OnGame Takes On East European Initiative

Published: Saturday, November 19, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

ONGAME POKER TAKES AN EAST EUROPEAN INITIATIVE

Russian, Polish language poker sites launched

The major Swedish poker software provider, Ongame has launched real-money poker websites in Poland and Russia, making it the first big operator to offer Internet venues in the native languages in these territories.

Europoker.com's Russian language site will be promoted vigorously in a multi-million dollar marketing campaign centred on Moscow, which will include TV and radio advertising and is scheduled to run until the end of this year.

Continuing after that could be problematical in view of new constraints on the advertising of i-gaming which are about to be introduced by the government.

Russian gambling is a booming market with considerable potential according to Ongame, which says that the number of land casinos in the country has grown from 30 to 58 in the past three years.

Ongame's VP new markets, Jakob Soderbaum says: "Online gambling in Russia is still very much in its infancy, but with internet penetration growing and interest in gambling on the increase, the signs are that Russia will become an important market for the industry. As there is no market leader and only a short period before advertising restrictions take effect, the next six weeks will prove critical to the long-term look of the Russian market."

Plans for a Polish language site are also well advanced.