Amaya Gaming: David Baazov stepped down

On August, 12 CEO of Amaya Gaming, PokerStars’ parent company, David Baazov left his post officially. Since then, David can’t influence the affairs of the company and doesn’t occupy any position. It should be mentioned, that earlier he had been on termless paid vacation as a CEO and the chairman of the board of directors of Amaya. Everything happened as a result of the March events, when he was accused of fraud and share trading using confidential information.

Even though David was doing his best to justify himself, the shares of Amaya fell a lot, but the situation leveled off in a while. Baazov was replaced by Rafi Ashkenazi, Rational Group’s ex-CEO. In March he was appointed on temporary basis, but now he is a permanent CEO.

When leaving, David traditionally paid respect to Amaya, said that he felt proud about his contribution into company’s development. He also added he would still support Amaya in their strategy development and management.

The latest news on Baazov and Amaya’s termination were revealed at the recent meeting of shareholders. Also they announced company’s results for the second quarter of 2016. In brief:

• Online poker revenue in the second quarter of 2016 was $215,6 million, the same as the previous year
• The total revenue in the second quarter of 2016 was $285,9 million, 10,2% higher than in the second quarter of 2015. The conclusion: poker share in the company’s financial results is decreasing
• 21% of the total revenue of Amaya Gaming for the second quarter of 2016 belongs to online casino and sports betting.