The chief executive officer of Party Gaming PLC, parent company of online poker room Party Poker (www.partypoker.com), has announced his resignation, effective next year.

According to media reports, CEO Mitch Garber, who joined the Gibraltar-based company in 2006, will leave when his contract expires on May 1, 2009.

Party Gaming PLC stopped doing business in the U.S. market over a year ago, after the U.S. Congress passed anti-online gambling legislation.

The loss of the U.S. market caused the company’s profits to drop a whopping 67% last year.

Garber, 43, a Canadian, plans to return to his homeland when his stint in Gibraltar, a British city state on the coast of Spain, expires, media reports said. =A0 The value of Party Gaming PLC stock, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, fell 9% upon the news of Garber’s impending resignation, the reports said. =A0 “I think it’s always great for a company to promote from within,” Garber said, commenting on a possible successor.

“A number of people who have come to Party Gaming through acquisitions or progressed through the company would have the relevant skills,” he said. Party Gaming PLC’s profits fell to $42 million in 2007.

The company’s profits were $128 million in 2006.

In addition to running an online poker room, Party Gaming PLC also operates websites that offer casino games and sports betting.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.) =A0=A0