Skin

1. An online poker room that is on a network with other poker rooms. The software is almost always the same as all the other rooms on the network, except for the color scheme and other minor graphical variations.

Benefits of Skins

For the poker networks: allows multiple companies to market the network and bring players to the tables, making the network more money.

For the poker rooms: all the software and infrastructure, as well as the existing network player base, is in place - the site can concentrate on marketing.

For the players: more opportunities for bonus whoring and rakeback at different skins on the same network.

Party Poker

In the early-to-mid 2000's Party Poker controlled an informal network consisting of itself and a handful of skins. In October 2005, Party Poker launched a new software platform, yet did not allow its skins (Empire Poker, Coral Eurobet, Multipoker and Intertops) to use it, thus shutting them out of the network. They were able to use the old platform, but without Party Poker, they were dead in the water.

The next month, PartyGaming, the parent company of Party Poker, purchased Multipoker and Intertops, absorbing Multipoker, but making Intertops simply an affiliate for Party Poker. Coral Eurobet was left to fend for itself and eventually joined the Ongame network.

Also in November, Empire Online, parent company of Empire Poker, sued PartyGaming for damage that was inflicted on Empire from the skin split. As PartyGaming had made an offer to buy Empire Online prior to the lawsuit, many felt that the move Party made to kill the skins was designed to hurt the stock price of Empire Online, making it cheaper to purchase. In February 2006, Party Gaming purchased Empire Poker as part of the settlement of the lawsuit.