Online gaming company PartyGaming is looking to become the world's biggest online casino with a 65 per cent jump in sales and a record number of new poker players during the fourth quarter.

The company, which is behind online poker room, Party Poker, recorded group revenue of £180 million ($320 million) in the three months to December 2005.

It also attracted 229,277 new players to its online gaming room, up from 180,000 from the previous year.

Casino sales also rose eightfold from a year ago to $82 million with the success of blackjack games.

Richard Segal, chief executive, said: "The success of blackjack has transformed our casino business. Through effective cross-selling to our large customer base we are well on the way to creating the world's largest online casino."

Partygaming also managed to recruit a third of its new online customers from outside of the US compared to just 14 per cent last year. The company has been trying to expand its overseas profile following tighter regulations for online gaming within the US.

Analysts have consequently increased their earnings forecast for the year. House broker Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said it upgraded this by 1.8 percent for 2005 and 2.9 percent for 2006.

PartyGaming is also currently facing legal action from rival Empire Online, whose profits were hit hard after PartyGaming pulled out of their partnership in October 2005. The two had previously pooled their competitors to create bigger competitions but after the split the smaller Empire Poker site attracted significantly fewer players.