Will Party Gaming stock go up?

It is anyone’s guess how the stock market will behave, but most feel that Party Gaming stock must be on the rise, since CEO Mitch Garber has decided to not sell his shares as had been announced, and on top of that he is taking options for even more shares in the company.

Reuters reported on this yesterday, when Party Gaming – home to popular sites Party Poker and Party Gammon – announced that Garber has reversed his plans of selling a portion of his stock. On March of this year Garber had announced his intention to sell part of his shares between December 19 and 31, but instead he has now decided not to sell any more stock (although he did sell 5 million shares this September). Besides this, Garber exercised share options for 3.5 million shares, increasing his hold to 8.75 million Party Gaming shares – more than twice of the 3,500,000 shares he is obliged to hold by contract.

Most experts consider this an encouraging move: the fact that Garber is planning to acquire stock instead of disposing of it speaks volumes of Garber’s view of the company’s future. For instance, there has already been talk of Party Gaming going private, which might affect the value of the stock, as it could give Party Poker access to the online market again. Also, all eyes are on Washington as the quest to revert UIGEA and make online gambling (ort at least poker) legal again seems to be nearing success, which would result in an increase of business for Party Poker and the group in general. Or perhaps Garber is just cleverly speculating with his stock in order to get more for it when he finally decides to sell. Whatever the explanation,it is certainly an interesting development, and we will keep our eyes on it for you.