
property plant and equipment 
property plant and equipment is stated at historic cost less accumulated depreciation assets are assessed at each 
balance sheet date for indications of impairment 
depreciation is calculated using the straightline method at annual rates estimated to write off the cost of the assets  
less their estimated residual values over their expected useful lives the annual depreciation rates are as follows 
it equipment 33
office furniture and equipment 7–15
motor vehicles 15
leasehold improvements over the shorter of the term of the lease or useful lives
impairment of nonfinancial assets 
impairment tests on goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite useful economic lives are undertaken annually  
on 31 december and where applicable an impairment loss is recognised immediately in the income statement other non
financial assets are subject to impairment tests whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying 
amount may not be recoverable where the carrying value of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount ie the higher of 
value in use and fair value less costs to sell the asset is written down accordingly 
where it is not possible to estimate the recoverable amount of an individual asset the impairment test is carried out on 
the asset’s cash generating unit ie the lowest group of assets in which the asset belongs for which there are separately 
identifiable cash flows 
financial instruments 
the group does not hold or issue derivative financial instruments for trading purposes 
investment in equity accounted joint ventures
jointly controlled entities jce are those entities over whose activities the group has joint control established by 
contractual agreement and requiring unanimous consent for strategic financial and operating decisions
jces are accounted for using the equity method equity accounted investees and are recognized initially at cost  
the group’s share of postacquisition profits and losses is recognised in the consolidated income statement except that losses 
in excess of the group’s investment in the jces are not recognised unless there is an obligation to make good those losses 
profits and losses arising on transactions between the group and its jces are recognised only to the extent of unrelated 
investors’ interests in the jce the investor’s share in the jces profits and losses resulting from these transactions is 
eliminated against the carrying value of the jces
any premium paid for a jce above the fair value of the group’s share of the identifiable assets liabilities and contingent 
liabilities acquired is capitalised and included in the carrying amount of the jce where there is objective evidence that 
the investment in a jce has been impaired the carrying amount of the investment is tested for impairment in the same 
way as other nonfinancial assets 
trade receivables 
trade receivables are recognised at fair value and carried at amortised cost and principally comprise amounts due from 
credit card companies and from epayment companies an estimate for doubtful debts is made when collection of the  
full amount is no longer probable bad debts are written off when there is objective evidence that the full amount may not 
be collected  54
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
2 significant accounting policies continued
derivative financial instruments
the group enters into contracts for derivative financial instruments such as forward currency contracts to hedge risks 
associated with foreign exchange rates such derivative financial instruments are measured at fair value under ias 39 and 
comprise level two fair value measurement instrument and carried in the statement of financial position as assets when 
the fair value is positive and as liabilities when the fair value is negative any gains or losses arising from changes in the fair 
values of derivatives are recorded immediately in the consolidated income statement
a fair value measurement hierarchy is based on the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value to increase 
consistency and comparability the inputs are categorised into three levels with the highest priority given to unadjusted 
quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities and the lowest priority given to unobservable inputs level 
two inputs are inputs other than quoted prices included within level one that are either directly or indirectly observable for 
the asset or liability 
cash and cash equivalents 
cash comprises cash in hand and balances with banks cash equivalents are shortterm highly liquid investments that are 
readily convertible to known amounts of cash they include shortterm deposits originally purchased with maturities of 
three months or less 
equity 
equity issued by the company is recorded as the proceeds received net of direct issue costs 
trade and other payables 
trade and other payables are recognised at fair value and carried at amortised cost 
liabilities to customers 
liabilities to customers comprises the amounts that are credited to customers’ bankroll the group’s electronic ‘wallet’ 
including provision for bonuses granted by the group less management fees and charges applied to customer accounts 
along with full provision for jackpots these amounts are repayable on demand in accordance with the applicable terms 
and conditions 
availableforsale financial assets 
availableforsale financial assets comprise nonderivative financial assets not included in any of the above financial asset 
categories and comprise principally the group’s investments in entities not qualifying as joint ventures or subsidiaries 
they are carried at fair value with changes in fair value recognised directly in a separate component of equity where there 
is a significant decline in the fair value of an availableforsale financial asset the full amount of the impairment including 
any amount previously charged to equity is recognised in the income statement on disposal of an availableforsale asset 
any balance within equity is transferred to the income statement 
chargebacks 
the cost of chargebacks is included in operating expenses
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
55
2127304  04042012 proof 17
2 significant accounting policies continued
leases 
leases are classified as finance leases wherever the terms of the lease transfer substantially all the risks and rewards of 
ownership to the group all other leases are classified as operating leases and rentals payable are charged to income on  
a straightline basis over the term of the lease 
provisions 
provisions are recognised when the group has a present or constructive obligation as a result of a past event from which  
it is probable that it will result in an outflow of economic benefits that can be reasonably estimated 
segment information 
segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision maker 
the chief operating decision maker has been identified as the management team comprising the chief executive officer 
and the chief financial officer these segments are 
● ● b2c business to customer casino poker bingo and emerging offering which mainly comprises 888’s sportsbook 
live dealer offering and games mytopia social games and
● ● b2b business to business which offers total gaming services under the dragonfish trading brand dragonfish 
offers to its business partners use of technology software operations epayments and advances marketing services 
through the provision of offlineonline marketing management of affiliates seo crm and business analytics 
dividends 
dividends are recognised when they become legally payable in the case of interim dividends this is when paid in the case 
of final dividends this is when approved by the shareholders at the annual general meeting 
sharebased payments 
where the company grants its employees or contractors shares nil priced options or market value options the fair value 
at the date of grant is charged to the income statement over the vesting period nonmarket performance conditions are 
taken into account by adjusting the number of instruments expected to vest at each balance sheet date so that ultimately 
the cumulative amount recognised over the vesting period is based on the number of instruments that eventually vest 
severance pay schemes
severance scheme surpluses and deficits are measured at
● ● the fair value of plan assets at the reporting date less
● ● plan liabilities calculated using the projected unit credit method discounted to its present value using yields available 
for the appropriate government bonds that have maturity dates appropriately to the terms of the liabilities plus
● ● unrecognised past service costs
any difference between the expected return on assets and that actually achieved and any changes in liabilities over the 
year due to changes in assumptions or experience within the scheme are recognised in other comprehensive income in 
the period in which they arise
financial guarantee contracts
where the group enters into financial guarantee contracts the group considers these to be insurance contracts and 
accounts for them as such the group treats the guarantee as a contingent liability until such time as it becomes probable 
that the group will be required to make payments under the guarantee 56
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
3 segment information
business segments
year ended 31 december 2011
b2c b2b consolidated
casino
us’000
poker
us’000
bingo
us’000
emerging
offering
us’000
total
b2c
us’000 us’000 us’000
revenue 148034 60620 53957 21592 284203 46947 331150
result
segment result before 
impairments 151973 27782 179755
impairments 20673 — 20673
segment result 131300 27782 159082
unallocated corporate 
expenses
1
144496
operating profit 14586
financial expenses net 13048
release of contingent 
consideration 4225
share of posttax profit 
of equity accounted 
joint ventures 84
t ax expense 3912
profit for the year 1935
assets
unallocated corporate 
assets 269132
t otal assets 269132
liabilities
segment liabilities 39062 5888 44950
unallocated corporate 
liabilities 102863
t otal liabilities 147813
1 including share benefit charges of us2374000 and restructuring costs of us4949000
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
57
2127304  04042012 proof 17
3 segment information continued
year ended 31 december 2010
b2c b2b consolidated
casino
us’000
poker
us’000
bingo
us’000
emerging
offering
us’000
t otal
b2c
us’000 us’000 us’000
revenue 116922 38407 50140 16206 221675 40438 262113
result
segment result 114470 22993 137463
unallocated corporate 
expenses
1
125653
operating profit 11810
financial expenses net 1265
share of posttax profit 
of equity accounted 
joint ventures 19
tax expense 2701
