British firm is set to add Texas hold’em tournaments to its current sportsbook offering at Ladbrokes.it from January.
Wednesday 30th December 2009
British online and land-based betting giant Ladbrokes has announced that it is to launch a dedicated Italian poker service early next month after receiving a licence from regulator Amministrazione Autonoma Dei Monopoli Di Stato.
Harrow-based Ladbrokes revealed that the new service at Ladbrokes.it will offer a range of Texas hold'em tournaments from early January in addition to its already popular Italian sportsbook service.
It also stated that the new service would only be available to Italian players in accordance with local regulations, which also require all competitions to be tournaments rather than cash games.
“The regulated Italian gambling market is expected to be the biggest in Europe this year with online regulated poker expected to generate €2.2 billion in turnover,” read a statement from Ladbrokes.
“According to H2 Capital, regulated poker in Italy will generate €280 million in gross revenues for operators in 2009. With regulations set to allow cash games and casino gaming, the onshore regulated market is expected to generate gross revenues of approximately €630 million during 2010 rising to nearly €800 million by 2012.”
Ladbrokes launched its licensed Italian sportsbook service through Ladbrokes.it last year and revealed that it is also looking to expand by premiering casino and bingo services over the coming months.
“We are committed to expanding the international reach of our online business and Italy is an excellent regulated market opportunity,” said Christopher Bell, Chief Executive Officer for Ladbrokes.
“We hope that further positive changes in regulations in Italy will allow us to further expand our product range by launching cash games in poker as well as bingo and casino gaming later this year.”
