It wasn't just the players who noticed Poker.com's mobile gaming
service launch last (April) month - several mainstream media publications
seized on the opportunity to comment on what was dubbed "The
U.S. Paradox" too.
The general thrust of the stories was that the Poker.com launch highlights
the fast growth and accessibility of online gambling, drawing attention
to a business that has grown so much that investment bankers are circling
several major players seeking lucrative new stock offerings.
But those offerings will not be in the United States due to the result
of "....the Internet gambling's great paradox. The U.S.
market by far is the world's largest, but the government remains adamantly
opposed to Web wagering."
The reports point out that the obdurate position of the federal government
in the USA has induced uncertainty and kept world class companies
from venturing into a new market, although it hasn't stopped people
from betting online. Yet, the government hasn't shown the will to
bust individual bettors. Consequently, America gets no economic benefit
from online gambling despite its dominance as a *consumer* in the
world gambling market.
Quoting stats from European investment experts, Dresdner Kleinwort
Wasserstein the reports reveal that online gambling is still dwarfed
by traditional forms of wagering, where last year the global market
was some $ 237 billion, of which only around 3.9 percent came from
the online sector.
In reporting that PokerRoom.com appears to be the first Web gambling
outfit to allow its game to be downloaded into cellular phones the
media have it wrong however.
There's a nice plug for Sweden-based PokerRoom.com in the media, too
- the reports say that Poker.com is the sixth-biggest Internet card
room, though it jockeys back and forth in rank with the fourth- and
fifth-placed sites, according to the knowledgeable portal PokerPulse.