profit for the year 7863
assets
unallocated corporate 
assets 271760
total assets 271760
liabilities
segment liabilities 29142 5547 34689
unallocated corporate 
liabilities 120121
total liabilities 154810
1 including share benefit charges of us2309000 and restructuring costs of us2219000 
other than where amounts are allocated specifically to the b2c and b2b segments above the expenses assets and 
liabilities relate jointly to all segments these amounts are not discretely analysed between the two operating segments as 
any allocation would be arbitrary 58
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
3 segment information continued
geographical information 
the group’s performance can also be reviewed by considering the geographical markets and geographical locations 
within which the group operates this information is outlined below 
revenue by geographical market
1
 
year ended
31 december
revenue
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
revenue
2010
us’000
uk 153090 127371
europe excluding uk 124187 96759
americas 26488 17110
rest of world 27385 20873
revenue 331150 262113
1 allocation of geographical segments is based on net revenue commission received by the group
assets by geographical location
carrying amount of segment 
assets by location
additions to property plant 
and equipment
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
europe including uk 228469 229954 3299 7365
rest of world 40663 41806 1276 1700
269132 271760 4575 9065
4 administrative expenses
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
share benefit charges — all equitysettled 2374 2309
other administrative expenses 52067 21992
administrative expenses 54441 24301
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
59
2127304  04042012 proof 17
5 operating profit
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
operating profit is stated after charging
staff costs see note 6 86831 74854
audit fees 474 402
other fees paid to auditors in respect of taxation services 12 11
depreciation within operating expenses 9039 8480
amortisation within operating expenses 3998 3796
chargebacks 3379 2987
payment service providers’ commissions 18769 13882
restructuring costs
1
4949 2219
share benefit charges — all equitysettled 2374 2309
goodwill impairment within administrative expenses — see note 12 20673 —
1  following the departure of the former ceo on 30 april 2011 the group has restructured its management team resulting in aggregated 
terminated staff and related costs of us4949000 for the year ended 31 december 2011 of which us3909000 are in relation to the 
former ceo total costs include 503000 in respect of accelerated share benefit charges arising on termination
  during 2010 the group initiated measures designed to reduce its overheads and increase operational efficiency these measures mainly 
affected employment costs and included redundancies across the group’s locations costs associated with these redundancies are 
reflected in the restructuring cost line for the year ended 31 december 2010
6 employee benefits
staff cost including executive directors’ remuneration comprises the following elements
2011
us’000
2010
us’000
wages and salaries 82060 71673
social security 3092 2898
pension costs 4932 4521
90084 79092
staff costs capitalized in respect of internally generated assets 3253 4238
86831 74854
in the income statement total staff costs excluding share benefit charge of us2374000 2010 us2309000 are 
included within the following expenditure categories
2011
us’000
2010
us’000
operating expenses 49133 48525
research and development expenses 19567 14483
administrative expenses 18131 11846
86831 74854 60
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
6 employee benefits continued
average headcount number of employees by category
2011 2010
operation 593 632
research and development 217 179
administration 119 126
929 937
at 31 december 2011 the group employed 932 2010 928 staff 
severance pay liability — israel 
the group’s employees in israel are eligible to receive certain benefits from the group in certain defined circumstances 
as such the group operates a defined benefit severance pay plan which requires contributions to be made to separately 
administrated funds 
the method used to determine the current service cost and the present value of the defined benefit obligation according 
to ias 19 ‘employee benefits’ is the projected unit credit actuarial cost method actuarial gains and losses are recognised 
by the group using the equity method 
the following table summarises the employee benefits figures as included in the group’s financial statements for 2011  
and 2010 respectively 
2011
us’000
2010
us’000
severance pay liability within trade and other payables 601 273
income statement 3044 2548
actuarial movements on severance pay liability 
included in statement of comprehensive income 443 366
movement in severance pay liability
severance pay plan assets
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
at beginning of year 8279 6784
expected return 407 359
contributions 3030 2630
benefits paid 2442 2254
actuarial gain on assets 265 181
exchange differences 617 579
at end of year 8392 8279
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
61
2127304  04042012 proof 17
6 employee benefits continued
severance pay plan liabilities
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
at beginning of year 8552 7013
interest cost 347 299
current service costs 3104 2608
benefits paid 2533 2380
actuarial loss on obligations 178 547
exchange differences 655 465
at end of year 8993 8552
severance pay plan trends
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
year ended
31 december
2009
us’000
year ended
31 december
2008
us’000
plan assets 8392 8279 6784 4220
plan liabilities 8993 8552 7013 4496
severance pay liability 601 273 229 276
the main actuarial assumptions used in determining the fair value of the group’s employee benefits plan are shown below
2011

2010

discount rate nominal 434 471
estimated increase in employee benefits costs 3 3
voluntary termination rate 70 70
estimated rate of return on assets 471 506
the discount rates are based on israeli government bonds and reflect inflation rates of 219 in 2011 2010 286
7 finance expenses
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
interest expense — 19
interest expense on deferred consideration 3694 —
unwinding of discount on contingent and deferred consideration 3692 1122
fair value movements on foreign exchange derivatives 1572 —
foreign exchange losses 4323 321
finance expenses 13281 1462  62
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
8 taxation
corporate taxes
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
current tax 3761 2490
deferred tax 151 211
taxation expense 3912 2701 
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
profit before taxation 5847 10564
tax at effective tax rate in gibraltar 2011 10 2010 nil 585 —
effect of overseas taxation 2159 2490
effect of deferred tax originating in overseas jurisdictions 91 211
permanent disallowable expenditureincome 1954 —
adjustments to prior years tax charges 695 —
total tax charge for the year 3912 2701
current tax is calculated with reference to the profit of the company and its subsidiaries in their respective countries  
of operation 
gibraltar — the company and its gibraltar registered subsidiaries were subject to the provisions of the gibraltar 
companies taxation and concessions act the ‘ctca’ as taxexempt companies subject to a change of ownership or 
activity of a taxexempt company the grandfathering of taxexempt benefits in respect of existing taxexempt companies 
extended up to 31 december 2010 commencing as of 1 january 2011 gibraltar companies are subject to a corporate tax 
rate of 10 however certain forms of income including royalty income are exempt from corporate tax 
israel  — 888 has entered into certain transfer pricing agreements with the israeli income tax commissioner the agreement 
in respect of its subsidiary random logic limited was effective until the end of 2010 and is currently being discussed 
domestic corporate tax in israel in 2011 is 24 2010 25 effective from 2012 the corporate tax rate will increase to 25 
uk — 888’s subsidiary in the uk pays corporate tax in the uk at the applicable rate of 26 2010 28 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
63
2127304  04042012 proof 17
9 earnings per share
basic earnings per share 
basic earnings per share have been calculated by dividing the profit attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted 
average number of shares in issue during the year 
diluted earnings per share 
in accordance with ias 33 ‘earnings per share’ the weighted average number of shares for diluted earnings per share 
takes into account all potentially dilutive shares and share options granted which are not included in the number of  
shares for basic earnings per share in addition certain employee options have also been excluded from the calculation  
of diluted eps as their exercise price is greater than the weighted average share price during the year and it would not be 
advantageous for the holders to exercise the option the number of options excluded from the diluted eps calculation is 
1305779 2010 781953 
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
profit from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders 1935 7863
weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 346385511 345709869
effect of dilutive ordinary shares and share options 3597516 2620010
weighted average number of dilutive ordinary shares 349983027 348329879
basic 06¢ 23¢
diluted 06¢ 23¢
adjusted earnings per share
the directors believe that eps excluding share benefit charges restructuring costs impairment charges and writeback  
of contingent consideration better reflects the underlying performance of the business and assists in providing a clearer 
view of the performance of the group
reconciliation of profit to profit excluding share benefit charges restructuring costs impairment costs and writeback  
of contingent consideration 
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
profit from continuing operations attributable to ordinary shareholders 1935 7863
share benefit charges excluding share benefit charges within restructuring costs 2374 2309
restructuring costs 4949 2219
release of contingent consideration 4225 —
impairment charges 20673 —
profit excluding share benefit charges restructuring costs impairment charges and 
writeback of contingent consideration 25706 12391
weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 346385511 345709869
weighted average number of dilutive ordinary shares 349983027 348329879
adjusted basic earnings per share 74¢ 36¢
