The Future of Online Poker
With the recent passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 in the US Congress, the future ofnline poker looks bleak. As a response to this law, several major players in the online gambling industry have signified their intention to stop accepting payments from US citizens.
Online poker rooms and online casinos are not the only ones affected by this legislation. Software developers, payment services,and other businesses directly,and indirectly,benefiting from the online gambling industry, have also been affected. Neteller, for instance, saw its share prices drop by 63% as a result of this legal development.
Both small and large online poker rooms have seen their revenues and profits decrease dramatically since the law took effect. The majority of online poker players are American citizens, and with US banks prohibited from transferring funds to online poker accounts, U.S.-based players are no longer able to gamble at these sites.
Some online poker operators are not to be easily deterred, however. Several large online poker rooms have increased their promotional efforts, and concentrated their operations outside the United States. The Asian and European markets look promising to struggling online poker rooms reeling from the loss of revenues.
In Europe, the future of online poker looks brighter than ever. The United Kingdom has recently passed the UK Gambling Act which could make the British market one of the world's largest online gambling markets. This act will place commissions to monitor gambling activities, and place regulations on gambling addiction, age verification, and other vital concerns.
Italy and Portugal are also raring to follow the UK's lead in legalizing online gambling. Other European countries may follow suit, although this development will depend on how Europeans will react to these moves to legalize online poker, and the online gambling industry, in general.
With online poker rooms shifting their market concentration away from the United States, these sites have seen an increase in the number of poker players outside America. As a result, these online poker rooms have increased their promotional efforts in Europe and Asia. This will also mean that there will be fierce competition among online poker operators, as they try to attract players from a smaller customer base.
The U.S. law may have succeeded in curtailing the online gambling activities of American citizens, but, as a consequence, online poker is now placed in a much bigger and richer global arena. It seems that the Americans are not to be easily deterred by the new law, and their fellow online poker players from other countries are ready to take their place in the world of online poker.
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