Playtech was formed in 1999 by a group of entrepreneurs who saw an unexplored niche in the marketplace. Unlike other software developers who built and licensed casino software, Playtech's strategy was to collaborate with land-based casinos.

                   

This gave them unique insight to pinpoint what they perceived to be the weaknesses in existing gaming platforms – most online casinos were fairly basic at that time. They soon realised that players wanted an experience that was as close to a visit to an actual casino as possible, so they set about making this happen.

In 2001 Club Dice opened for business. It was the first online casino to run Playtech's new platform, and its feature set was impressive for the time, including multiplayer modes and a VIP club. Significantly, it also introduced the idea of complimentary rewards – something found in abundance at a land-based casino but not seen before at an online casino.

Over the next few years Playtech innovated many features which are now standard at most online casinos. These include the ability to view playing histories, live streaming video for poker dealers, live customer support via online chat, and the ability to recruit affiliates. Playtech notched up another world first when it developed a tool to combat compulsive gambling, which is integrated into their platform and demonstrates the company's social responsibility.

Playtech's innovations proved extremely popular with players, resulting in high demand for their software. From 2002 onwards the company experienced large growth, with many partnerships being formed with Russian, East Asian European and African casino companies.

2003 saw the launch of Playtech's first bingo network, Ruby Bingo, which is operated on their behalf by InterContinental Casinos. Into this area Playtech innovated new usability features like pop-up game schedules, “quick buy,” and customised daubers – another feature taken from land-based casinos. They also introduced the idea of private chatrooms, which today are seen attached to almost every game.

In 2004 they entered the sports betting arena, but more significantly this was also the year that they launched iPoker. Ipoker's interface became a trendsetter because it allowed users to switch between 2D and 3D representations of the game. If you a new computer you could experience the game in full 3D with lush graphics, but if your system was older and couldn't handle the video requirements, you could still participate in 2D mode, a very democratic approach.

In terms of the end user experience, all of Playtech's software is available either to download or to play within a web browser as a Flash game. It's graphically rich, and filled with interactive features that go over and above simple gambling, making them an attractive option for players worldwide. The software is vetted and audited by Technical Systems Testing, a third party testing firm that works with many of the major software developers to ensure that their games are fair and honest.

Playtech's consistent growth saw them float on the London stock exchange in 2006, with their initial value set at around half a billion pounds.