Online poker website Hippo52 merges with PokerHigh

Hippo52.com, a website run by Delhi-based Ultimate Gaming Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has merged with Quatumskill Gaming and Tech Pvt. Ltd., the company that operates the poker portal PokerHigh.

The decision to combine forces and merge the new portal was taken in a bid to consolidate the two companies’ position and face larger competitors collectively. A message on the Hippo52.com home page states their website has merged with PokerHigh and the player balances on their website have been transferred to their PokerHigh accounts.

While the exact details of the agreement between the two companies have not been made public, the deal will involve the transfer of the 1,400 users of Hippo52 and their player balances to PokerHigh and an increased focus of the combined entity on offline events, both in India and abroad.

Commenting on the merger, Mithun Rebello, founder and Managing Director of PokerHigh said, “Having been in the game from the early days, we’ve always believed that consolidation would be a natural next step for the industry in the years to come, and we saw this as a great opportunity to further cement our position in the market. Having collaborated with Hippo52 during multiple events in the past, we are now excited to work together as one unit with their combined expertise in offline poker and community engagement.

Sumit Khurana, the founder of Hippo52, is a passionate round tabler and a banker by profession with many years of experience under his belt. Having worked with marquee banks such as Standard Chartered, HDFC and ABN Amro, he brings on board his vast experience and network from the corporate banking world. Sumit will take the lead in PokerHigh’s offline marketing strategy.”

Sumit Khurana, the founder of Hippo52, who will now be heading the offline events division  of PokerHigh added, “We have been watching the growth of online poker in India for some years now, and with this move we wish to offer even better experiences to our combined patrons and to set the ball rolling in our endeavour of making poker reach its true potential in India. PokerHigh has been known as one of the most fun brands out there for over 3 years now, and we are truly excited to be working together with them. The idea will be to focus on bringing recreational poker players into the main fold, through specially curated poker experiences at exotic destinations across the globe. These expeditions will be multi dimensional and will blend poker with other unique experiences.”

Both Hippo52 and PokerHigh have collaborated in various offline poker and skill gaming events in the past, including a recent cash game trip for poker players to Colombo and a skill-gaming event organised by Brainduel Games in Delhi.

PokerHigh boasts of having actor Arjun Rampal as their brand ambassador and has obtained a license from the Nagaland government to run online skill games.