The poker-mania has swept across the world. As poker is
becoming more and more accessible thanks to the Internet
and the rising number of TV-transmitted tournaments, the
mania has hit us for good. Poker has to a great extent
moved out of sinister basements into PCs in the living
rooms within recent years. Several million people play
on various levels from 0.02 USD to 10,000 USD, in games
lasting many hours. Therefore, it has become one of the
fastest growing industries on the Internet today.
Despite its great success, it is still not allowed to
host such games in the US and other countries. Therefore,
many gaming places are run from either Europe or other
exotic places with not overly strict rules, even though
the game is played all over the world.
The game appeals to many who have not tried it before,
because it is easily accessible and anonymous, enabling
you to sit peacefully learning the rules without being
the laughing stock of the table. The massive TV coverage
is one of the factors that have helped the game in its
current success. In Denmark large poker tournaments and
celebrities playing poker are transmitted on a weekly basis.
Poker has quickly become the fastest growing people’s
sport in Denmark.
Loan statistics from libraries testify that books about
poker are the most popular at the moment. In cafes across
the countries tournaments are played, which are open to
public and where you can win fair amounts.
Empirepoker.com recently hosted a large tournament in
Copenhagen with participation from many professional players.
Many players have been inspired by poker stars from TV – one
of them being Chris Moneymaker, who won the World Series
of Poker (WSOP) in 2003 after having qualified through
PokerStars.com.
In January 1.8 million players betted money playing poker
on the Internet, according to PokerPulse. In 24 hours time
span, players bet 191 million USD on average from their
home computer. January alone saw a collective rise of 9%
for the entire industry, which means that the market is
rocketing with unforeseen speed.
Investors bet as well
The increasing interest in the game has attracted attention
from the London Stock Exchange. PartyGaming, which owns
PartyPoker.com, considers entering the stock market with
an expected value of 3 to 5 billion GBP, which will be
the largest entering in London since 2001.
Neteller Plc, which take care of most transactions between
players and gaming places, have experienced a more than
tripling of stock value since their entering in April 2004.
Likewise, Sportingbet.com has experienced an increase in
stock value of 50% since October, when they announced that
they would buy Paradisepoker.com for 300 million USD. Since
November 2004 ParadisePoker.com has contributed with 13.5
million USD to Sportingbet. This tendency will continue
as more people are starting to play. ParadisPoker.com is
working on expanding the options for player and will, according
to Scott Wilson, MD, continue to make poker more accessible
in the future e.g. with poker on cell phones and in other
media not yet used for gambling.
While the UK and other countries are opening up for online
gaming, the US Justice Department is sticking to a law
from 1961 stating that games are prohibited by phone lines
including the Internet. Being pressured by the US Justice
Department services such as PayPal and Visa have blocked
transactions to game-related websites and the media are
refusing to run campaigns. This simultaneously with America
accounting for more than half of all online poker players,
who are not being punished for their otherwise illegal
activities. This means that when Americans want to play
poker online they simply log on to a server in Gibraltar,
which before long will be traded on the London Stock Exchange.
The money is transferred via Quebec to Gibraltar not using
VISA and PayPal.
Last year online poker sites earned more than 1.3 billion
USD. A number expected to increase to 5.8 billion USD in
2008 or the equivalent of 28% of the Internet’s turnover
on online gaming. Therefore, it is expected that in time
it will be accepted in the US, once they realize the large
amounts they are missing out on in taxes and employment,
according to Joseph Kelly, commercial law professor. He
has helped countries writing laws allowing online gambling
and is thus a recognized person in the industry. It is
anticipated that the US will gradually legalize online
gambling, as they realize that it cannot be stopped.
Several rulings state that the law from 1961 cannot be
used for poker and other games on the Internet. This simultaneously
with the WTO deciding last year that the illegalization
of online games is in violation of international trade
agreements – a decision which the US has appealed.
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