Gambling/General : Striking news for the European gambling industry

By now, it's a known fact that Las Vegas Sands Corp. intends to launch an Internet Casino that will target the U.K. market. Obviously, the Sands plan was striking news for the European gambling industry.

We ask ourselves, how could an American business open an online casino and target Europeans when the U.S. Department of Justice is already accusing many directors of authorized European Internet gaming businesses that permitted U.S. players to gamble?

Sands represent a considerable and serious threat to usual Internet gambling businesses: Brick and Mortar gaming corporations are looking to penetrate the online world.

Bill Weidner, the Chief Operating Officer of the Las Vegas Sands stated that this is an extra occasion for their business to generate a greater consciousness of their international brands and establish in addition, their existence and interest in the U.K. market. He also sustained that the online gaming industry continues to develop and that this strategy will put the company in a strapping position to estimate and respond to other latent prospects.

And there's more! Sands Corp. isn't alone. Dusk Till Dawn, a card room that will open in April in Nottingham, England, owns by now an accessible online poker room, and the Bicycle Casino has been managing a play-money online poker room for three years.

When Rob Yong initially imagined the Dusk Till Dawn poker room, he had no intent of launching an online escort.

The 46-table card room in Nottingham will be the biggest in Europe once it launches. Considering the success of the online business, which opened in December, the card room it's meant to be a triumph. In less than a month after launching, DTDpoker.com had more than 1,000 players.

The main reason of the Dusk Till Dawn popularity is that DTDpoker.com will support its clients to enter into the physical card room. Online gamblers own "DTD Points" which can be used to pay for membership charge or to get food and drinks at the live club.

Trumper's hoping that around 75 % of their live club members will continue to gamble online. He also mentioned that various players that were previously playing at other online sites have decided to start playing at DTDpoker.com in order to make money to gamble with once the club opens. Unfortunately, DTDpoker.com uses CryptoLogic software, and U.S. players are restricted from real money games on the site.

Building a Community

Kelley O'Hara, Marketing Director for The Bicycle Casino, stated that when players go home from gambling in the casino, they go online and play at home together. When people know each other's screen names, it's great to contact each other and meet up at the casino. So, in fact, The Bicycle Casino created an exciting social plus.

O'Hara said that this project is a great chance for the company to support the players and to offer them the possibility to gamble online and keep the corporation's name in front of them, even if they live in Australia or England. However, O'Hara seemed receptive to the idea of regulating Internet gambling.

The Future of Gambling

Nevertheless, the UIGEA inserted one stipulation that was in fact friendly to Internet gambling businesses: it gives states the right to regulate Internet gambling within its borders.

In conclusion, although some Internet gambling corporations have already created a solid reputation among online players, it will be hard to compete with these established brands, particularly those that unite their live and online rewards programs. So, this new context will make life harder for actual Internet-only casinos.