Real Money Tournament Games

Tournament structures lend themselves well to social games. People want to compete against their friends and feel that sense of satisfaction that comes from progressing through rounds or climbing leader boards.

I was somewhat surprised to find Yoo-Mee games offering tournament skill games with real money prizes within a Facebook application. This could be construed as real money gambling on skill games. But obviously the rules can be interpreted in different ways.

Gambling State Side

As you may have noticed my blog has been somewhat dormant over the past 4 months. During that time I have been on sabbatical in Australia. Then about 4 weeks ago, I started work for Betfair TVG in San Francisco.

This is an exiting time to join the Betfair US organization. Until recently, the Betfair US team consisted of 3 full-time employees. Since Betfair acquired TVG, at the beginning of 2009, the team has been growing steadily. Now things are about to accelerate as we expand our operations in the US.

So what are my first impressions of the gambling industry in the US? I have attended a number of technology and social media events in San Francisco since I arrived. The most striking thing is that people here don't realise that it is legal to bet on Horse Racing online.

Indeed, the anti gambling lobbyists have done a good job of relegating the Horse Racing industry to the fringes of society. At today's President Day meet at Golden Gate Fields I was surprised by the small turnout at the event. That and the terrible odds on offer. I understand that the track is up for auction at the end of the month.

However, gambling in the US continues to thrive. Online Poker is a thriving industry dominated by the offshore operations of Poker Stars and Full Tilt. This despite the US ban on online Poker. There are also numerous offshore sports betting companies that continue to take bets from US customers.

In the hottest new industry of social media, gambling related content is continuing to dominate. I noticed that Zynga Pokers Facebook fan page now has the highest number of fans of any fan page. This is the Poker game that is played for virtual currency but you buy the virtual currency with your credit card.

Then there is the gambling capital of the world - Las Vegas. Recently, broker Cantor Fitzgerald launched a 'mobile' product to enable customers to bet on sports whilst at Vegas casinos. Signalling their intent to leverage their trading background to take a piece of the sports betting action.

I can only surmise that this is part of a long term strategy to prepare for regulatory change. The economics of building and maintaining bespoke devices and software for Vegas only sports betting just doesn't make sense.

The gambling industry in the US is far more complex than the situation in the UK. There is everything to play for in the US. Yet the regulatory framework has created a very uneven playing field for operators and consumers. Undaunted, we will continue to modernize the US Horse Racing industry and hopefully create some cutting edge gambling products.