Online gaming giant PartyGaming saw pre-tax profits rise at the half year stage, but revenues fell by 21% predominantly due to the strength of the dollar against the euro and sterling. Pre-tax profit rose to £38m in the six months ended June from £30.3m last time. However, net revenue fell to $201.3m (2008: $254.8m) reflecting the significant appreciation in the US dollar, that was responsible for about half of the year-on-year decrease, as well as competitive pressures in poker and the consumer downturn. Poker bore the brunt of these factors and revenue decreased by 33% versus 2008.Casino was flat year-on-year with adverse currency movements and lower cross-sell from poker being offset by higher levels of spend from casino players.Sports betting revenue was down 13% versus the prior year due to adverse currency movements but the number of unique active players was up by 28%, helped by a record number of new player sign-ups in the period. Bingo revenue was down 32% due to the termination of the white label agreement with ITV as well as adverse currency movements.In the three weeks ended 18 August, which represents the peak holiday season in most of the group's core markets, trading has been strong and in line with management's expectations.In poker, new player sign-ups averaged 1,300 per day and there were on average 51,000 active players per day, generating average gross daily revenue of $642,900. In casino, average gross daily revenue was $713,200, in bingo it was $510,800 while in sports betting, average gross win per day was $56,800. 'The group continues to make good progress in 2009 despite a challenging business environment,' said chief executive Jim Ryan.'Given our robust trading performance and outlook, we remain confident about the group's prospects and look forward to the rest of the year with confidence.'