adjusted diluted earnings per share 73¢ 36¢ 64
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
10 dividend
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
dividends paid — 10491 
11 acquisitions completed in prior years
mytopia social games
on 16 june 2010 the group acquired the trade and assets comprising the mytopia social games development studio 
“mytopia” from real dice inc for an all cash consideration
in calculating the goodwill arising on acquisition the fair value of the assets of mytopia were valued by a professional 
valuation firm and recognised in accordance with ifrs 3 revised and adjustments from book value were necessary 
these adjustments are summarized as follows 
book value on
acquisition
us’000
f air value
adjustments
us’000
f air value
us’000
intangible assets — 1870 1870
assets — 1870 1870
the fair value relates to the recognition of online bingo game application us830000 software licence agreement 
us410000 noncompete agreement us540000 and a service agreement us90000 acquired as part of the 
acquisition the online bingo game application intangible asset is being amortised over its estimated useful economic life 
of three years the software licence agreement intangible asset is being amortised over its estimated useful economic life 
of nine months the noncompete agreement intangible asset is being amortised over its estimated useful economic life of 
four years the service agreement is being amortised over its estimated useful economic life of one year 
during the year the goodwill arising on acquisition of us20173000 was tested for impairment and fully provided against 
further details are given in note 12
the group paid us60 million in february 2011 of contingent consideration in respect of the acquisition the remaining 
contingent consideration of us51 million before discounting that was recognised on acquisition has been written back 
in the year further details are given in note 21
wink online bingo business
on 31 december 2009 the group acquired the trade and assets comprising the wink online bingo business of daub 
limited ‘wink bingo business’ for an all cash consideration
as noted in last year’s annual report the financial performance of the wink business post acquisition led to increases in the 
contingent consideration payable in march 2011 the group entered into an amendment agreement to fix the consideration 
payable further details are given in note 21
the unwinding of the discount element of the deferred consideration is charged to finance expenses in the income 
statement
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
65
2127304  04042012 proof 17
12 intangible assets
internally
generated
intangible
assets
us’000
acquired
 intangible
 assets
 us’000
goodwill
 us’000
total
 us’000
cost or valuation
at 1 january 2010 10213 6842 58611 75666
additions 5870 — 67001 72871
acquisitions — 2211 20173 22384
at 31 december 2010 16083 9053 145785 170921
additions 4079 201 — 4280
at 31 december 2011 20162 9254 145785 175201
amortisation and impairments
at 1 january 2010 1271 3563 — 4834
charge for the year 1785 2011 — 3796
at 31 december 2010 3056 5574 — 8630
impairment in the year — — 20673 20673
charge for the year 2548 1450 — 3998
at 31 december 2011 5604 7024 20673 33301
carrying amounts
at 31 december 2011 14558 2230 125112 141900
at 31 december 2010 13027 3479 145785 162291
at 31 december 2009 8942 3279 58611 70832
analysis of goodwill by cash generating units
bingo
online
business
us’000
mytopia
social
games
us’000
internet
domain
name
us’000
total
goodwill
us’000
valuation at 1 january 2010 58111 — 500 58611
acquisitions of mytopia social games — 20173 — 20173
adjustment to the wink bingo business contingent 
consideration
1
67001 — — 67001
valuation at 1 january 2011 125112 20173 500 145785
mytopia social games goodwill impairment — 20173 — 20173
internet domain name goodwill impairment — — 500 500
valuation at 31 december 2011 125112 — — 125112
1  as a result of the financial performance of the wink bingo business since the commencement of the earnout period on 1 april 2010 the 
board revised its estimate of the potential contingent consideration that would  become payable to us755 million in 2010 this estimate 
was based on the assumption that the earnout payment would reach its contractual cap as the wink bingo acquisition was accounted 
for under ifrs 3 2004 the adjustment to contingent consideration was taken to goodwill on 18 march 2011 the group announced that 
it had entered into an amendment agreement with the wink bingo vendors to reschedule the earn out payment payable in may 2011 
further details are given in note 21 66
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
12 intangible assets continued
bingo online business 
intangible assets and goodwill associated with the cash generating online bingo business unit relates to the acquisition 
of the online bingo business of globalcom limited during 2007 and the acquisition of the wink bingo business in 2009 
the income streams generated from the bingo business comprising the b2c bingo cash generating unit and the b2b cash 
generating unit have been treated together as the risks and rewards associated with those income streams are deemed to 
be sufficiently similar 
at the year end the carrying valueinuse was determined by discounting the expected future cash flows of the online 
bingo cash generating units to their present value the key assumptions for the valueinuse calculations were those 
regarding discount rate and growth rates of the business the directors estimate discount rates that reflect the current 
market assessment of the time value of money and risks appropriate to the online bingo business the discount rate that 
is considered by the directors to be appropriate is 8 2010 12 being the group’s specific weighted average cost of 
capital which also applies to the online bingo cash generating units 
discount rate is recalculated each year by taking into account prevailing risk free rates equity risk premium and beta  
the result this year was a lower discount rate primarily due to a lower company beta
in estimating the future cash flows the group has used conservative estimates in respect of revenues generated and costs 
incurred and therefore certain b2b contracts due to end in the next five years have not been projected to be renewed 
and have been expected to decline gradually over the period to contract end growth rates of the online bingo business 
are based on past experience and projections of future changes in the online gaming market taking into account external 
sources of information such as analysts research reports these suggest that bingo is expected to demonstrate year on 
year growth the group has used lower growth rates in estimating the future cash flows conservatively reflecting the 
current uncertainties about the mediumterm global economic outlook the directors have used forecasts for the next  
five years of the expected cash flows of which the first year is based on the groups current approved budget 
excluding the effects of b2b contracts projected to come to an end over the five year period an annual underlying growth 
rate of 2 2010 7 was used for 2012 mainly attributed to the stabilization in the wink bingo business revenues after 
the earn out period ended on march 2011 for 20132016 no growth rate was assumed 2010 no growth following year 
five the group extrapolates cash flows in perpetuity using an estimated conservative growth rate of 1 2010 1 which 
is lower than the forecast longterm growth rate of the uk economy marketing costs associated with the bingo cash 
generating units were projected as a fixed percentage of revenues all other operational costs are forecast as percentage 
of revenue such percentage increased conservatively by 6 2010 7 in each of the five year periods to 2016 over and 
above the level of growth in revenues and well above the actual level experienced in 2011
the directors are not aware at this time of any need to change their key assumptions on which they have based their 
determination of the recoverable amount of the goodwill which would cause its carrying amount to exceed its recoverable 
amount in fact although such movements are not expected to arise neither a 1 decrease in the growth rate in each of 
the next three years nor a 5 increase in the discount rate would have led to an impairment of the acquired intangible 
assets and goodwill in the current year
mytopia social games
the group has performed an impairment review during the year on the cash generating mytopia social games unit which 
was acquired in june 2010 and was affected by commercial disputes which arose during the year over two branded social 
games which mytopia was developing this review compared carrying value to value in use and fair value less costs to 
sell adjusting  the originally forecast revenue arising due to the overall reduced expectation of income growth from the 
mytopia business it was determined that the recoverable amount of that business was us957000 based on an estimate 
by management of fair value less costs to sell which has resulted in a full impairment charge of us20173000 against 
goodwill other assets acquired have not been impaired  
 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
67
2127304  04042012 proof 17
12 intangible assets continued
the impairment charge has been taken to administrative expenses in the consolidated income statement and is included 
within the b2c operating segment
other intangible assets associated with the cash generating mytopia social games unit acquired during june 2010 
including an online bingo game application software licence agreement noncompete agreement and a service 
agreement are being amortized over their estimated useful economic lives of up to four years
at the previous year end the carrying valueinuse was determined by discounting the expected future cash flows to their 
present value the key assumptions for the valueinuse calculations were those regarding discount rate users’ life time 
value marketing spend and growth rates of the business 
in estimating the future cash flows the directors used estimates in respect of revenues generated and costs incurred 
growth rates of the mytopia business were based on projections of future changes in the social games market taking into 
account external sources of information such as analysts’ research reports and publicly available information that analyzes 
kpis of various social networks game providers and the development of new games by mytopia forecast revenues 
assumed lower user’s life value compared to other major social games
the directors used forecasts for the following five years of the expected cash flows of which the first year was based on 
