One of the more interesting mainstream media interviews (Canada.com)
touching on the Internet gambling industry this week was with PokerRoom.com
and Ongame CEO Patrick Selin.
Sweden based Selin told the interviewer that poker and the Internet
are a winning bet, where his five-year-old card game site has attracted
a membership of more than 3.5 million in more than 120 countries,
circulating between $10 million and $12 million US every day.
Much of PokerRoom.com's success lies in the speed of game play from
its Ongame software. Selin said the site's ability to handle more
than 7,000 members playing simultaneously on thousands of tables at
any time with fast card draws makes it attractive. It's also one the
few sites that works from Apple computers. He claims that PokerRoom.com
is the fifth-largest real money poker site and the second-largest
"play" money site.
Canadians represent almost 10 per cent of the players at the site
with 28 per cent from Toronto, 11 per cent from Vancouver, 11 per
cent from Edmonton and 11 per cent from Calgary.
The phenomenal growth history of the industry, according to Selin
was 630 per cent in 2003, last year it was 154 per cent, compared
to Poker Room's 323 per cent. These statistics prompted the interviewer
to ask Selin , "Is this the new ice hockey, the new football
or soccer?"
"It can be," said Selin, recounting that when
the World Cup ice hockey semi final between Finland and the U.S. was
broadcast last year, ten times more viewers watched a televised poker
game broadcast at the same time."