Italy Legalizes Online Poker
Viva Italia!
Bravo! Online poker is now legal in Italy, licensed and regulated by the Italian government.
Poker has been thriving in the country for quite some time, with nearly two million people logging on to the internet to play poker at least once prior to the game’s legalization. And a survey by the Consumers Defense and Orientation Association showed that Italians spend an average of 600 Euros each on internet gambling. If that trend continues, the government would be looking at a take of about $514 million annually.
While many European online poker sites are preparing to be licensed to enter the Italian market, Bluff Europe reports that one Italian-based site is already open for business. Gioco Digitale (meaning digital games) was the first to offer real-money poker games this week.
Congratulazioni!
DanM says:
September 4th, 2008 at 3:55pm
Jen, you should go to Italy later this fall, just so you can legally play online. 🙂
California Jen says:
September 4th, 2008 at 3:59pm
OK. I think I shall lounge on the balcony of a villa in Tuscany and fire it up.
DanM says:
September 4th, 2008 at 4:40pm
So the Bluff Europe article doesn’t give too many details — still, props to Bluff Europe, as they gnerally seem to be on top of stuff — so am wondering if Italians are allowed to ply on Party, PokerStars, etc. or if this is like what France and I think the Netherlands (or was it Finland?) did a couple years ago, giving themselves a state-run monopoly on online poker.
California Jen says:
September 4th, 2008 at 4:45pm
From what I can tell, any company that wants to cater to Italian players must apply for a license with the Italian government. Ladbrokes and several other European sites are said to have applied. I don’t get the impression that it’s a state-run monopoly.
Poker Shrink says:
September 4th, 2008 at 7:23pm
No state run poker company in Italy; this is truly an opening of the market to all comers. I believe they are anticipating some EU decisions sometime in the next quarter century.
DanM says:
September 4th, 2008 at 8:20pm
Well they needed to do something, because their soccer sure is going to shit.