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IOM'S GOT WINNING HAND
THE online gaming industry is set to go from strength to strength and the Isle of Man is ideally placed to benefit according to the government's new head of e-gaming development Bill Mummery.
Several high profile stock market flotations have brought the industry, Poker in particular, to the attention of the city.
PartyGaming.com, a Gibraltar-based online poker operator, recently floated on the London Stock Exchange with an initial market capitalisation of $4.6 billion.
The boom in internet-based gambling has meant that payment providers and software developers are also doing big business in support of the operators.
It has been reported that PokerStars has decided to move to the Isle of Man.
Mr Mummery could not confirm that, but believes the Isle of Man will attract an internationally recognised on-line poker company very soon and says the key to success will be the ability to host the entire range of businesses, from operator to software developer to payment provider.
He said: 'I would say that the future isn't all about gaming operators. Any jurisdiction, regardless of its attributes and quality, will only ever attract a percentage of the licensed operators, that is natural, however everybody in the gaming industry needs support services around them.
'One of my aims is to build a culture of support industries to complement companies like NETeller and Microgaming and explore the disaster recovery and hosting opportunities. By doing this, licensed gaming businesses in other jurisdictions will come to recognise the Isle of Man for some key services. That is the way to build long term in the Island.'
He said that the success of companies like PartyGaming had attracted US investors, who traditionally had stayed away from the online gambling sector for fear of upsetting the US Government.
'US financial institutions and the investment community recognise the opportunity and the legitimacy of this business and want to have a position. This was the first flotation that really attracted significant US funding. It's not going to happen today or tomorrow, there will be a series of individual small steps , but that momentum is continuing to increase the appetite for investment in the US.
'There is a gathering and very encouraging view that sooner or later, the US will move to a position of tax and regulation not prohibition. The US represents 82 per cent of all internet gambling, so they are missing out on a big tax win', he said.
He added: 'It's only going to be a short time before the Isle of Man makes the break through and gets a major global player locating here, that will aid the process of attracting more industry players. Some of the things that impact on an operator are macro/governmental issues that can't be taken in other jurisdictions. If you acquire a foundation of non-operating business within the industry, that gives long term stability.
'P to P poker is not reaching saturation. You can't maintain the same year on year growth, but there is still very strong growth in the product, although there will always be a next generation. It could be another skill-based P to P activity like bingo.'
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Weather for Isle of Man
Thursday 09 February 2012
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Light showers
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