Poker.com Cell Phone Game Attracts Attention
Published: Friday, May 06, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
POKER.COM CELL PHONE GAME ATTRACTS ATTENTION
And the U.S. paradox
It wasn't just the players who noticed Poker.com's mobile gaming service launch
last (April) month - several mainstream media publications seized on the opportunity
to comment on what was dubbed "The U.S. Paradox" too.
The general
thrust of the stories was that the Poker.com launch highlights the fast growth
and accessibility of online gambling, drawing attention to a business that has
grown so much that investment bankers are circling several major players seeking
lucrative new stock offerings.
But those offerings will not be in the
United States due to the result of "....the Internet gambling's great paradox.
The U.S. market by far is the world's largest, but the government remains adamantly
opposed to Web wagering."
The reports point out that the obdurate
position of the federal government in the USA has induced uncertainty and kept
world class companies from venturing into a new market, although it hasn't stopped
people from betting online. Yet, the government hasn't shown the will to bust
individual bettors. Consequently, America gets no economic benefit from online
gambling despite its dominance as a *consumer* in the world gambling market.
Quoting stats from European investment experts, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein
the reports reveal that online gambling is still dwarfed by traditional forms
of wagering, where last year the global market was some $ 237 billion, of which
only around 3.9 percent came from the online sector.
In reporting that
PokerRoom.com appears to be the first Web gambling outfit to allow its game to
be downloaded into cellular phones the media have it wrong however.
There's
a nice plug for Sweden-based PokerRoom.com in the media, too - the reports say
that Poker.com is the sixth-biggest Internet card room, though it jockeys back
and forth in rank with the fourth- and fifth-placed sites, according to the knowledgeable
portal PokerPulse.