the group’s 2011 budget revenue was forecast to grow between 2011 and 2014 assuming a compound quarterly growth 
of 21 and cost of sales was forecast at an average of 23 of revenue marketing costs were projected to increase by a 
fixed compounded monthly percentage during 2012 to 2014 across all games all other overhead costs mainly wages 
were forecast in line with 2011 budget which on an annualized basis assumed an increase of 50 over 2010 actual figures 
thereafter these costs were assumes to increase by 3  in each of 2012 to 2014 following year five the group used a long 
term growth rate of 2 the directors estimated discount rates of 18  
internet domain name
during 2008 the group acquired an internet domain name based business which is used to generate traffic into the 
group’s various websites out of total consideration of us513000 an intangible asset of us13000 was recognized 
whilst the remainder of us500000 was recognised as goodwill 
the group has performed an impairment review at the year end in respect of the carrying valueinuse of the internet 
domain name comparing carrying value to value in use and fair value less costs to sell adjusting the originally forecast 
revenue arising due to the overall reduced expectation of income growth from the internet domain it was determined that 
the recoverable amount of the internet domain was nil based on an estimate by management of fair value less costs to sell 
which has resulted in a full impairment charge of us500000 against goodwill and us13000 against intangible assets 
licences
in respect of certain licences costs amounting to us37 million where the group considers these to have an indefinite life 
the group has conducted an impairment review at the period end in respect of the carrying valueinuse of its licences 
comparing carrying value to value in use and fair value less costs to sell at the year end the carrying valueinuse was 
determined by discounting the expected future cash flows of the relevant cash generating unit cgu to its present 
value the key assumptions for the valueinuse calculations were those regarding discount rate and growth rates of the 
business the directors estimate discount rates that reflect the current market assessment of the time value of money and 
risks appropriate to the relevant cgu the discount rate that is considered by the directors to be appropriate is 8 being 
the group’s specific weighted average cost of capital 68
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
12 intangible assets continued
the group has used prudent growth of 3 in respect of revenue and conservative costs figures in assessing the expected 
cash flows from the cgu at 31 december 2011 no impairment needs to be recognised 
internally generated intangible assets 
the group has put in place processes and procedures which enable it to ascertain technological feasibility before 
development costs are incurred and therefore be in a position to capitalise costs incurred after that point such 
expenditure is only capitalised when the development cost meets the definition of an intangible asset and the recognition 
criteria as set out in ias 38 ‘intangible assets’ 
the group estimates the useful life of these assets as between three and five years these assets are subject to 
impairment test wherever events or changes in circumstances indicate their carrying amount may not be recoverable 
on the same basis as described above for acquired intangible assets at 31 december 2011 no impairment needs to be 
recognised and the carrying value of internally generated assets is considered appropriate
13 property plant and equipment
it equipment
us’000
office
furniture
and
equipment
us’000
motor
vehicles
us’000
leasehold
improvements
us’000
total
us’000
cost
at 1 january 2010 33125 2641 503 14848 51117
additions 8617 120 63 265 9065
disposals — — 35 — 35
at 31 december 2010 41742 2761 531 15113 60147
additions 4397 82 — 96 4575
disposals 5600 — 21 1895 7516
at 31 december 2011 40539 2843 510 13314 57206
accumulated depreciation
at 1 january 2010 21669 1490 287 6687 30133
charge for the year 6920 251 75 1234 8480
disposals — — 13 — 13
at 31 december 2010 28589 1741 349 7921 38600
charge for the year 7545 187 62 1245 9039
disposals 5601 — — 1891 7492
at 31 december 2011 30533 1928 411 7275 40147
depreciated cost
at 31 december 2011 10006 915 99 6039 17059
at 31 december 2010 13153 1020 182 7192 21547
at 31 december 2009 11456 1151 216 8161 20984
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
69
2127304  04042012 proof 17
14 investment in equity accounted joint ventures
the following entity meets the definition of a jointly controlled entity and has been equity accounted in the consolidated 
financial statements
name
country of
incorporation
percentage
of equity
interest
2011

percentage
of equity
interest
2010

technology solutions gibraltar limited gibraltar 50 50
on 6 october 2010 the group entered into a joint venture agreement “jva” via 888 regulated markets ltd “888 rm” 
a wholly owned subsidiary with prima networks ltd “pnl” and technology solutions gibraltar ltd “tsg” a gibraltar 
company jointly owned by 888 rm and pnl in equal parts 
the group through 888 rm obtained in 2010 a licence to operate online poker games in france
under the terms of the jva 888 rm pnl and tsg operate the network jointly utilizing rights to use poker software 
technology and related services required to make the games available for use in the french poker networks of pnl 
licenced to tsg and 888 rm and combining them into one french poker network sharing the liquidity of their respective 
customers 
aggregated amounts relating to tsg are as follows
2011
us’000
2010
us’000
current assets — 6
noncurrent assets 2348 2502
current liabilities 2207 2467
noncurrent liabilities — —
revenues 1712 414
expenses 1544 376
profit 168 38
share of before tax profit of joint venture 84 19
investment including loans in equity accounted joint venture 1243 1297
15 financial assets — availableforsale investments
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
opening balance at the beginning of the year 175 —
investments during the year — 175
175 175
availableforsale assets comprised of unquoted securities the fair value of these has been determined on the basis of 
expected cash flows discounted using a rate based on the market interest rate and a premium specific to the unlisted 
securities fair value movements for 2010 and 2011 were insignificant 70
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
16 deferred taxes 
deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and 
liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes the group’s deferred tax assets 
resulting from temporary differences are as follows 
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
accrued severance pay 280 88
property plant and equipment 101 —
intangible assets 408 —
provision for share benefit charges 116 94
provision for vacation 323 382
provision for convalescence 23 22
435 586
17 cash and cash equivalents 
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
cash and cash equivalents 74028 60569
restricted cash 7824 951
81852 61520
restricted cash primarily relates to deposits held by banks for guarantees 
18 trade and other receivables
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
trade receivables 17197 12332
corporate tax 1799 796
other receivables and prepayments 7472 11216
26468 24344
the carrying value of trade and other receivables approximates to their fair value as the credit risk has been addressed 
as part of impairment provisioning and due to the shortterm nature of the receivables they are not subject to ongoing 
fluctuations in market rates
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
71
2127304  04042012 proof 17
19 share capital
share capital comprises the following
authorized
31 december
 2011
number
31 december
 2010
number
31 december
 2011
us’000
31 december 
2010
us’000
ordinary shares of £0005 each 426387500 426387500 3880 3880
allotted called up and fully paid
31 december
 2011
number
31 december
 2010
number
31 december
 2011
us’000
31 december 
2010
us’000
ordinary shares of £0005 each 345429509 346534097 3145 3152
issue of ordinary shares of £0005 each 2257959 2190090 18 17
share buy back — 3294678 — 24
347687468 345429509 3163 3145 
the following tables include details on issue of ordinary shares of £0005 each as part of the group’s employee share 
option plan see note 23 during 2011 and 2010 
issued during 2011
ordinary
shares of
£0005 each
march 2011 50000
may 2011 780612
june 2011 359443
august 2011 187105
september 2011 45106
october 2011 474597
november 2011 174528
december 2011 186568
issued during 2010
ordinary
shares of
£0005 each
january 2010 255812
march 2010 88884
april 2010 613110
may 2010 145055
june 2010 421905
july 2010 125884
august 2010 231653
september 2010 279306
october 2010 28481
during 2011 the company did not issue shares 2010 nil in respect of employees’ exercising market value options 
shares issued are converted into us at the exchange rate prevailing on the date of issue the issued and fully paid share 
capital of the group amounts to us3228000 2010 us3210000 and is split into 347687468 2010 345429509 
ordinary shares the share capital in uk sterling gbp is £1738437 2010 £1727148 and translates at an average 
exchange rate of us186 2010 us186 to gbp  72
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
20 trade and other payables
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
trade payables 27308 15335
corporate taxes 667 309
other payables and accrued expenses 37487 22170
65462 37814
the carrying value of trade and other payables approximates to their fair value given the short maturity date of these 
balances comparative amounts have been reclassified between trade and other payables following a review by 
management
21 contingent and deferred consideration
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
deferred 2010 contingent consideration re wink acquisition
1
37397 72046
contingent consideration re mytopia acquisition
2
— 10225
37397 82271
1  on 18 march 2011 the group announced that it had entered into an amendment agreement with the wink bingo vendors to reschedule 
the earn out payment payable in may 2011 the earn out payment reached its maximum cap of £597 million out of which £11 million was 
paid on 31 december 2009 under the revised payment terms the group made a payment out of its cash resources of £926 million on 
18 march 2011 £926 million on 21 may 2011 and £6173 million on 31 august 2011 on 23 february 2012 the group paid an amount of £202 
million resulting in a balance of £38 million payable on 21 may 2012 without a penalty payments after 21 may 2011 bear interest at 15 per 
