Bwin's joint boss cashes in his chips as Teufelberger takes total control

Jim Ryan, the joint chief executive of the online gambling group bwin.party digital, has had enough of Gibraltar's Barbary apes and is quitting the job to head home to his native Canada.

The move comes just over a year after bwin, which sponsors Real Madrid, merged with Partygaming and each provided their own co-chief executive.

Mr Ryan came from the latter and has handed complete control to the bwin man, Norbert Teufelberger.

Despite the seeming friendliness of his departure in the middle of next month, Mr Ryan will trouser a full-year's salary as a farewell gift. Last year he was paid €573,000 (£477,000).

Mr Ryan added the classic cliche: "Having given over 11 years of my life to the online gaming industry, I am now looking forward to returning to Canada and enjoying more time with my family."