In his 18 months as CFO of one of the industry's leading online gambling and software providers, which began in February 2006 and ends these days, Shuki Barak has seen the industry turn around like a roulette table. But he can walk away quietly, knowing that the chips have fallen pretty much in the right slots.

As a young CFO at the time, Barak has seen PlayTech going public, and performing strong on the AIM as well as in the gambling market itself. Then he witnessed the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and the consequent ban on gambling online in the US.

Barak is able to show a minor drop in revenue, by 5%, a year after the ban took effect. Surely a dramatic change from the 80% and above turnover growth of two years ago, a 44 million pounds revenue is considered a success in the new global market.

And that is exactly what the company and its CFO have managed to do - go global. It has expanded to other countries, offered new games to go along with its poker products, and developed mobile gaming as a new niche.

Whereas the US accounted for half or more of business at the time, PlayTech revenue now splits thus: 52% from Europe and 34% from Asia-Pacific.

Poker, once a third of the company's games selection, is now complemented with bingo, widely popular in Europe. Pachinko and Mahjong are popular products among Asian customers.

Business agreements with gambling platforms in India and the Philippines and acquiring the services of Chinese investment groups are set-ups for future business developments in the Far East as well.

Who Barak's successor will be is yet unknown. What is clear and can be said partly in his favor, is that the industry is on its feet again and the odds are favorable to succeed.