annum the group has implemented security over the assets comprising the wink bingo business in favor of the vendors
2  on february 2011 the group paid us60 million due upon meeting certain milestones connected to the mobile and social networking 
games an estimated earnout payment of us51 million was supposed to be payable in cash during the second quarter of 2012 based 
on achieving certain performance criteria during 2011 the subsequent financial performance has led to a release of that liability as the 
performance criteria were not achieved 
contingent and deferred consideration  movements in the year
wink bingo
business
us’000
mytopia
social games
us’000
total
us’000
contingent and deferred consideration at the beginning of the year 72046 10225 82271
paid in year — capital amounts 40080 6000 46080
unwinding of discount 3692 — 3692
release of contingent consideration — 4225 4225
foreign exchange differences on deferred consideration 1739 — 1739
deferred consideration at the end of the year 37397 — 37397
 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
73
2127304  04042012 proof 17
22 liabilities to customers and progressive prize pools
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
liabilities to customers 40016 30630
progressive prize pools 4938 4095
44954 34725
23 investments in significant subsidiaries
name
country of
incorporation
percentage
of equity
interest
2011

percentage
of equity
interest
2010
 nature of business
cassava enterprises gibraltar limited gibraltar 100 100 gaming website operator
virtual marketing services uk limited uk 100 100 advertising services
virtual marketing services gibraltar limited gibraltar 100 100 marketing acquisition
dixie operation limited antigua 100 100 customer call center 
operator
random logic limited israel 100 100 research development 
and marketing
brigend limited gibraltar 100 100 bingo business operator
fordart limited gibraltar 100 100 general commercial 
business activities
new wave virtual ventures limited gibraltar 100 100 development of social 
games — mytopia 
virtual internet services limited gibraltar 100 100 general commercial 
business activities
gisland limited gibraltar 100 100 provider of payments 
service solutions holds 
money transmission licence
888 regulated markets limited malta 100 100 holder of french online 
gaming licence
888 denmark limited gibraltar 100 — holder of danish online 
gaming licence
888 spain public limited company gibraltar 100 — applied for spanish online 
gaming licence
888 virtual limited gibraltar 100 — holder of group ip assets 74
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
24 sharebased payment 
prior to flotation the company adopted two equitysettled employee share incentive plans — the 888 allemployee 
share plan and the longterm incentive plan the 888 allemployee share plan is open to all employees and executive 
directors of the group who are not within six months of their normal retirement age at the discretion of the remuneration 
committee awards under this scheme will vest in instilments over a fixed period of up to four years 
the company grants awards to certain executive directors and members of its senior management these awards are 
subject to performance conditions imposed by the remuneration committee at the dates of grant 
details of shares and share options granted as part of the 888 allemployee share plan 
share options granted
31 december
2011
31 december
2010
weighted
average
exercise price number
weighted
average
exercise price number
outstanding at the beginning of the year £138 4587481 £138 6027789
market value options granted during the year — — — —
market value options lapsed during the year £129 942437 £136 1440308
outstanding at the end of the year
1
£141 3645044 £138 4587481
1  of the total number of options outstanding at the end of the year 2932129 had vested and were exercisable at the end of the year  
2010 2836040
2 range of exercise price for options outstanding at the end of the year is £102–£180 2010 £102–£180
shares granted
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
outstanding at the beginning of the year 4441138 7182929
shares granted — future vesting 5091457 1689103
lapsed future vesting shares 906344 2240804
shares issued during the year 2257959 2190090
outstanding at the end of the year 6368292 4441138
shares are granted at a nominal exercise price 
valuation information — shares granted
2011 2010
weighted average share price at grant date £034 £ 050
weighted average share price at issue of shares £034 £ 066
average remaining life until vesting months 20 15
shares granted for future vesting are fair valued at the share price at grant date the restrictions on the shares during  
the vesting period primarily relating to nonreceipt of dividends have an immaterial effect on this fair value estimate  
at grant date 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
75
2127304  04042012 proof 17
24 sharebased payment continued
in accordance with international financial reporting standards a charge to the income statement in respect of any shares 
or options granted under the above schemes will be recognised and spread over the vesting period of the shares or 
options based on the fair value of the shares or options at the date at grant adjusted for changes in vesting conditions at 
each balance sheet date this charge has no cash impact 
share benefit charges
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
charges in respect of share and option awards granted this year 607 246
charges in respect of share and option awards granted in previous years 1767 2063
2374 2309
charges in respect of share and option awards granted in previous years included within 
restructuring charges see note 5 503 —
charge for the year 2877 2309
25 related party transactions
during the year the group paid us81290 2010 us258815 in respect of rent and office expenses to companies of 
which mr john anderson was a director at 31 december 2011 the amount owed to those companies was nil 2010 nil 
remuneration paid to the directors in the year totalled us6676000 2010 us2284000 share benefit charge in 
respect of awards granted to the directors totalled us1055000 2010 us348380 
26 commitments 
lease commitments 
future minimum lease commitments under property operating leases for the year ended 31 december 2011 are as follows 
leases expiring within
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
one year 3278 2937
two to five years 11357 12956
14635 15893
the amount paid in the year was us3714000 2010 us3060000
lease commitments on the group’s property are shown to the date of the first break clause 76
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
27 financial risk management 
the group is exposed through its operations to risks that arise from use of its financial instruments policies and 
procedures for managing these risks are set by the board following recommendations from the chief financial officer  
the board reviews the effectiveness of these procedures and if required approves specific policies and procedures  
in order to mitigate these risks 
the main financial instruments used by the group on which financial risk arises are as follows 
● ● cash and cash equivalents
● ● restricted cash
● ● trade and other receivables
● ● trade and other payables
● ● liabilities to customers
● ● contingent consideration on acquisition
● ● availableforsale financial investments
detailed analysis of these financial instruments is as follows
financial assets
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
trade receivables 17197 12332
other receivables 9271 12012
cash and cash equivalents 74028 60569
restricted cash 7824 951
availableforsale financial investments 175 175
108495 86039
in accordance with ias 39 with the exception of availableforsale assets all financial assets are classified as loans  
and receivables
financial liabilities
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
trade payables 27308 4179
other payables and accrued expenses 38154 33635
contingent and deferred consideration 37397 82271
liabilities to customers 44954 34725
147813 154810
 
in accordance with ias 39 all of the above financial liabilities are held at amortised cost except for us1534000 relating 
to the forward currency contracts to hedge risks associated with foreign exchange rates such derivative financial 
instruments are measured at fair value under ias 39 and comprise level two fair value measurement instruments  
2010 us82271000 relating to the contingent consideration arising on acquisitions which are recognised at fair value 
at 31 december 2011 and 2010 the fair value and the book value of the group’s financial assets and liabilities were 
materially the same 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
77
2127304  04042012 proof 17
27 financial risk management continued
capital
the capital employed by the group is composed of equity attributable to shareholders the primary objective of the 
group is maximizing shareholders’ value which from the capital perspective is achieved by maintaining the capital 
structure most suited to the group’s size strategy and underlying business risk other than disclosed elsewhere in 
note 28 there are no demands or restrictions on the group’s capital 
the main financial risk areas are as follows 
credit risk
trade receivables
the group’s credit risk is primarily attributable to trade receivables who are the group’s payment service providers ‘psp’ 
these are third party companies that facilitate deposits and withdrawals of funds to and from customers’ virtual wallet 
with the group these are mainly intermediaries that transact on behalf of the main credit card companies 
the risk is that a psp would fail to discharge its obligation with regard to the balance owed to the group the group 
reduces this credit risk by 
● ● monitoring those balances on a regular basis
● ● arranging for the shortest possible cash settlement intervals
● ● replacing rolling reserve requirements where they exist with a letter of credit by a reputable financial institution
● ● ensuring a new psp is only contracted following various due diligence and ‘know your customer’ procedures
● ● ensuring policies are in place to reduce dependency on any specific psp
the group believes that based on the above and on extensive past experience the psp receivables are of good credit 
quality and there is no requirement to provide for any potential bad debts arising from a psp failing to discharge its 
obligation none of the balances owed by the various psp are overdue or impaired 2010 nil 
an additional credit risk the group faces relates to customers disputing charges made to their credit cards ‘chargebacks’ 
