Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The launch of two high-profile online gambling sites over the few weeks has
provided further evidence that the online gambling industry, far from
crumbling in the wake of the UIGEA, is still as strong as ever. The highest
profile launch was that of Playboy Gaming, whose investment in the market
shows that even established big-name brands are confident in the future of
the industry. As one would expect, Playboy Gaming offers perks such as the
chance to win a trip Hugh Heffner's Playboy Mansion or the option to watch
Playmate videos at the same time as using the poker room or casino. Visit
Playboy Poker and Playboy Casino. The other big launch has been that of
GNUF.com, an online gambling community billed as a mix of MySpace and Vegas.
Here punters have access to all the usual casino and poker games but also
have the chance to set up their own profile, upload videos or pictures,
write a blog, and join in forum debates. Visit GNUF Poker and GNUF Casino.
Meanwhile the pre-existing online poker rooms have been moving from strength
to strength since the immediate aftermath of the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in October 2006. Statistics from
WhichPoker.com show that PokerStars, which has remained open to US
customers, has become the world's biggest poker room, pulling in nearly
20,000 real-money players at peak times, compared to roughly 10,000 before
the UIGEA forced PartyPoker and others from the US market. Full Tilt, Bodog
and UltimateBet have also prospered by remaining open to US gamblers. But
it's not just those who stayed in the US who have been doing well.
PartyPoker, which saw its player numbers fall by over 50 percent in the
immediate aftermath of the UIGEA, has been recovering strongly. Player
numbers are up by over 60 percent since October according to WhichPoker.com,
with PartyPoker breaking the 10,000 mark regularly over the last few weeks.
All this is good news for the online gambling industry, which looked as if
it might struggle in the wake of the UIGEA. The launch of two new
gambling/poker sites, along with the booming figures from online poker rooms
is emphatic evidence that online gambling is here to stay, with or without
the US.