Are Online Casinos in as much Trouble as Land Based Casino Businesses

[obama our lord]

http://www.searchbyheadlines.com/posted_news/107578.html

Can online gambling sites weather the recession even though their land based casino counterparts are hurting.

It was once thought that the most recession proof business in the world was gambling. Much like general entertainment (movies, live performances, ect…) in the past these have proven not to decline with wide spread financial crisis. The idea behind it was that in tough times folks needed to be cheered up, so they always found the money to have fun.

It is obvious by the gambling reports from the Atlantic City casinos that this is no longer the case. February numbers pointed to a missive 19.2% decline in revenue compared to the same time in 2008, aggregated from the 11 casinos operating in the city, something the New Jersey Casino Control Commission calls the worst monthly decline in the 30+ years gambling has been legal in New Jersey.


And the future of casino gambling in Atlantic City is far from brighter, after the massive gambling revenue decline was paired with the constant stream of bad news coming out of the local casinos.
For starter, three of the AC casinos, those operated by Trump Entertainment, have already filed for bankruptcy protection in February after failing to meet obligations thanks to the deteriorating gambling traffic to the city, following one of the deepest recession ever to hit the United States. Everyone knows that things are bad, but when the casinos start finding themselves bankrupt, the situation is obviously dire.



In addition to the three casinos filing for bankruptcy, other gambling companies are scraping further casino development in Atlantic City. Pinnacle Entertainment has postponed a casino beach front resort with price tag of $1.5 billion indefinitely, while MGM Mirage, which is seriously struggling in Las Vegas, as well, is also canceling all further developing and expansions.


Last quarter of 2008 was good for many online casino operators and other online casino peripheral companies but it will be interesting to see if they weather the storm and come out unscathed in the first quarter of 2009 which has just been completed. My guess is that the strongest and best run will likely at least hold their own for most of this year and we might even see a spike in the fourth quarter. I don't believe that any group of online casinos is exempt from the pain of the financial crisis but I think some will rise to the occasion and do well.

[obama our lord]

It was once thought that the most recession proof business in the world was gambling.

Nothing will survive the Obama depression.

[daggerkobe]

Is this what professional spammers do after they get fired from another board? Go around spamming other boards hoping to land a paid gig? You're pathetic raiders720002. Do everyone a favor and terminate your miserable life.

[Fischnasty]

for once i agree with daggerkobe... maybe the end is near...

[obama our lord]

PartyGaming Says Sales Hurt by Rivals Targeting U.S. Gamblers

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aWpxkAbf5vKg&refer=uk

PartyGaming Plc, the owner of the PartyPoker.com gambling brand, said its sales are being hurt by competition from offshore Web sites that still solicit customers in the U.S., where Internet gambling is barred.

Until the October 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Gibraltar-based PartyGaming had a world-leading 40 percent market share in online poker, said spokesman John Shepherd in a telephone interview. Today it’s No. 4, with an 8 percent market share, he said.



PartyGaming, once valued at more than 6 billion pounds, lost more than two-thirds of its profit after the U.S. Congress passed a law to prevent credit-card companies from collecting online bet payments. The company contends it loses business to companies that still solicit American bettors because they use their U.S. profit to pitch gamblers worldwide, Shepherd said.



“America is perceived, rightly, as the home of poker,” said Warwick Bartlett, chief executive of Global Betting & Gaming Consultants. “The Europeans like to play against the American players, so they gravitate to the companies actively recruiting players in the United States.”



About 66,000 U.S. users play PartyGaming’s poker Web sites daily for fun, and 4,000 more join every day, said Finance Director Martin Weigold.



“You can’t deposit money with us, and you can’t play with real money,” Shepherd said of the U.S. players.



Market Share



PokerStars.com has a 37 percent worldwide market share in poker, and Full Tilt Poker, 16 percent, and both accept wagers from the U.S., PartyGaming said in this year’s annual report, citing monitoring firm PokerScout.com numbers.



PokerStars.com’s Web site tells players that the U.S. law “does not in any way prohibit you from playing online poker.” PokerStars, which is based in the Isle of Man, doesn’t have a listed telephone number and didn’t respond to an e-mailed request for comment.



Full Tilt, which is based in Ireland, according to PokerScout, also didn’t respond to an e-mail.



PartyGaming said its 22 percent drop in first-quarter revenue to $100.1 million was also due to the weakness of the pound and euro against the dollar, the currency in which it reports.

[obama our lord]

Party Poker didn't seem to be a scam like Pokerstars and Full Tilt are.

[fiveteamer]

anybody who plays poker/casino games online is a fukkin nut job.

[Willie Bee]

anybody who plays poker/casino games online is a fukkin nut job.

Agreed.

[Mr Handicapable]

Made the down payment on my house from online poker but whatever you say! There are scams and the happy days have dried up (3K+/month) but I still make more than a car payment a month from Stars/Bodog!

[JohnnyCarson]

Do you?

[redore33]

How Fing Moronic Can You Get?

It was once thought that the most recession proof business in the world was gambling.

Nothing will survive the Obama depression.

He's been in office less than 100 days. The roots of this thing go back 8 yrs, to the start of "The Idiot's" reign of incompetency! Bush & his Master Cheney gave us 8 yrs of useless spending the likes of which has never been seen. What's been spent in one of worst debacles any President has ever gotten us unto, Iraq, and their total failure to understand ANY economic principles at all, got us here. NOT 100 days of Obama. Wait a yr or 2 to blame if you need to. The FAT drug addict Limburger should be executed for TREASON. Along w/Chent & Rove. "Dubya" is too stupid to blame.

[Kindred]

anybody who plays poker/casino games online is a fukkin nut job.

Yeah you gotta be nuts to make easy money with no risk casino bonus whoring or fishing in the poker rooms. A sane person would stick to losing the rent money on sports