or any other funding method they have used in respect of the services provided by the group customers may fail to fulfil 
their obligation to pay which will result in funds not being collected these chargebacks and uncollected deposits when 
occurring will be deducted at source by the psps from any amount due to the group as such the group provides for 
these eventualities by way of a provision based on analysis of past transactions this provision is netted off from the trade 
receivables balance and at 31 december 2011 was us1161000 2010 us886000 
the group’s inhouse fraud and risk management department carefully monitors deposits and withdrawals by following 
prevention and verification procedures using internally developed bespoke systems integrated with commercially available 
third party measures 
cash and cash equivalents 
the group controls its cash position out of its gibraltar headquarters subsidiaries in its other locations israel antigua 
and london maintain minimum cash balances which are deemed required for their operations 
cash settlement proceeds from psps as described above are paid into bank accounts controlled by the treasury function 
the group maintains its funds with highly reputable financial institutions and will not hold funds with financial institutions 
with low credit rating 
the group maintains its cash reserve in highly liquid deposits and regularly monitors rates in order to maximize yield  78
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
27 financial risk management continued
restricted cash 
restricted cash is mainly attributed to a deposit in respect of the spanish licence application 
the group’s maximum exposure to credit risk by type of financial instrument is summarized below 
31 december 2011 31 december 2010
carrying
value
us’000
maximum
exposure
us’000
carrying
value
us’000
maximum
 exposure
 us’000
trade receivables 17197 17197 12332 12332
other receivables 9271 9271 12012 12012
cash and cash equivalents 74028 74028 60569 60569
restricted cash 7824 7824 951 951
available for sale financial investments 175 175 175 175
108495 108495 86039 86039
liquidity risk 
liquidity risk exists in the case where the group will encounter difficulties in meeting its financial obligations as they 
become due 
the group monitors its liquidity in order to ensure that sufficient liquid resources are available to allow it to meet its 
obligations 
the following table details the contractual maturity analysis of the group’s financial liabilities
31 december 2011
trade
payables
us’000
other
payables
1
us’000
contingent
consideration
 us’000
liabilities to
customers
us’000
total
us’000
on demand 8479 1007 — 44954 54440
in three months 17107 34416 — — 51523
between three months and one year 1467 1634 37397 — 40498
more than one year 255 1097 — — 1352
27308 38154 37397 44954 147813
1  includes other payables accrued expenses derivative financial liabilities and provisions
31 december 2010
trade
payables
us’000
other
payables
1
us’000
contingent
consideration
 us’000
liabilities to
 customers
us’000
t otal
us’000
on demand 1857 7356 — 34725 43938
in three months 2068 24621 5987 — 32676
between three months and one year 254 662 72046 — 72962
more than one year — 996 4238 — 5234
4179 33635 82271 34725 154810
1 includes other payables accrued expenses and provisions 
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
79
2127304  04042012 proof 17
27 financial risk management continued
market risk 
interest rate risk 
the group’s exposure to interest rate risk is limited to the interest bearing deposits in which the group invests surplus 
funds 
the group’s policy is to invest surplus funds in low risk money market funds or on call over night facilities the group also 
arranges with its principal bankers that excess funds are swept automatically across its accounts every night in order to 
maximize availability of funds for investments 
downside interest rate risk is minimal as the group has no floating rates borrowings given current low us interest rate 
a 05 downward movement in bank interest rates would not have a significant impact on finance income for the year 
however a 05 increase in interest rates would based on the yearend deposits increase annual profits by us250000 
currency risk 
the group’s financial risk arising from exchange rate fluctuations is mainly attributed to 
● ● mismatch between balance sheet liabilities to customers which is predominantly denominated in us and the net 
receipts from customers which are settled in the currency of the customer’s choice of which sterling gbp and euros 
eur are significant
● ● mismatch between reported revenue which is mainly generated in usd the group’s functional and reporting 
currency and significant portion of deposits which are settled in local currencies 
● ● expenses the majority of which are denominated in foreign currencies including sterling gbp euro eur and 
new israeli shekel ils
● ● the wink bingo deferred consideration is denominated in gbp the group entered into a specific forward contract in 
order to fix the economic impact of the currency mismatch
the group continually monitors the foreign currency risk and takes steps where practical to ensure that the net exposure 
is kept to an acceptable level inter alia by using foreign exchange forward contracts designed to fix the economic impact 
of known liabilities at 31 december 2011 there were 20000000 gbp outstanding forward contracts regarding the wink 
deferred liability whose fair value is us1534000 and with a remaining contractual life of five months 
the tables below detail the net financial position by currency at 31 december 2011 and 2010
31 december 2011
gbp
us’000
eur
us’000
ils
us’000
usd
us’000
other
us’000
total
us’000
cash and cash equivalent 12699 16098 6111 44099 2845 81852
receivables 9491 6742 2411 5190 2634 26468
availableforsale financial 
investments — — — 175 — 175
net monetary assets 22190 22840 8522 49464 5479 108495
payables 62905 8483 15161 60912 352 147813
net monetary liabilities 62905 8483 15161 60912 352 147813
net financial position 40715 14357 6639 11448 5127 39318 80
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
27 financial risk management continued
31 december 2010
gbp
us’000
eur
us’000
ils
us’000
usd
us’000
other
us’000
t otal
us’000
cash and cash equivalent 11820 9430 5706 31496 3068 61520
receivables 10779 4631 1454 5863 1617 24344
availableforsale financial 
investments — — — 175 — 175
net monetary assets 22599 14061 7160 37534 4685 86039
payables 94226 2828 9308 48115 333 154810
net monetary liabilities 94226 2828 9308 48115 333 154810
net financial position 71627 11233 2148 10581 4352 68771
sensitivity analysis 
the table below details the effect on profit before tax of a 10 strengthening and weakening in the us dollar exchange 
rate at the balance sheet date for balance sheet items denominated in sterling euros and new israeli shekels 
year ended 31 december 2011
gbp eur ils
10 strengthening 4071 1436 664
10 weakening 4071 1436 664
year ended 31 december 2010
gbp eur ils
10 strengthening 7163 1123 215
10 weakening 7163 1123 215
notes to the consolidated financial statements www888holdingsplccom
81
2127304  04042012 proof 17
28 contingent liabilities and regulatory issues
a as part of the board’s ongoing regulatory compliance and operational risk assessment process the board continues to 
monitor legal and regulatory developments and their potential impact on the business and continues to take appropriate 
advice in respect of these developments 
b given the nature of the legal and regulatory landscape of the industry from timetotime the group has received notices 
communications and legal actions from a small number of regulatory authorities and other parties in respect of its 
activities the group has taken legal advice as to the manner in which it should respond and the likelihood of success 
of such actions based on this advice and the nature of the actions the board is unable to quantify reliably any material 
outflow of funds that may result if any accordingly no provisions have been made 
c the group operates in numerous jurisdictions accordingly the group is filing tax returns providing for and paying 
all taxes it believes are due based on local tax laws transfer pricing agreements and tax advice obtained the group 
is periodically subject to audits and assessments by local taxing authorities the board is unable to quantify reliably 
any exposure for additional taxes if any that may arise from the final settlement of such assessments accordingly no 
additional provisions have been made
29 post balance sheet events
a as part of commercial negotiations between the group and one of its b2b white label customers the group has acquired 
the customer’s domain names and brands as at 1 january 2012 as a result the group will be recognising the income within 
its b2c business for 2012 rather than the net commission charged within b2b income as was the case for 2011 based upon 
the provisional estimates of fair value there is no material effect on the group assets and liabilities
b on 23 february 2012 the group prepaid £202 million of the wink deferred consideration to reduce interest costs  
this resulted in a balance of £38 million payable on 21 may 2012 without a penalty 82
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
company balance sheet
at 31 december 2011
note
31 december
2011
us’000
31 december
2010
us’000
assets
noncurrent assets
investments in subsidiaries 2 22782 20956
fixed assets 11 5
22793 20961
current assets
trade and other receivables 3 146287 135339
cash and cash equivalents 4 16386 13674
162673 149013
total assets 185466 169974
equity and liabilities
equity
share capital 5 3163 3145
share premium 65 65
retained earnings 4333 7454
capital redemption reserve 24 24
total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent 1081 10688
liabilities
current liabilities
trade and other payables 6 186547 159286
total liabilities 186547 159286
total equity and liabilities 185466 169974
the financial statements on pages 82 to 84 were approved and authorised for issue by the board of directors on 27 march 
2012 and were signed on its behalf by
brian mattingley
chief executive officer
aviad kobrine
chief financial officer
the notes on pages 85 to 86 form part of these financial statements www888holdingsplccom
83
2127304  04042012 proof 17
company statement of changes in equity
for the year ended 31 december 2011
share
capital
us’000
capital
redemption
reserve
us’000
share 
premium
us’000
retained
earnings
us’000
total
us’000
balance at 1 january 2010 3152 — 65 14344 17561
dividend paid — — — 10491 10491
issue of shares 17 — — 17 —
share benefit charges — — — 2309 2309
share buy back 24 24 — 3465 3465
total comprehensive income for the year — — — 4774 4774
