PR: Casino City Acquires Gambling Portal Webmasters Association

[Casinomeister]

Contact: Andrea Mullaney

Director of Marketing, Casino City

617.332.2850 x 135

andrea@casinocity.com


July 19, 2006



Casino City, the world's largest provider of casino and gaming information, today announced its acquisition of the Gambling Portal Webmasters Association
(www.gpwa.org), the largest webmaster forum of its kind on the Internet.



In announcing the move, Casino City CEO Michael Corfman described the GPWA as an
important resource for online gaming portal site owners that will continue to thrive
and grow under Casino City's leadership. "I look forward to working together with
the GPWA membership, and with my colleagues at Casino City, to create an association
that is vibrant and that has the relationships and resources necessary to make a
difference," Corfman said. Casino City has been involved with the GPWA for four
years, and Corfman himself has been a member for two years.



The GPWA was founded in May 2001 by Cynthia Carley, who wanted to create an
organization that would strengthen relationships between affiliate program managers
and portal webmasters. In May 2004, Carley sold the GPWA to husband and wife team
John and Marlene Derosset, under whose leadership the organization's membership
increased by 50 percent (now over 3,300 members) and the sponsor base doubled in
size.



Carley, who is still an active GPWA member, gave a ringing endorsement to Corfman's
acquisition, stating that his "ethics and values are sound, and his business
expertise and acumen far surpass mine. I will be there to help in any way I can."



John Derosset, who along with his wife will also remain active in the GPWA,
expressed his confidence that the organization will continue to grow and thrive:
"Casino City has the resources and man/woman power to take GPWA to great heights.
Under Michael's leadership, GPWA will move forward and become stronger than ever."
Marlene Derosset added, "John and I have a lot of faith in Michael and will be there
to support him in any way we can."



Casino City has already taken over the hosting and maintenance of the GPWA website,
and earlier today rolled out an upgrade to the site with significant enhancements to
its usability. New features include intuitive site navigation, more informative
section introductions, and a greater focus on the extensive forums available on the
site. GPWA's 70+ public and private forums feature nearly 24,000 threads and over
170,000 posts with invaluable news, information, and advice for seasoned, rookie,
and aspiring webmasters.



Corfman, who is now the GPWA's Executive Director, plans to concentrate on enhancing
the organization's role in increasing transparency in the gaming industry as a
whole. "I think of the gaming industry as a public garden," he said. "If we want
people to visit so we can be successful, we have to get rid of the weeds. I believe
communities like the GPWA can support the good industry players and expose the bad
industry players if they have the right infrastructure in place. We will direct our
energy, passion, and resources to build tools that will be of the greatest benefit
to the GPWA community."



Casino City is a publisher of directories and almanacs for the gaming industry
including Casino City's iGaming Business Directory and the operator of a network of
websites including www.CasinoCity.com and www.CasinoCityPress.com.

[dominique]

Michael is a good sort and I am hoping that GPWA will be reaching out and cooperating a lot more with other affiliate groups.

Time to bury all hatchets is long overdue. Perhaps this GPWA leadership will do it's part to form a powerful and cohesive affiliate sector.

[jetset]

Amen to that, Dom - hopefully this will act as a catalyst for unity of some sort in the affiliate world.

In my experience Michael Corfman is a straight arrow and an astute businessman with no affiliate baggage (as far as I am aware) and he could be in a position to make a real difference if other major affiliates keep an open mind.