Ladbrokes Casino Opening Online Gambling Websites in Europe

By on March 18, 2010 in Brick & Mortar Casinos, Online Casinos

Following the failure of its Italian retail shops chain, Ladbrokes has decided to diversify its business to online gambling. It is scheduled to launch its online poker business in Italy and move on to launch its casino and bingo online games.

Soon, Italian players can play Texas Hold ‘em courtesy of Ladbrokes, which is taking Italian gaming regulations seriously.

Italian government regulations are subject to change this year with the allowance of cash poker, a game that allows players to rake as much pots as the amount of money they are willing to bet. Under tournament poker rules, the amount of pots is fixed according to the entry fees.

Aside from this initial venture, Ladbrokes also intends to become among the pioneer companies to secure a national gambling license in Spain. At present, gambling regulations in Spain are imposed by regions. However, the Madrid government is looking at raising it to a national level, beginning at year end of 2011.

Ladbrokes chief executive Chris Bell said the company is committed to extending the international market for their online business. And Italy presents a good market opportunity to begin this pursuit.

He added: “We hope that further positive changes in regulations in Italy will allow us to further expand our product range by launching cash games in poker, as well as bingo and casino gaming later this year.“

Ladbrokes landed the contract to provide Italian retail betting services in 2007. As a result of which, it was able to set up over 140 shops. Last August, however, Ladbrokes announced that the shops were up for sale because they could not keep up with competition and illegal operators.

According to analysts, Italy is appearing to be the most lucrative market in the whole of Europe by 2010, notwithstanding the partial liberalization of the gambling market in France.

The introduction of cash poker is said to improve the market for poker in Italy by €1bn ($1.4bn) to over €3bn. With the scheduled opening of online bingo, casino and video lottery stations in Italy, it is expected that the market will experience a dramatic upturn.

Austria-based Bwin, one of the top European gambling companies and operators, lorded it over its rivals last October when it acquired Gioco Digitale, the top online gambling site in Italy.

Competition in the online poker sector in Italy is already stiff, with the presence of PartyGaming and PokerStars, a US-based operator. Add to this Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Games and Italian lottery operator Lottomatica.

Ladbrokes has also entered into a joint venture with a Spain-based slot machine Cirsa. The venture, called Sportium, will operate football betting terminals in 84 media outlets all over Madrid.

photo image of ladbrokes casino retail store shop in a city



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