balance at 1 january 2011 3145 24 65 7454 10688
issue of shares 18 — — 18 —
share benefit charges — — — 2877 2877
total comprehensive income for the year — — — 14646 14646
balance at 31 december 2011 3163 24 65 4333 1081
the following describes the nature and purpose of each reserve within equity 
share capital — represents the nominal value of shares allotted calledup and fully paid for
capital redemption reserve — represents amounts transferred from the share capital reserve following the buy back  
and cancellation of equity shares
share premium — represents the amount subscribed for share capital in excess of nominal value 
retained earnings — represents the cumulative net gains and losses recognised in the consolidated statement  
of comprehensive income 
the notes on pages 85 and 86 form part of these financial statements 84
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
company statement of cash flows
for the year ended 31 december 2011
31 december 31 december
2011
us’000
2011
us’000
2010
us’000
2010
us’000
cash flows from operating activities
 loss before income tax 13679 5810
adjustments for
 interest received 59 63
 share benefit charges 1051 293
 depreciation 2 1
 increase in amounts owed by subsidiaries 11369 11047
 decrease in other accounts receivables 421 528
 increase in trade payables 485 39
 decrease increase in amounts owed to subsidiaries 22365 11035
 increase decrease in other accounts payables 3719 1702
cash generated from used in operations 2936 28796
tax paid 275 50
net cash generated from used in operating activities 2661 28846
cash flows from investing activities
 interest received 59 63
 purchase of fixed assets 8 6
 dividends received — 10491
net cash generated from investing activities 51 10548
cash flows from financing activities
 dividends paid — 10491
 share buy back — 3465
net cash used in financing activities — 13956
net increase decrease in cash and cash equivalents 2712 32254
cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 13674 45928
cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 16386 13674
the notes on pages 85 to 86 form part of these financial statements www888holdingsplccom
85
2127304  04042012 proof 17
notes to the company financial statements
1 general information and accounting policies 
a description of the company its activities and definitions are included in note 1 to the consolidated financial statements 
the company has applied accounting policies identical to the group’s accounting policies listed in note 2 to the 
consolidated financial statements other than in relation to investments in its subsidiaries which are held at cost less any 
impairment provision required 
the following standard issued by the iasb has not been adopted by the company as this was not effective for the year 
2011 the company is currently assessing the impact this standard will have on the presentation of its results in future 
periods 
ias27 separate financial statements effective for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 january 2013 ias27 has 
not yet been endorsed for use in the eu
under section 102 of the gibraltar consolidated accounts act 1999 the company is exempt from the requirement to 
present its own income statement 
2 investments in subsidiaries
the company’s subsidiaries are listed in note 23 to the consolidated financial statements and are held at cost less 
provision for any impairment the group applies ifric 11 ‘group and treasury share transactions’ consequently the parent 
company recognises as a cost of investment the value of its own shares that it makes available for the purpose of granting 
share options to employees or contractors of its subsidiaries the movement on investment in subsidiaries in both years 
was in respect of ifric 11 this amount was us1821000 in 2011 2010 us2015000 
3 trade and other receivables
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
amounts due from subsidiaries 146271 134902
other receivables and prepayments 16 437
146287 135339
the carrying value of trade and other receivables approximate to their fair value none of the balances included within 
trade and other receivables are past due or impaired amounts due from subsidiaries are payable on demand
4 cash and cash equivalents
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
cash and cash equivalents 16386 13674
16386 13674 86
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
5 share capital
the disclosures in note 19 to the consolidated financial statements are identical for the company
6 trade and other payables
year ended
31 december
2011
us’000
year ended
31 december
2010
us’000
trade payables 546 61
amounts due to subsidiaries 179324 156959
corporate tax 667 190
other payables and accrued expenses 6010 2076
186547 159286
the carrying value of trade and other payables approximate to their fair value all balances included within trade and other 
payables are repayable on demand 
7 financial risk management
the company’s financial risk management objectives and policies are identical to those of the group as disclosed in note 
27 to the consolidated financial statements 
8 contingent liabilities
the disclosures in note 28 to the consolidated financial statements are identical for the company 
9 sharebased payment 
the disclosures in note 24 to the consolidated financial statements are identical for the company except that the charge 
for the year is partly taken to investment in subsidiaries as set out in note 2
10 related party transactions 
during the year the company received dividends from its subsidiaries totalling nil 2010 us10491000 and paid to its 
shareholders dividends totalling nil 2010 us10491000 
remuneration paid to directors of the company by its subsidiaries in the year totalled us271488 2010 us127938 
share benefit charges in respect of options and shares of the company awarded to employees of subsidiaries totalled 
us1821000 2010 us2015000 
during the year subsidiaries of the company participated in funding its costs which totalled us15120000 2010 
us8379000 at 31 december 2011 net amount owed by the company to its subsidiaries us33054000 2010 
us22059000 
notes to the company financial statements www888holdingsplccom
87
2127304  04042012 proof 17
shareholder information
group websites 
a range of shareholder information is available in the investor relations area of the group’s website www888holdingsplccom 
including 
● ● latest information on the group’s share price 
● ● information on the group’s financial performance
● ● news and events 
the following websites can be also accessed through the group’s main web portal www888com or are available directly 
casino 888’s casino games are offered through its casinoonnet and reef club casino offerings 
● ● wwwcasinoonnetcom 
● ● wwwreefclubcasinocom 
poker 
888’s poker offering is through pacific poker
● ● wwwpacificpokercom 
sportsbook 
888’s sportsbook offering is through 888sports
● ● www888sportcom 
bingo 
888’s bingo offering is through 888ladies and wink 
● ● www888ladiescom 
● ● wwwwinkbingocom 
betmate 
888 offers access to a betting exchange
● ● wwwbetmatecom 
888info 
allows customers to practice their gaming skills for fun through a number of key casino and poker games
● ● www888info 
888responsible 
the group’s dedicated site focusing on responsible gaming
● ● www888responsiblecom 88
2127304  04042012 proof 17
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
shareholder notes www888holdingsplccom
06
2127304  05042012 proof 18
shareholder services
all enquiries relating to ordinary shares depository 
interests dividends and changes of address should be 
directed to the group’s transfer agent
capita registrars
the registry
34 beckenham road
beckenham
kent
br3 4tu 
tel 0870 162 3100
wwwcapitaregistrarscom
further information
for further information please contact
principal bankers
the royal bank of scotland plc
280 bishopsgate
london
ec2m 4rb
solicitors
freshfields bruckhaus deringer
65 fleet street
london
ec4y 1hs
hassans
5763 line wall road
gibraltar
company secretary
strait secretaries limited
5763 line wall road
gibraltar
auditors
bdo llp
chartered accountants 
55 baker street
london 
w1u 7eu
uk
bdo limited 
registered auditors
montagu pavilion
8–10 queensway
gibraltar
incorporated in gibraltar with
registered number 90099 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2010
01
2127304  05042012 proof 18
888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011 
888 holdings plc
suite 601701 europort
europort road
gibraltar
t 350 20049800
f 350 20048280
e info888holdingsplccom
www888holdingsplccom


Summary:
 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
4
2127304  04042012 proof 17
introduction
we have enjoyed a highly successful year of trading driven 
by continuous improvements in our offering and renewed 
focus on our core strengths resulting in a 26 increase in 
group revenue to us331 million 2010 us262 million
2011 was about going back to basics and i have reiterated  
in this statement our refocused strategy
from a financial perspective we delivered a record 
performance ebitda

 reached us56 million 2010  
us29 million with our ebitda

 margin increasing to 
168 2010 109 as at 31 december 2011 the group had 
us82 million of cash and cash equivalents of which us45 
million represented liabilities to customers on 23 february 
2012 the group prepaid £20 million of the wink deferred 
consideration to reduce interest costs this resulted in a 
balance of £38 million payable on 21 may 2012
as online gaming evolves 888 continues to innovate and 
change with it by providing players of all ability with 
a compelling offering and promoting the offering with 
targeted marketing campaigns we have grown our active 
b2c casino and poker customer numbers to almost half 
a million — an increase of 69 since q4 2010 further 
improvements are in the pipeline and potential significant 
regulatory opportunities leaving us very well positioned for 
the future
strategy
as i set out in our interim results last august following a 
review of the business we reaffirmed our commitment to 
maximising revenues and taking the company forward  
this strategy is made up of a number of key strands
first we will concentrate on our core product groups  
which are casino poker bingo and to a lesser extent sport 
where we depend upon partners to operate a sportsbook 
in a highly competitive market these products will be 
delivered via our b2c offering and through our dragonfish 
to b2b clients
second we will continue to focus our attention on our b2c 
customers ensuring we deliver a ‘best in class’ product 
excellence in customer service and a real valueformoney 
proposition our backoffice is a key asset of the company 
