Richard Branson's Virgin Group plans to launch an online gambling site this summer, powered by WagerWorks (UK). The site, VirginGames.com, is envisioned as a general entertainment site, but it will also offer real money games.
VirginGames will be targeting the UK gambling market, as Virgin expects the new UK draft gambling bill to be implemented in the near future, possibly coinciding with the launch of it's gaming portal. This bill will potentially legalize online gambling in the UK.
Virgin is one of the first, and certainly one of the biggest, mainstream consumer brands to enter the UK gambling market. Virgin indicated it will potentially target additional markets beside the UK at a later stage, but it doesn't plan to take bets from US citizens.
US legislators have attempted to prohibit online gambling for many years, without success so far. UK legislators generally think online gambling, and all of it's potential pitfalls, can be regulated and controlled.
During the 40s, 50s and 60s, all US states prohibited gambling except Nevada. As a result Las Vegas became the nation's gambling capital. It isn't hard to predict that the UK will become the world's online gambling "capital", given the prohibitive attitude elsewhere in the world, especially in the US. The announcement by Virgin to launch an online gambling portal, is an indication that mainstream companies are beginning to realize this, and it's quite possible Virgin is the first of *many* big consumer brands to enter the online gambling market.
http://www.gamblingpress.com
VirginGames will be targeting the UK gambling market, as Virgin expects the new UK draft gambling bill to be implemented in the near future, possibly coinciding with the launch of it's gaming portal. This bill will potentially legalize online gambling in the UK.
Virgin is one of the first, and certainly one of the biggest, mainstream consumer brands to enter the UK gambling market. Virgin indicated it will potentially target additional markets beside the UK at a later stage, but it doesn't plan to take bets from US citizens.
US legislators have attempted to prohibit online gambling for many years, without success so far. UK legislators generally think online gambling, and all of it's potential pitfalls, can be regulated and controlled.
During the 40s, 50s and 60s, all US states prohibited gambling except Nevada. As a result Las Vegas became the nation's gambling capital. It isn't hard to predict that the UK will become the world's online gambling "capital", given the prohibitive attitude elsewhere in the world, especially in the US. The announcement by Virgin to launch an online gambling portal, is an indication that mainstream companies are beginning to realize this, and it's quite possible Virgin is the first of *many* big consumer brands to enter the online gambling market.
http://www.gamblingpress.com
