Gibraltar Gambling Fallout | kietefh79bailey's Blog

As the fallout in the wake of the US law which bars Americans from making payments to on the internet gaming corporations continues, non-US firms are continuing to shake the international gaming industry.

Gibraltar, where several international on the web gaming firms reside, has not been able to escape the fallout.

On the other hand, following recent set-backs in December 2006, with considerable job losses at organizations such as 888.com, Party Gaming and Mansion, Gibraltar's gaming business does not seem to be dented irreparably and confidence in the lengthy-term future of these corporations looks bright.

Even so pessimistic recent media reports have been, the US law which came into force in November (successfully wiping out a billion dollar industry overnight), the impact on Gibraltar's gaming industry has not been has tough as numerous initial feared.

December's developments shook businesses like 888.com, 1 of Gibraltar's biggest employers. 888.com recently sacked 140 staff and this news created a wave of new uncertainties among staff of other firms. Despite dismissal of a third of 888's staff, its CEO claims that it is in a strong position to support maintain staff levels by way of takeovers of some smaller competitors based outside Gibraltar. So far, rumours are rife that 888 will itself turn out to be target of a takeover by one of Britain's biggest gambling firms, Ladbrokes.

Further sackings or redundancies are likely to be on the cards on a smaller scale as several businesses seek to re-invest in European markets and change their strategy moving forward. In the next couple of months also, it is likely that there will be more rumours of mergers and acquisitions.

These redundancies or mergers are likely to have small impact on the 1600 employees of gaming organizations, or Gibraltar's tax revenue from the 15 or so licensed web gambling firms, which for the year 2006 was some 10 million.

Plans for a multi-lingual betting service and a massive promotional drive to attract global punters have been accelerated by Part Gaming in its response to the US law.

As the biggest of the Rock's gaming operators, it lost 70 percent of its enterprise following the US law. In the initial half of the year Party Gaming achieved profits of over $150 million from operations outside the US and has most likely secured the jobs of most of its employees for the time being.

St Minver, an additional of Gibraltar's huge gaming employers, who operate multi-lingual bingo, poker and casino products under a white label strategy, have not been affected by redundancies or profits during the US fallout as 100% of its operations were European based.

In fact, its strategy of white labelling has confirmed to be effective in Europe, where it is hard to acquire a gambling licence, and where big brands such as Virgin in the UK, and Ramblers in Russia can take advantage of the experience, infrastructure and player liquidity that St Minver has obtained.

All in all the long-term prospects of Gibraltar and its gaming industry looks bright. Certainly Europe can benefit from the number of firms with a Gibraltar gaming licence, wishing to tap into players who have yet to experience on-line poker, bingo or casinos.More info of Ladbrokes Promotion Code
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