Italians Are Quick to Play Poker on Newly Licensed Sites

Italians have been quick to play on the newly legal and licensed online poker sites in their country. In the few days since online poker was launched in Italy, figures released by Microgame and Gioco Digitale, the two operators who managed to connect their real money table systems to the SOGEI government database, show that poker is popular.

The Italian Finance Ministry had predicted that online poker and other skill games would be worth 400 million Euros overall during the first year, with 3 percent going directly to Treasury coffers.

During the first weekend of the experimental period (5 to 7 September), when it was possible to play just three hours per day (from 2pm to 5pm), Microgame and Gioco Digitale revealed some remarkable figures, according to reports from Gambling Compliance.

Microgame, which manages a number of white label sites for smaller operators, hosted a total of 870 games with 1500 customers participating. Gioco Digitale which hosted the first ever online Texas Hold'em game on the second day of the month, processed 1,204 tournaments in which over 5000 registered users, many of them newly signed up, took part.

The government has stipulated that the cost of participation in the tournaments must be between the stipulated minimum of 0.50 Euros and the maximum of 100 Euros, with at least 80 percent of the pot being paid out as winnings, leaving operators with a maximum rake of 17 percent.

Since the gaming authority allowed operators to extend their hours from 8am to 8pm each day, it appears that activity on the sites has intensified. On 9 September, the first day of the extended hours, Gioco Digitale had 6000 registered users playing or making deposits, an indication that the claims made by Carlo Gualandri, president of Gioco Digitale, that 500,000 Italians will be playing poker in the next 12 months may not be too wide of the mark.

According to research conducted by the company many new players are attracted to the sites by the coverage of poker on late night TV programs featured on channels such as Sky Italia. However the research also pointed out that of the operator's registered users, 70 percent were already playing with overseas websites, despite the blocking of "unlicensed" sites ordered by the authorities.

The success of the first days of operations will hearten those who were concerned that there would be insufficient liquidity until Italian players were free to mix with players from other countries. AAMS had stipulated that in the first phase of regulation of online poker there would be no cash games and players from Italy would not be free to take part in tournaments organized by operators on an international level.

However it is expected that both of these rules will be relaxed once the new system has had time to be established and high profile international operators who have acquired licenses, such as Party Gaming, 888, Gala Coral Eurobet and Ladbrokes, have completed the integration of their software to allow them to operate within the technical restraints of the SOGEI system. Players will also soon be able to play 24 hours per day according to sources within AAMS.

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