and truly world class ensuring maximum returns on 
investment from our marketing and customer recruitment 
campaigns monitoring and improving lifetime value of 
our customers whilst fulfilling high standards of social and 
corporate responsibility moreover this is done using world 
class fraud detection player monitoring and excellent crm 
practices we will continue to develop this key asset as it is 
a true competitive advantage that benefits both customers 
and clients alike
third we have appraised our dragonfish b2b contracts and 
where they were sub optimal renegotiated or terminated 
them we will continue to develop a pipeline of new 
opportunities which will be fewer but have a greater positive 
impact on our revenues and profit
fourthly we will work to improve margins by maximising 
operational efficiencies and driving volume and where 
necessary cutting costs there was some impact on the 2011 
results but we have yet to see the full benefit of savings 
made to head count and other operational efficiencies it is 
our shortterm goal to return to levels of margin achieved in 
2009 and then to further improve on these
chief executives review 
 
  excluding share benefit charges of us24 million 2010  
us23 million goodwill write off us207 million 2010 nil 
and restructuring costs of us49 million 2010 us22 million www888holdingsplccom
5
2127304  04042012 proof 17
finally it is a clear strategic imperative that we concentrate 
on locally regulated markets we view these markets in three 
specific categories which have individual characteristics
● ● implementational — for example in italy and france 
where regulation has been introduced and we have 
already commenced trading
● ● formational — as in spain where governments have 
announced regulation and are working towards a 
framework here we will decide on a trading strategy 
start dialogue with local partners either for b2c or b2b 
tie ups and lobby governments in an attempt to assist 
in shaping the framework
● ● developmental — where there is a strong indication 
that at some time in the near future the market will 
open here we talk to local enterprise with a view to 
forming partnerships with whom we can jointly explore 
opportunities and attempt to influence the regulatory 
framework currently we are focusing primarily on 
the usa
we have already delivered against and realised the benefit 
of this renewed focus our focus on driving key product 
areas has significantly increased player signups leading 
to significant growth in volumes we will continue to focus 
on maximizing the potential of our existing core offering 
augmented with innovations in both product and customer 
interaction and service
b2c
the b2c offering remains our core area and the bedrock of 
the success of the business performance across the offering 
has been excellent in 2011 with revenue up 28 to us284 
million 2010 us222 million as a result of our focused 
investment in order to provide the best possible customer 
experience and improved and targeted marketing we have 
pursued a volumeled strategy aimed at attracting a large 
number of players through providing an entertaining and 
accessible platform on which customers enjoy playing the 
strategy has lead to customer lifetime value preserved over 
time with retention programmes performing well so that 
churn rate is lower than it has been in the past
2011 was a phenomenal year for 888’s poker business with 
revenue increasing 58 to us61 million 2010 us38 
million our poker 6 platform has transformed our poker 
network and we have risen from 13th to 4th in the global 
liquidity rankings in little over 12 months in q4 alone the 
number of active poker customers increased by 58
the poker 6 network is carefully managed we aim to attract 
players in to enjoy the game which has a more recreational 
feel with players placing smaller initial stakes we have 
worked hard over the last year on the software suite which 
is dedicated to targeted marketing — almost targeting 
players individually with specific incentives and promotions 
and we are now reaping the benefits of that investment
in casino this ‘smart marketing’ also worked for us with 
revenues up 27 to us148 million 2010 us117 million 
the success of casino has been driven both by the highly 
successful marketing campaigns and significant back
office improvements our efforts were recognised with 888 
winning best online casino of the year at the ice totally 
gaming awards 888 holdings plc  annual report  accounts 2011
6
2127304  04042012 proof 17
as i said above a key focus for us is newly regulated 
markets our fully localised casino helps penetration into 
new markets we launched into the italian market in july 
with more than 30 games and with the introduction of the 
first live casino in italy — live dealer on 888 initial trading 
has been encouraging and we have already achieved more 
than 5 market share
we have just launched a new casino offering a stateof
theart platform similar to poker 6 with a number of new 
features and we will continue to invest in functionality 
customisation and localisation of features such as payment 
methods
bingo is becoming a mature market but we continue to 
hold our own we added 15 new instant games on our 
bingo platform including a number of global brands we 
will continue to invest in new features such as progressive 
jackpots new games and mini games to keep the platform 
refreshed and relevant
888sport while relatively small is an important part of the 
customer offering particularly around significant sporting 
events which in 2012 will be dominated by the london 
olympics and football’s euro 2012
dragonfish
this year we undertook a widespread appraisal of the 
dragonfish business — reviewing existing contracts and 
evaluating the right deals to pursue revenue was up 16 
at us47 million 2010 us40 million as a result we 
also have a more profitable b2b business by successfully 
renegotiating and terminating suboptimal contracts
the most significant step this year was the nevada gaming 
control board and the nevada gaming commission 
voting unanimously to grant a finding of suitability of 
the commercial agreement between caesars interactive 
entertainment and dragonfish this finding which was 
the result of a rigorous and lengthy process of scrutiny 
underlines the integrity sophistication and professionalism 
that the company maintains as its core tenets of its 
business model
after the period ended we announced an extension of our 
agreement with caesars into the us — the first strand of 
our us strategy dragonfish is now in a very strong position 
to explore the potential of the us market we have a strong 
platform to roll out our cutting edge turnkey solution to 
other potential partners as the market opens
people
it’s not just the offering that makes 888 stand out it is our 
people i am a true believer in teamwork and we have a 
fantastic team of people working at 888 there is no doubt 
we have some of the most gifted technological staff in 
the industry i would like to take this opportunity to thank 
everyone for their hard work this year the more i get to 
know the employees the more impressed i am with their 
enthusiasm and commitment to the business it is their 
drive innovation and effectiveness that has helped deliver 
such a successful year
regulation
regulation of online gaming continued to present both 
opportunities and challenges to the group during 2011 
and this is likely to be the case during 2012 a growing 
number of jurisdictions most notably in europe have 
adopted legislation regulating the group’s business often 
in widely divergent manners while regulation in various 
jurisdictions has the effect of providing legal certainty 
contributing to stability and bolstering the longterm 
value of the group’s various markets it is also inevitably 
accompanied by the burden of local taxation and costly 
compliance requirements the group continues to remain 
actively engaged in regulatory developments worldwide and 
continues to seek opportunities for growth presented by 
regulation while facing the accompanying challenges
chief executives review 
  www888holdingsplccom
7
2127304  04042012 proof 17
two notable regulatory developments that are likely to 
have a significant impact on the group during 2012 are the 
possible reform of the uk online gaming regime with the 
imposition of uk gaming duty on foreign operators and the 
emergence of a us online poker market initially in nevada 
where the group continues to pioneer the developing online 
market 888 is investing effort to averting or minimise the 
potentially adverse impact of a uk reform taking all steps to 
maximise the benefit of the potential for growth presented 
by a regulated us online poker market
responsible gaming
as a global leader in online gaming entertainment 888 is 
committed to a proactive policy of corporate and social 
responsibility conducting our business responsibly is 
fundamental to our future success and the sustainability 
of our business our values place the community and 
the customer at the centre of our endeavours we are 
constantly exploring new and innovative ways to create 
a caring responsible gaming environment and to ensure 
under age addictive or other inappropriate customers 
are unable to access our gaming sites we work closely 
with organisations such as gamcare and gambling 
therapy to enhance the training of our customers support 
representatives
current trading and outlook
2011 marked a new chapter in 888’s history we have 
realigned the business to focus on its core strengths under 
a team that is steeped in online gaming we are more than 
ready to take advantage of liberalisation in the industry and 
we are well positioned to achieve first mover advantage  
we have a unique position in the us to allow the launch of a 
real money offering promptly in either federal or state based 
once regulation is finalized by gaming authorities  
our markets are changing and evolving and we are moving fast 
to ensure we continue to innovate and expand our horizons
while market liberalisation offers new growth opportunities 
for regulated businesses such as ours it also means 
investment in marketing to position the brand and acquire 
customers we will continue to invest in regulated markets 
to secure our future for the long term
we continue to exceed our customers’ expectations both 
in terms of offering and service we will continue to pursue 
our strategy of focusing on recreational players and as well 
as major product enhancements during the year such as 
the launch of our new casino offering we will focus on the 
continuous improvement of the customer experience at 
every point
brian mattingley

chief executive
 brian mattingley was appointed ceo on 27 march 2012